The NBA free agent market is still being controlled by Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James but once those two dominoes fall then the rest of the free agent pool will start to get sucked dry.
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One player that many are keeping an eye on is Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh, who is a free agent at the moment but waiting to see what happens with the Big 3 in South Beach and where LeBron James ends up going.
Ken Berger from CBSSports.com notes that he’s hearing Bosh has a near-max market if Melo and LeBron end up staying with their current teams as he focus of suitors would shift to the third member of the Big 3.
"Multiple league sources say there will be a close-to-max market for Bosh if Anthony and James stay with their respective teams. One of those people, an executive with a rival team, said the growing belief around the league is that Bosh would prefer a four-year max deal with another team to a discounted longer deal with Miami."
Bosh has been criticized plenty for being the third wheel in Miami’s Big 3, but he’s still clearly someone the rest of the NBA covets. He’s free agent royalty thanks to his ties in South Beach and that’s something we’re seeing reflected in the near-max market for him.
Teams like the Rockets, Lakers, Mavericks and Bulls have all showed varying degrees of interest in Bosh but a return to the Heat seems the most likely case, especially if LeBron leaves and Miami is suddenly scrambling for free agent talent.