In a very good article yesterday in Sports Business Weekly about the upcoming labor deals (all 4 major sports league deals come up in 2011, first time that has ever happened), there was strong consideration by David Falk that Wade and others would make MORE money if they stayed with their current teams. The reason is that the cap is going down the next few years and could go way down with the new deals because of the economics are so bad right now. He said their is a strong argument to be made that these guys should sign with their current teams (LeBron, Dwyane, Bosch) long term if they want more money
Interesting...but that may only apply to players who are not one of the top 10 NBA marketable players as well as those in small market teams.
LeBron, however, is the BIG exception since we're only talking about the big names in FA. I'd put Kobe up there too, but I believe he's not part of this upcoming FA pool.
Wade...the jury's out whether he can generate the excitement a LeBron can. He is widely marketed by the NBA and seems to have the image teams want...but he's far from a "LeBron status." And maybe that may be reason enough for him to stay in Miami.
He may take a few million less if he moves to Chi-Town because of - just monetary reasons here - his advertising money will keep him up there and the Chicago ad market would gobble him up (as the city boy comes home).
