The Most Important 2010 NBA Free Agent: Chris Bosh by: Fred

With players like LeBron James and Dwayne Wade entering free agency at seasons end the offseason is shaping up to be very wild. The 2 aforementioned players are the best on a long list of great players but the player I feel has the most potential to affect the NBA landscape is a gentleman that has be lingering in Toronto the past 7 years: Mr. Chris Bosh.

You may ask why I feel Bosh would be more important to shaping next season's landscape than any other player. Well wherever Bosh signs will instantly have an affect on who gets Wade and James and solidifies the lucky team as a contender.

Let's look at how Bosh can affect Wade's decision to stay or leave Miami. Wade has made statements that he wants to stay in Miami for his entire career but he has also made it clear that he doesn't intend to stay with a team where he feels he has no help. With his hometown of Chicago waiting in the wings with Derek Rose, Joakim Noah and potentially Coach John Calipari Miami has to show Wade they are dedicated to helping him win now. Enter Chris Bosh. If Miami pursues and ultimately lands Bosh this will instantly give Wade the partner in crime he so desperately needs to help put the Heat over the top and that he has been missing since the title year with Shaq. Also there is a slightly lesser potential that Wade would want to end up in New York or New Jersey. The way these teams make this a possibility is by bringing in a player like Bosh. Imagine a Knicks' line up featuring Wade, Bosh, and an emerging David Lee. That's pretty formidable.

Bosh affects 2 time reigning MVP James similarly to the way he affects Wade. The major difference is that James currently sits on a title contender as the Cavs are currently the #1 seed in the east though at the time of this post they are coming off an 18 point loss to Boston and find themselves having lost home court advantage. There has been major speculation about whether James would leave for New York or New Jersey or stay in Cleveland. He hasn't tipped his hand though he has petitioned the league to change his number from 23 to 6, a petition he would not have had to file if he ends up on any team other than Cleveland. If New York or New Jersey were to sign Bosh they would instantly have a better chance of luring James from Cleveland. I can't foresee that King James will want to leave a contender to go be by himself in New York, no matter how attractive playing at MSG would be to him. But imagine the Knicks trio I mentioned above only replacing Wade with James. Not bad, huh Knicks fans? Also should the Cavs find a way to bring in Bosh it would almost guarantee a re-signing of James giving him the legitimate #2 option he has gone without to this point.

Another way Bosh could affect the NBA balance of power is by signing with the Lakers. He was spotted courtside at the Lake show’s game 2 win over the Jazz and went into the locker room to meet with Kobe. Could you imagine adding Chris Bosh to what is already probably the NBA's most formidable front court. That would also make Bynum or Odom expendable allowing them to cast them out as bait to attempt to get an upgrade at point . That's a scary proposition to any team in the West.

An option for Bosh that I haven't heard mentioned but that I would find quite interesting is if he were to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder. I say this because anyone who watched their first round series with the Lakers saw that they were quite undermanned in the frontcourt while Durant and Westbrook gave the Lakers fits. Bosh would provide them with that instant upgrade in the frontcourt that would make them if not an instant contender at the very least a scary matchup for any team in the league. I don't see this one happening but it's the option I would most like to see occur.

Now there is a potential that he could endup with teams I have not mentioned but the point is that Chris Bosh has the rare ability to not only improve the team that he signs with but greatly affect where possibly the two best players in the league end up. I'd say that's a pretty strong bargaining chip in offseason negotiations.