Bosh Will Consider Joining Wade

DENVER -- LeBron James is the first choice. But Chris Bosh certainly would be a solid backup for the Miami Heat next summer in free agency.

And he's willing to consider it.

The Heat, which figures to have more than $15 million of salary-cap room, is looking for a superstar to pair with Dwyane Wade. And Wade, who talked last week about possibly luring James to South Florida while also mentioning Bosh, is positioning himself as a recruiter.

"Anything is possible, I guess,'' Bosh, the Toronto star who can become a free agent next summer, told FanHouse in an interview before Tuesday's game at Denver about the possibility of going to Miami. "I guess that seems to be an attractive place, you know, playing with Dwyane and playing in Miami and everything. I guess if they had the right chemistry, the right guys, that they could persuade guys to get there. But we'll see.''

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Bosh will hear plenty of pitches from teams if he opts out of his contract next summer and becomes a free agent. But that's still not a certainty.

Bosh said he doesn't plan to make any decisions until after the season. Feeling fine about that is Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, who said the decision has been made to not offer Bosh an extension during the season because there's no need to put any extra pressure on him.

The forward, averaging career highs of 26.4 points and 11.8 rebounds, has a number of options. He could not opt out of his contract, putting off free agency until the summer of 2011. Or he could sign by June 30 an extension for up to three years.

"Much like those other teams that have discussed it with their respective free agents or potential free agents, all three of the players in question (Cleveland's James, Wade and Bosh) negotiated for flexibility for a reason to exercise that,'' Colangelo said in an interview with FanHouse. "The contract (extension to Bosh) has not been offered, it has not been discussed. It's been a point of the discussion from a standpoint of one of the options that is there.

"We're bringing new pieces to try to create a better team, a more competitive team around Chris. Why would he make a decision before he knows what the end of the result is? And why would I try to sell a story before the last chapter is written? So maybe he wants to see what we have before he makes a decision. And that could pertain to an extension. It could pertain to a new contract. ... There's been no conversation. There's been obvious consternation by the general public and the media. But Chris and I had sat down along time ago and talked about the various options that are out there.''

Colangelo let it be known Bosh's best option would be doing business with the Raptors, which would enable him to earn the biggest possible salary. Even a sign-and-trade would fulfill that.

"We're still the best partner for him to get the deal whether it's staying with us or getting it somewhere else or playing it out somewhere else,'' Colangelo said. "So we're the conduit. We're the best partner. We're not going to put the pressure on him to make a decision right now. It's really not the right time even for us. He's playing at an all-time level. ... I'm happy for him. I'm happy for us because we're in a better position to win basketball games.''

Bosh agrees with Colangelo that it's best to worry about his future after the season.

"I'm just playing basketball,'' he said. "It was the plan when I signed the contract (to have flexibility). When I signed the contract (some) people out there don't understand I had a plan going into this. So I'm closer to that goal. I'm just putting myself in the best position to make a decision for the future.''

While Bosh won't a sign a contract extension during the season, he was asked about the chances of signing one just before the June 30 deadline. Colangelo, pointing to Washington's Antawn Jamison doing that at "the 11th hour'' in 2008, doesn't rule that out as a possibility.

"I just will discuss those things when they get closer,'' Bosh said. "I'm just trying to concentrate on winning basketball games and playing good so that people will actually want to sign me.''

One thinks there will be interest in the five-time All-Star. Other teams with major cap room expected to go hard after Bosh include New York and New Jersey.

"I'm ready for it all the time,'' Bosh said when asked if he's prepared for the media onslaught when he heads to those areas this season, with Miami on Dec. 15 the first such stop.

"I'm just trying to concentrate on winning basketball games and playing good so that people will actually want to sign me."
-- Chris Bosh With Bosh's desire to win soon, Miami can't be overlooked at perhaps the strongest candidate if Bosh were to leave Toronto. There's talk the Heat might try to go after both James and Bosh, especially in light of James' recent comments that he won't necessarily require a maximum contract.

"Over the course of years, we've had conversations, myself, LeBron, Chris Bosh. We all understand the dynamics. Joe Johnson,'' Wade told reporters last week about his recruiting, also mentioning Johnson, an Atlanta guard who will be a free agent next summer. "We all have played on the Olympic team together, so we've all had the conversation of the possibility, 'We can play together one day.'

"Especially when (Kevin) Garnett and Ray Allen and Paul Pierce all got together (with Boston), we were like, 'Wow, it can happen.' You never know. When the summer comes, we'll all sit down over a nice meal, and we'll know what city it'll be in and we'll talk and see what everybody's deciding. I would love for everybody to want to focus their way down here, to this beautiful city of Miami.''

Wade will see Bosh on Friday when the Heat plays at Toronto. Perhaps he will mention the projected high that day in Miami is 82 degrees.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com and on Twitter @christomasson.