Bosh & Wade will team up in South Florida

Associated Press

DAVIE, Fla.

Dwyane Wade’s future was muddled and uncertain, until Chris Bosh told him where he wanted to spend the next few years.

“I’m feeling Miami,” Bosh said.

Those three words were all Wade needed to make his decision.

Will they be enough to sway LeBron James to Miami? Stay tuned.

Ending months of speculation, Wade and Bosh announced Wednesday that they’ll sign with Miami, two decisions that vault the Heat back into the NBA championship picture and puts them two-thirds of the way to hitting one of the biggest trifectas in NBA history. Wade, Bosh and James all have talked about playing together. Tonight, James will say why that will or will not happen.

Wade told the Heat that for him to re-sign, the team had to add either James or Bosh. For good measure, they might get both.

“It had to be one or the other,” Wade said. “Of course, there’s a lot of talented players in this league. But you want to look at players that complement my game, and Chris and LeBron are two of those guys. I had a decision to make. Chris had a decision to make. It wasn’t a lock that he would come to Miami. So I had a lot to think about.”

James averaged 29.7 points for Cleveland last season, Wade averaged 26.6 points for Miami and Bosh averaged career-bests of 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds for Toronto.

They were the three kingpins of this long-hyped free-agent market, a trio of All-Stars who came into the league together seven years ago and structured their last contracts just to hit the open market together this summer, the last under the current terms of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

“I expect us to compete for a championship,” Bosh told ESPN. “I think both Dwyane and I, we both wanted an opportunity where right away we would be competing.

“We’re ready to sacrifice a lot of things in order to do that. It’s not about the money. It’s not about anything else except for winning. I’m a winner. Dwyane’s a winner. We’re going to bring winning to Miami.”

For Wade, the decision came down to Miami vs. Chicago, adopted hometown vs. actual hometown.

The Bulls almost pulled it off, until Bosh said he was bullish on Miami.

“The good part of this was controlling your own destiny,” Wade said. “It really meant a lot to me, and I’m sure if you ask Chris or ask LeBron, they’d say the same. You have a say-so. You can control the destiny of where and what’s best for you. And it’s not many times in your life or your career if you’re going to have that. This is it.”