1. LeBron James
Year: 2010
Team he ended up with: Miami Heat
The biggest whiff for the Chicago Bulls in free agency that definitely would’ve turned the tide of this franchise to win a handful of NBA Championships was LeBron James once his time ran up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in his first stint in 2010. But nearly every NBA team was after LeBron in 2010, so it was no easy feat to land him.
The famous “Decision” that LeBron had when he wound up choosing the Heat in the summer of 2010 also featured five other teams. One of those five teams was the Bulls. The other four included the Knicks, Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, and Los Angeles Clippers. Pretty much all of six finalist landing spots were big markets, outside of the Cavaliers.
A report from nba.com in 2016 in discussions with D-Wade showed that there was interest from the duo that was LeBron and former superstar big man Chris Bosh in joining up with D-Rose in the Windy City. The Bulls would’ve been a scary team with Bosh, D-Rose, and LBJ leading the way. That would’ve also left D-Wade by himself in South Beach.
There was another potential situation where the Bulls landed D-Wade in a LeBron package deal instead of Bosh. The Bulls wound up not being able to have the trio that was D-Wade, Bosh, and LeBron on the cap sheet. That is obvious given the price tag that would command along with D-Rose and Joakim already on the roster.