What could have been for the Chicago Bulls

As the Miami Heat march towards their first of what could be many championships, it’s easy to forget how close the Bulls, and not Miami, were to being the team of the future. Last July, LeBron James chose to head to Miami instead of signing with the Chicago Bulls. And considering that the Bulls played the Heat tightly in three of their four losses (including Game 5, which the Heat had no business winning), it’s worth wondering how different the East would look if James had chosen to go to Chicago instead.

Had he done so, the Bulls would’ve had a starting lineup of Rose, Deng, James, Boozer and Noah. Consider how closely the Bulls played the Heat in those five games, and how demonstrably different the two teams would be if LeBron was with the Bulls. They’d have been unbeatable. All those complaints that the Heat suffered earlier in the year, how they didn’t play much defense and lacked a point guard and lacked a center, would be nullified. There’d still be a Big Three of James, Rose and Boozer; collectively, it probably wouldn’t be as good offensively as Wade, James and Bosh. But in Tom Thibodeau’s defensive scheme and on a roster with a much better bench, with a starting lineup that doesn’t have paltry fill-ins like Mike Bibby and Joel Anthony, the Bulls probably would’ve been the unstoppable 70-win juggernaut we expected Miami to be.

So the next time someone says that James was justified in leaving Cleveland, keep in mind that he still may have made the wrong decision -- if his first priority was winning.

On a lesser but still significant note, the Bulls also could have improved in the offseason had Tracy McGrady signed with them. After whittling his options to Detroit and Chicago, the former superstar free-agent ultimately went to Detroit, where he had a greater chance of scoring points than he did with the Bulls. The Bulls were interested in McGrady after he proved to be in good physical shape, but the interest wasn’t nearly as reciprocated. “McGrady apparently has not convinced the Bulls that he is willing to embrace a secondary role,” an ESPN.com report stated, “which is one of two key prerequisites the two-time scoring champ must satisfy to secure a deal from Chicago.”

McGrady had a turbulent season with the Pistons, at times showing glimpses of his former All-Star self, but mostly feuding with the head coach over playing time and stewing miserably on the bench of one of the worst teams in basketball. Meanwhile, the Bulls went the entire season with a gaping hole at the shooting guard position. Keith Bogans, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer all split time there, and although McGrady still wouldn’t have been more than the third or fourth option on Chicago, it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t have started and made a bigger impact than Keith Bogans.

Instead, he chose the more individualistic route and probably cost himself playing time on top of a chance to go deep into the playoffs. Too bad for Chicago, too bad for McGrady.