The NBA free agency period now can start moving after LeBron signed to the Cavaliers and Carmelo Anthony is the next big name along with Pau Gasol, Lance Stephenson, Luol Deng, Paul Pierce, Trevor Ariza, Mike Miller and Eric Bledsoe and now some of those names will start inking contracts with teams as the class gets things going.
Miller reportedly has received calls from James about him potentially coming to Cleveland as well. Gasol is a top name along with Anthony and those two could be tied together, while James is now in Cleveland and the team could be working on a Kevin Love trade. Some of this is a little behind, as the LeBron James story is still breaking. The class is expected to be one of the deepest in the past few years depending on who opts out of their deals and what teams allow their free agents to go and obviously the most attention will be on James and it was and now it shifts to Melo.
Clearly he has now left, but before this, James is not considered likely to leave Miami, but after what happened last time around with the Cavaliers, anything is possible and what happens to James may affect what Wade, Bosh and Anthony do as free agents. Most experts predict that James will remain in Miami on a new contract, while Wade and Bosh could also end up staying after signing new deals, likely at less than the max they signed for a few years ago, especially if the "Big Three" wants to stay together.
The Miami trio is now broken after losing in the finals and James leaving. Anthony is the main player in all of this, as he is expected to opt out and many feel that he is interested in getting wooed by teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls and possibly others. Anthony was looked at as nearly a lock to stay in NY before the season, but the way things have went this season changes all of that.
The Chicago Bulls find themselves in a tough spot as well, as they decided to trade Luol Deng rather than risk the chance of losing him for nothing as a free agent and there's a chance that the team will still go after him when the summer hits. The Bulls will have to make big decisions as Derrick Rose works to return and after trading Deng to the Cavaliers, as the team still has to decide whether to bring back Kirk Hinrich and Deng as unrestricted free agents and next season they have to worry about Carlos Boozer as well.
Turner could be a player that gets traded and he is having one of his best professional seasons and another name that could be interesting is Greg Monroe, as he could get a big contract from a team looking for a big man in the middle. Nowitzki and Gasol will be names that get attention as veterans and Eric Bledsoe likely will be retained by the Suns, as they have loved what he has done since being traded from the Clippers. Anthony and James will be the top two names on the market if they opt out and it could cause a fundamental shift in the NBA if they move west.
