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James, Wade and other top players set to hit open market

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-01 10:24

WASHINGTON - The landscape of the NBA may shift dramatically on Thursday when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and scores of other top players hit the open market at the beginning of the highly anticipated free-agent signing period.

Teams have had July 1, 2010 circled on their calendars for years over the prospect of a seismic shift in talent.

"I have no idea what's going to go on," Hall of Famer Dave Cowens told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "I think there may be some surprises, some dark horses.

"It's not just the big guys. There are a whole bunch of other guys like David Lee (New York Knicks) and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) that are going to have an impact on whatever team they go to as well.

"I can't imagine there has ever been a deeper free-agent market than this one," added Cowens.

Most of the attention has focused on James, the twice MVP forward with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Media speculation has had the 2003 number one overall draft pick headed to Chicago, or joining Wade in Miami, or staying with his hometown team.

According to media reports James, 25, Wade and Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors had a free-agent summit over the weekend to discuss where each of the three would go -- or if they would perhaps play on the same team.

The 61-year-old Cowens does not believe putting three of the league's top players on one team would necessarily produce a slew of championships.

"There are only so many trips up and down the floor," said Cowens, a seven-times All-Star with the Boston Celtics. "You don't necessarily multiply James getting 30, Wade getting 30 and Bosh getting 25 -- that doesn't automatically add up to 85 points.

"Somebody is going to have to go down because there are so many touches in a game, only so many shots. To have those guys on the same team is probably a far-fetched idea."

LUXURY TAX

When a contract runs out in the NBA a player becomes a free agent. In a move to discourage players jumping around, teams can exceed the league's salary cap -- last season it was $57.7 million -- to re-sign their own free agents.

There is a luxury tax for teams that exceed the salary cap so it is conceivable James, Wade and Bosh could go to the same club.

"Some teams don't care about a salary structure," said Cowens. "In New York do you think they'd care? Some teams, the big-city teams, have that advantage."

There are teams that have, in essence, thrown away the last few years in anticipation of the free agent class of 2010. They have jettisoned big-money players to free up room under the salary cap.

Among those joining the free-agent market will be Lee, Nowitzki, Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz and Cleveland's Shaquille O'Neal.

There is unlikely to be a flurry of activity on Thursday but the flow of free-agent signings should begin next week.

Cowens cautioned about focusing too much on where James or Wade land.

"I remember when Michael Jordan was going through his retirement process and people were saying 'the league will never be the same'," he said. "Then up pops Kobe (Bryant) and up pops LeBron and Dwyane Wade.

"I never believed it when people said Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saved the NBA. Basketball is the product. The people who play it are temporary.

"But this free agent period is providing some excitement during a down period for the NBA, that for sure."