Bulls give James the best chance to win

Posted June 25, 2010 11:00 pm

Mike McGraw

Last October, a group of prominent Chicagoans, including President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, flew to Copenhagen to try and bring a monumental sporting event to Chicago.

They didn't impress the committee and failed to deliver the 2016 Olympics to the city.

Sometime later this week, Gar Forman, John Paxson and Tom Thibodeau will travel somewhere in or around Akron, Ohio, in an attempt to change the Chicago sports landscape. They will most likely leave the celebrities at home.

Instead of an international committee, the Bulls braintrust will be trying to impress a single person: The King without a ring, LeBron James.

When the NBA negotiating period begins on Thursday, James will sit on a throne, or maybe his sofa, and listen to free-agent recruiting pitches. First up are the Knicks and Nets, according to one report.

"LeBron is not going on a tour," James' business manager, Maverick Carter, told ESPN. "He never planned to go on a tour and has not been a part of any team's plans for a recruiting trip."

That should work fine for the Bulls because they have plenty to sell. Let's face it, the Olympics will probably turn out fine whether they take place in Chicago, Madrid or Rio de Janeiro.

But if James wants to win NBA championships, there's quite a gap between a team with a playoff nucleus already in place and the 12-70 New Jersey Nets.

The question has consumed local fans for most of the summer: Do the Bulls have a chance to sign James as a free agent?

Well, there are no guarantees, but on the eve of NBA free agency, the answer seems clear. Yes, there is a very good chance the Bulls will land the league's two-time MVP.

Back when the Bulls lost to Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs, this wasn't even an issue. Of course James would stick with the Cavaliers because they're his best chance to win.

That was before the Cavs were knocked out in the second round by Boston. Suddenly, the 60-win Cavs had failed to reach the Finals for three straight years. Four of their top 10 playoff scorers were at least 34, while James' primary sidekicks, Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison, came up small against the Celtics.

If the Cavaliers had just sat on the 66-win roster of 2008-09, they would have had cap room to add one of this summer's free agents. Instead, they created an aging roster in need of rebuilding.

James doesn't want to turn his back on the Cleveland/Akron area, where he's lived his entire life. But he knows the score. Among the league's two biggest stars, Kobe Bryant leads LeBron in championship rings 5-0.

Logic suggests James will have a better chance to win multiple championships in Chicago. He was thinking along those lines when he placed a call to Bulls guard Derrick Rose shortly after the Boston playoff series ended.

Here's a detailed look at why the Bulls make perfect much sense for James:

• He could jump right into a talented roster that already features Rose, who made the all-star team in his second NBA season, center Joakim Noah and forward Luol Deng. By trading Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls have the cap room to sign another all-star, either Atlanta shooting guard Joe Johnson or Toronto forward Chris Bosh, most likely.

• The storied franchises have dominated the NBA. Sure, the Bulls didn't have much of a story until Michael Jordan showed up. The fact is, 20 of the last 31 NBA titles have been won by the Bulls, Lakers and Celtics.

• James has long been fond of Chicago, where he spent two summers while he was in high school. The city sells itself.

• James grew up rooting for the Bulls and Jordan. Rather than fear the shadow of Jordan, as some suggest, James would embrace it.

The best argument for staying in Cleveland is loyalty. No doubt James leaving would be a gut-punch to sports fans in a city that hasn't won a major professional championship since the Browns in 1964.

If the Cavaliers can't win soon, though, James might forfeit his chance of being considered one of the all-time great NBA players by staying.

Since the end of the season, the Cavs fired their coach (Mike Brown) and general manager (Danny Ferry). Stability won't be their selling point, though new GM Chris Grant sounds unconcerned.

"We have a team that won 61 games last year," Grant said in the Akron Beacon Journal. "We've had the best team in the league the last two years. We have a culture that's in place. Our guys believe in winning, all of our guys here, including LeBron."

None of the other contenders comes close to matching what the Bulls can offer. Here's the list:

New York: It's a big city, but the Knicks have made the playoffs just once in the last nine years. An incompetent organization is a tough sell.

New Jersey: New Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov sounds intriguing, but the Nets' best player is center Brook Lopez. This is a long-term project.

Miami: No state sales tax, although pairing with Dwyane Wade doesn't sound appealing. That's a move for late in the career when players are desperate to win. For now, James needs to anchor his own team.

Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers have some decent players, but it's tough to avoid how they've been a running joke in the NBA for 30 years. Why would James want a front-row seat to watch Kobe win more titles?

Really, there's not much left for the Bulls to do than close the deal. James will be looking across the living room at Thibodeau, the former Boston assistant who designed the plan to shut down the Cavs in the playoffs.

He'll miss Cleveland, but as the Olympic committee already discovered, rings are the thing.

Chicago

Prime lure: Great city, great fans, solid foundation already in place.

Supporting cast: Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Joe Johnson (most likely).

Possible drawback: Some say the shadow of Michael Jordan is a threat, but LeBron grew up rooting for the Bulls and Jordan. He might see MJ's legacy as a positive.

Bottom line: Bulls make all the sense in the world. Likely a strong favorite when free agency begins on Friday.

New York

Prime lure: Bright lights, big city; money to sign another free agent; a coach in Mike D'Antoni who used to run an entertaining offense.

Supporting cast: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, uh, Eddy Curry.

Possible drawback: Knicks have made the playoffs once in nine years. One anonymous report says James doesn't favor D'Antoni

Bottom line: Saving basketball in New York is a bold plan, but incompetence of the organization makes it a huge risk.

Miami

Prime lure: Warm weather, sunny beaches, no personal state income tax.

Supporting cast: Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, power forward to be named later.

Possible drawback: Two 30-point scorers on same team might not work; Miami definitely not a passionate sports town.

Bottom line: Playing with Wade an interesting experiment, but LeBron needs a championship to call his own.

New Jersey

Prime lure: Gazillionaire Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov has money to burn.

Supporting cast: Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Jay-Z.

Possible drawback: Two years playing in downtown Newark before there's even a chance of moving to the long-planned Brooklyn arena.

Bottom line: Tough to sell leaving a 60-win team for a 70-loss team as a smart idea.

Los Angeles

Prime lure: Chance to lure some of Hollywood's stars away from Lakers courtside seats.

Supporting cast: Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Blake Griffin

Possible drawback: The Clippers have been a running joke in the NBA for 30 years.

Bottom line: L.A. is big, but not big enough for both Kobe and LeBron.

Cleveland

Prime lure: It's home. James has essentially spent his entire life in Akron.

Supporting cast: Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Delonte West

Possible drawback: If the Cavs couldn't even reach the Finals the last two seasons, hopes of winning a title are practically nil with the current, aging roster. Plus, who's going to coach?

Bottom line: Tough to say goodbye, but winning a title is vital to James' legend.

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