LeBron James: Top 5 free agency destinations in 2018
5. Chicago Bulls
No, the Chicago Bulls don’t have any talent to speak of at the moment. And yes, even if Dwyane Wade wasn’t approaching a buyout with the team, he’d be gone-zo the moment his contract expires next summer.
However, even without his former Miami Heatle to convince him to come to the Windy City, and even with a dearth of established talent, a (formerly) prestigious organization with ample amounts of cap space can never be completely written off, especially when it comes to a player as cognizant of NBA history as LeBron James.
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True enough, the shadow of Michael Jordan looms large over the city of Chicago, but what better way for the King to put himself on the level of His Airness than revamping the Bulls into an Eastern power?
According to Spotrac, Chicago could have up to $53.8 million in practical cap space. It wouldn’t reach that amount unless it renounced all its young players like Kris Dunn, Cameron Payne, Jerian Grant, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine, but with Wade’s $31.6 million cap hold coming off the books, the point still stands that the Bulls will have a ton of cap space.
Would King James and the allure of playing for a franchise like the Bulls be enough to attract more stars to the Windy City? Probably. Could he construct a legitimate threat to the Warriors? Probably not, but one or two additional stars would be enough to make LeBron’s new team kings of the East again.