Back in 2010, many suitors aside from the Miami Heat lined up for LeBron James’s services. Though Miami eventually won the sweepstakes due to the Chris Bosh signing tipping the scale, there were multiple destinations that James strongly considered. One such team was Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls. Had James joined Chicago along with his pal Dwyane Wade, how would that super team have fared?

With a starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Keith Bogans, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah, the Bulls finished with a record of 62-20, behind Rose's MVP season. Key bench contributors included C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, and Taj Gibson. At the peak of his career, Rose was one of the NBA's most electrifying players, with the ability to drive and score at will. Unfortutanly, during the playoffs, Rose landed awkwardly after a basket attempt and tore his ACL, beginning a string of serious injuries that would rob him of much of his ability and his place in the NBA elite.

In order to create enough salary cap space to sign James, Wade, and possibly Bosh, the Bulls would have needed to trade SF Luol Deng, as well as other players including SF Rasual Butler and SF Ronnie Brewer. Newly acquired PF Carlos Boozer would need to be let go if Bosh was to be signed.

The new starting lineup and bench core would look like this:

PG – Derrick Rose, C.J. Watson

SG – Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver

SF – LeBron James, Rasual Butler

PF – Chris Bosh, Brian Scalabrine

C – Joakim Noah, Omer Asik

This is an extremely impressive look. Three-point shooting seems to be the biggest weakness, but 2010-2011 was before the three-point revolution began with the Golden State Warriors. Regardless, Kyle Korver would add shooting off the bench, and would give LeBron James more spacing when playing with him.

Wade, James, and Noah were all elite defenders at their positions during the beginning of the decade. Bosh would have been the fourth option on this team, which is ridiculous because of how good he was in 2010.

As James and company discovered in 2010-2011, throwing a few superstars on a team together and expecting to win immediately is foolish. There is only one ball to go around, James, Bosh, Wade, and Rose had all been used to being the de facto number one option for their old squads. There would be power struggles early on, and growing pains to go through, but as long as head coach Tom Thibodeau managed the rotations correctly, the team would have gelled in time for the playoffs.

Without any major injuries, this Bulls team could have finished with an even better record, and would have easily beaten the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Neither Jason Terry nor J.J. Barea would have been able to slow down Rose, and Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler would have been worthy matchups for Bosh and Noah. James and Wade wouldn't have had all of the scoring pressure thrust onto their shoulders, allowing them to be more flexible on offense. If the Miami-Dallas Finals was entertaining, a theoretical Chicago-Dallas series would have been legendary.

Rose and Wade decided to join LeBron James in Cleveland this season, and they will look to knock off the Golden State Warriors as NBA champions. Though the season is still young, the Cavs have gotten off to a rocky start. Thing will no doubt improve, and perhaps the 2017-2018 Cavaliers will provide fans a glimpse of what could have been.