Bulls should give it all to get LeBron

The Bulls and the entire NBA must be anxious over what Cleveland does before Thursday's trading deadline.

The Cavaliers' moves this week might determine what LeBron James does during the summer's free-agent period, and what James does might determine what everybody else does.

If the Cavs acquire Amare Stoudemire this week, or some other chip that helps them win the NBA title, James is more likely to stay in Cleveland.

If the Cavs do nothing and win nothing - hey, let the bidding begin for King James!

Most Bulls speculation concerns Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and others not named LeBron James.

But why shouldn't James, the Bulls and the Chicago market be mentioned in the same sentence?

If the Bulls have to turn over the franchise to James, so be it. If that's enough to compete favorably for his services, which are worth whatever it takes to land him, so be it.

"You have to look 10 to 15 years down the road," Orlando Magic vice president Pat Williams told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland recently. "But I really believe when it's over for LeBron, he will have a place on the NBA's Mount Rushmore. You can argue about who else will be up there with him, but I see LeBron up there."

Not often does a talent so special reach free agency. If James does, the Bulls would be nuts to not make him Priority One, if not Priority Only.

As distasteful as it sounds to surrender authority over basketball operations to an inmate, it's a creative way to circumvent the salary cap and trump advantages other teams have in the James derby.

So, don't quite make James player/coach/general manager/owner, but come close. Heck, maybe change the team name to the Chicago LBJs and team colors to LeBrown.

Seriously, letting James run the team is worthwhile competitively and commercially. He might name Freaky the Clown as coach, but he's good enough to turn him into Freaky the Renowned.

Michael Jordan demonstrated to Jerry Reinsdorf the value of NBA star power. So why not give this franchise player franchise power?

Crown King James. Let him pick the coach. Let him pick his puppet general manager. Let him pick his teammates.

Yes, even give him the key to the executive bathroom if necessary.

This goes against everything Reinsdorf has advocated while owning the Bulls and the White Sox. Not even Jordan was allowed to hire his coach, fire his general manager or dictate which players from North Carolina he would play with.

But knowing what we know now about Jordan's career, wouldn't it have been smart to surrender everything to acquire him if he were a free agent entering his prime?

That Jordan is today's James. Or as former Cavs player/current Hawks assistant coach Mark Price put it to The Plain Dealer, "We're in the Kobe Bryant Era. But we're heading into the LeBron Era."

With James, the Bulls would be title contenders for as long as he teamed with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Meanwhile, United Center seats and suites would be filled for years.

So the Bulls should mortgage everything - including authority - to sign LeBron James this summer and worry about other potential free agents later.

mimrem@dailyherald.com