This seems to be the dilemma currently facing Lebron and Bosh. Do they want the unstoppable trio of Wade/Lebron/Bosh with absolutely no other decent players on their team or do they go with Rose who actually has a fairly decent team backing him up. New York has neither that third super star nor a decent team to offer any of the free agents so i imagine they are going to be terribly disappointed when it’s all said and done. Which one do you think is the best option? personally i think Chicago would be a much better fit for them because of their good roleplayers and because you really don’t need a Wade when you have Lebron and Bosh, an All-Star point guard is a much better fit.
I do not know why people think Chicago is such a good situation. They have a rookie defensive coach (hello Mike Brown?) and the organization has not always been committed to winning. Plus, it is not certain that Rose and Lebron would play well together. I love Rose, but you need to consider that he dominates the ball and likes to go to the hoop. He is just like Lebron. Both of them need shooters around them to succeed. I doubt Lebron is going to be alright with becoming a jump shooter, and Rose is not able to. The Lakers and Magic would still beat them by packing the middle and daring them to shoot. The Cavs had the right formula - Lebron as point + defensive big men + shooters - they just had the wrong players.
Deng plays the same position as Lebron, so that is an expensive backup. I think Joe Johnson + Bosh is the best fit in Chicago. Rose can create and dish to to those two for wide open jumpers.
Chicago is a good situation because if you accept the hypothesis that LeBron needs to be in a major media market to do all of the ancillary things he wants, then he needs to be in either L.A., N.Y., or Chicago. He’s not going to the Lakers. Who wants to play for Sterling? The Knicks are intriguing, as are the Nets, but neither are going to win next year, even with him. Chicago can win it all with him, despite your correct observation that both Rose and James need the ball in their hands to be successful.
Kind of sounds like Houston, doesn’t it? Yao/Scola/Hayes—he plays taller defensively—with Martin/Buddinger/Taylor as the outside shooters? Hey, I can dream; he’s not coming here either.
Neither. Defense wins championships. There have been offense-poor, defense rich teams that have dominated the post-season (e.g. pistons, spurs, 60’s celtics) and offense-rich, defense poor teams that haven’t (e.g. pheonix suns, malone/payton/kobe lakers.) What made the current celtics so good is a commitment to defense, and the only way the lakers beat them was defense just as good but younger.
It doesn’t matter how many stars you pack into your lineup. It’s the Bruce Bowens and Dennis Rodmans that win championships.
It’s not just a decent team, Rose/Deng/Noah/Taj Gibson is a perfectly good supporting cast for one, not to mention two, maximum salaried-guys.