Could LeBron build a Big 3 in Chicago?
Would LeBron James consider leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers in free agency to join the Chicago Bulls if it allowed him build a throne — and a new Big 3 — in the house that Jordan built?
Perhaps it’s because of the negative perception of the Chicago Bulls executives and the lack of attention given to their young core but that nobody is talking about the possibility of LeBron James taking his talents to the Windy City in free agency is interesting.
It’s move that would take the league by storm and permanently plaster his name beside Bulls icon Michael Jordan. What a final act that would be.
The ultimate challenge of reaching or passing Jordan’s ring count while wearing the same red, black and white uniform.
The Bulls, armed with a maximum of $61 million in cap space, have enough money available to sign James and another free agent to a max contract. For the sake of simplicity, say that free agent is Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George.
George is a player who I believe James should join forces in the offseason — much like James and Dwyane Wade did in 2010 when they were ready to take their talents to Chicago with Derrick Rose or South Beach with Chris Bosh.
Perhaps the most interesting factor of this possibility is that, according to Wade, Chicago was the favorite to sign he and James at a time.
Per NBA.com’s Sam Smith:
"They (Miami) came with the idea that they can get three players. We never thought it was possible. I was shocked when I heard it could happen. But I know LeBron’s eyes were here (Chicago). I know my eyes were here."
What swayed Wade and James to Miami was their ability to play with a friend in Bosh and, essentially, build a team from scratch:
"“It pretty much boiled down to what we felt we could build. We had to build a whole team in Miami. Obviously, here they had players already. But once we got me, ‘Bron and Chris, we had to now take pay cuts to build a team. It was obviously tougher to do it in Miami, but because we wanted to play together, us three, we decided to do it there.”"
This is where the Bulls, who have the 7th pick in the upcoming draft and $20 million worth of expendable contracts in Omer Asik and Cristiano Felicio, separate themselves from other teams: their ability to build.
For instance, the Houston Rockets still have to do a fair bit of salary cap maneuvering to even sign James.
The Los Angeles Lakers can sign two max players but have no first round picks in the upcoming draft. Though they can trade for another All-Star, it will cost them one of their young core pieces or more. The same pieces that could be enticing James to come.
In the event that he wants to keep making runs through the East, the Philadelphia 76ers are likely the favorite for James but can only sign one max player outright and would likely have to lose sharpshooter J.J. Redick, a significant piece of their success, to do it.
James is eligible to sign a max contract worth $34.7 million per year annually and George is eligible to sign a max contract worth $29.7 million annually. $63.4 million is a bit over their cap but the Bulls can still pay them the max by backloading their contracts.
With the 7th pick and $20 worth of contracts they’d gladly give up for another All-Star, the Bulls could then try to acquire a star point guard through a trade or free agency. The latter option simply involves them auctioning off the contracts of Asik and Felicio with the lottery as a sweetener.
For hypotheticals, a starting lineup (Chris) Paul – George – James – Markannen – Lopez might just end make the Bulls favorites to win it all if each are willing to take a paycut of about $7 million each.
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The off-the-court impact would be enormous for their legacies should they win it all, particularly James should he turn lifelong Jordan fans into Witnesses. Furthermore, the money they would bring into the city with their presence and charity would have a positive impact on the economy and perhaps revitalize the area.
Will James take his talents to the Chi?