Mr. LeBron James,
First off, I’d like to congratulate you on a great start to a career that could one day be looked at as one of the all-time great careers in NBA history. By being forced to shoulder much of the load on bad-to-mediocre teams for the first seven years of your career, you have recently been questioned whether or not you're a "real winner" and what your end-goals of playing basketball for a living really are.
Let's not get out on the wrong foot here, though: I am not one of those questioning the drive. I've watched a ton of Cavs games over the years. When you're rolling, they're rolling. When you're cold, well, let's just say there haven't been a lot of secondary options over the years. For the first seven years, you've had an organization picking and choosing who would play with you. Now, its your decision.
These next six to ten weeks for you are going to be full of promises, rumors, and non-stop speculation. Only a week-and-a-half after your season ended, countless theories have been created, totaling over 549,000 results on Google, when you just search “LeBron Free Agent” alone. Everyone in the sports world is talking about your next move, which is why I will make this request short and sweet: Come play in Chicago.
The Time Has Come to Leave Cleveland
When your Cavaliers were upset in Round 2 of the playoffs this year by and older, veteran team with three Hall-of-Famers, many people began to speculate whether you were more “Dr. J” or “MJ". Did you have that ruthless competitive appetite that Jordan was so well known for, or were you more like Dr. J-- who athletically was superior to his peers, but maybe wasn't the most clutch player in NBA history.
We know better. We know you can win a championship in your career. Heck, probably several. But can you do that in Cleveland, given the past seven seasons? What about in New York? Miami? I don’t think so. I think your best chance is in Chicago
I'm not sure any of these players are better than Luol Deng, currently the Bulls' third best player .
Clearly you have loyalty and ties to the city of Cleveland, the state of Ohio, and to the organization that drafted you first overall in the loaded 2003 draft. But in the seven seasons that have passed, what have they done to help you win titles? They brought in Mo Williams after Year Five (a great third scoring option) to be your second scoring option, a past-his-prime Shaquille O’Neal to be your big man after Year Six, and Antawn Jamison (who played terribly in the playoffs) half-way through Year Seven.
Before Mo Williams was brought in, do you remember the players who that organizations surrounded you with? Do you remember driving the lane, only to pass it out to Damon Jones or Ricky Davis? You've given Cleveland a great seven years, but if you want to reach the top of the mountain, you need to win and win now.
The Bulls Already Have the Pieces in Place
The Cavs' organization has repeatedly, and mistakenly, looked to Free Agency to help shore up their roster around you, bringing the aforementioned role players. Meanwhile, the Bulls have been out-drafting almost every other team in the league, putting together a good team of young talent with a solid chemistry. Since you came in the league the Bulls have drafted their entire 2009-10 starting lineup (Derrick Rose, Kirk Heinrich, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah). No other team in the league can boast that.
The Bulls' organization's draft-and-build strategy has given them not only a strong nucleus, but enough salary cap room to bring in at least one superstar free agent (like yourself), along with another All-Star (I’m thinking Ray Allen – no objections, I’d assume?).They potentially have enough room to sign two max guys as well, so at the best, your lineup next year could be centered around you at shooting guard with D-Rose playing point, Luol Deng on the other wing, and a Chris Bosh - Joakim Noah tandem playing down low. In that scenario, they'd bring Hinrich and Gibson off the bench. Did the Cavs even have two guards better than Hinrich?
Even without Second Superstar X, the Bulls have just one piece of the Championship Puzzle missing. Looks to me that piece is around 6’9 and comes in just shy of 280 lbs.
Where Else Would You Go?
Assuming your relationship with the Cavs' organization is done and you really are leaving, what other free agent destination would be as appealing as Chicago?
LeBron, meet Derrick Rose. He's a top-ten player in the league. Doesn't that sound nice, to play with another blue-chipper?
- Miami? For the past four years, the Miami Heat organization has put a team around Dwayne Wade that made your supporting cast look like the Dream Team. Would you trust your championship hopes on Michael Beasley? If you're double teamed in a playoff game, do you really trust Mario Chalmers to take up the ball? Wade has won down there already also, you the media may play you as a second fiddle in Miami. There isn't a place in the world where you should play second fiddle.
- New York? The only reason you would choose New York would be the flickering hope that down the road, you’d win a championship as the most popular player in the USA’s most popular city, all the while bringing back professional basketball in NYC. The downside? You’d be carrying another bad team for another two years, at least. If you’re looking to go down as one of the greatest ever, can you wait until Year Nine until your first championship? I say no. While NYC may be the biggest stage in the world, playing in Chicago isn't exactly like playing in Charlotte, either.
- New Jersey? Dallas? Somewhere else? There are only a few destinations for a Max Contract Player like yourself. Even fewer of those destinations have the infrastructure in place to put a title contender with you on Day One. New Jersey definitely isn’t one of those places as currently constructed, and would you really want to go play on a Dirk-less Dallas team? Do the LA Clippers sound that great?
Ultimately, LeBron, if your career aspirations come down to winning, and winning now, you’ll chose the Bulls. You’re savvy enough to see that only one basketball player in the world's history has won and became a global icon. He's often considered the greatest ever. He did it by winning. He did it in Chicago.
LeBron, fulfill your goals next season. Become a Bull.
Sincerely,
Brett Fuller
Chicago Sports Fan Since 1986.