With Wade and Bosh, it seems obvious that the extra $30 million guaranteed was the difference. If it's purely a basketball decision, I think they both choose Chicago.
But ultimately, there were just too many flaws in the Bulls pursuit.
1) Almost, but not enough cap space for two max players
2) The impracticality of just "dumping" Lu and/or Taj, without an explicit guarantee Wade and Bosh would sign there (I would imagine they tried but failed to dump Johnson).
3) Bosh wanted a 6-year, max deal. Bosh and Wade were an item. It would be weird if Bosh and Wade teamed up and Bosh made more money.
4) The Bulls probably couldn't have pulled off two sign and trades. And Miami probably wouldn't sign and trade Wade to Chicago in the first place.
I could still see Lebron choosing Chicago. But I think it's HIGHLY unlikely. Announcing on ESPN means huge ego. He is loved in Cleveland. He would potentially be more loved in New York. In Chicago, he would never be loved as much as MJ. Chicago eliminated.
Again, it sucks because in a straight up basketball decision, signing to play with Rose and Noah seems to clearly be his best route.
But oh well. I think the Bulls will be ok. Without Wade and/or Lebron, Rose will be unleashsed to reach his full potential (which I think is very high). Noah + Boozer? will be extremely tough down low. If you add a shooter/defender, plus throw in Tibs defensive strategies, the Bulls have the makings of an EXTREMELY tough out in a 7-game series.
That's not to say that I didn't want LBJ/Wade/Bosh. This is an extreme let down. But I follow Aggie recruiting, so I'm a specialist in seeing the glass half full :-)
[This message has been edited by deluxe_aggie (edited 7/7/2010 9:53a).]