Bosh, Wade turning up Heat in Miami

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.

“It’s over,” Wade said. “It’s not all over-over, but for me, it’s over.”

James can’t say that yet.

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.

Now, the ball is in King James’ court.

“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.”

That was Heat president Pat Riley’s plan.

Around the NBA, the immediate reaction was that Miami is poised to be in the mix for the 2011 title.

“It just makes the East that much better,” Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said in Orlando, Fla., where he was watching summer league games.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was more succinct, lauding Bosh as “one of the best forwards in basketball.”

“I think they’re instant contenders,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt. They’re instant contenders to win an NBA championship.”

Wade’s summer of change is now almost complete. He settled four civil lawsuits stemming from failed business deals, finally completed a long-awaited divorce and was awarded temporary custody of his two sons. And the question he’d been hearing for years — staying or going? — has an answer.

It wasn’t easy.

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.”

Wade does not know what the terms of his contract will be (he could receive around $128 million for six years but said he would take less if necessary to make other deals work). Bosh doesn’t have terms of his deal done either. It’s all contingent on what James says tonight, and Wade insisted he knows nothing about what the two-time MVP will say or where he’ll be saying it from.

“I won’t speak to him again until he makes his decision,” Wade said. “And when it’s over, I will congratulate him.”

The Heat still have only four players in the picture for this coming season: Wade, Bosh, Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers. Miami is in discussions with several free agents, including Brendan Haywood, Mike Miller, Raymond Felton and Udonis Haslem — whom Wade has played with in all seven of his previous seasons.

“We’ll see what the best thing is for us to win,” Wade said. “I’m going to make a lot of money, no matter what happens. I’ve been blessed. I’m not counting every dollar and every cent. Let’s sit down, let’s see what the best thing is for us, for the long haul.”

Miami came into free agency with what turned out to be roughly $46 million of cap space, not including $16 million or so earmarked for Wade, thanks to years of avoiding just about any deal where money would have been committed for the 2010-11 season.

It was high-stakes poker, and Riley went all-in that he could get something done to make Wade happy.

Citing league rules, the Heat couldn’t express their glee Wednesday, since the NBA’s signing moratorium was ongoing.

Wade’s oldest son, however, isn’t bound by any restrictions.

Zaire Wade, 8, got woken by his father Wednesday with the news: Daddy’s staying in Miami.

“For real? Cool,” Zaire replied.

Wade knew he made the right choice.

“I felt great this morning, waking up knowing I’ve got another chapter behind me,” Wade told said. “Coming into the summer, I knew that I had a court case here, court case there, custody, all these things. Just took one step at a time, and this is another step in the journey of where I wanted to go, forward, not backward.”

LeBron’s decision going prime time: More than two years of hype, drama, conjecture and expectation have dwindled to a few more hours.

LeBron James’ big moment is here — not as an NBA champion but as a free agent. There will be no parade, no ring ceremony, no banner raising.

Instead, on a prime time made-for-TV special his handlers contracted with ESPN, James will announce tonight at 6 p.m. PDT where he’ll play next season and beyond. Fans from coast to coast will tune in to watch, with the ones in his home state of Ohio praying they won’t have their hearts broken again.

The Decision, it’s been dubbed.

In Cleveland, they can only hope it doesn’t join The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot and The Move in the lexicon of sports misery.

James has kept everyone waiting. It’s time to come clean.

James will announce his plans within the first 10 minutes of the special, said Norby Williamson, ESPN’s vice president of production. He said sportscaster Jim Gray, who was hand-picked by James’ team, will handle the introduction, announcement and initial questions. A person familiar with the plans said the interview will take place at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, Conn.

Boozer lands in Chicago: Carlos Boozer is headed to the Chicago Bulls.

A person familiar with the negotiations said that the two-time All-Star forward agreed to a deal and is leaving the Utah Jazz after six seasons. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract doesn’t become official until today, did not reveal the terms.

With about $30 million in salary cap room, the Bulls were looking to make a big splash in free agency after back-to-back first-round playoff exits. Adding Boozer strengthens their standing in the Eastern Conference — and maybe makes them more attractive to LeBron James, his former teammate.

Clippers choose Del Negro: The Los Angeles Clippers introduced Vinny Del Negro as their coach, two months after he was fired by the Chicago Bulls.

He takes over a Clippers team that went 29-53 last season and missed the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years.

Del Negro replaced Kim Hughes, who finished the season as interim coach after Mike Dunleavy stepped aside in February to focus on his GM duties before leaving for good in March.

Durant’s flash staying with Thunder: Kevin Durant didn’t go for a spectacle in announcing where he’ll be for the next five years.

Instead, Durant simply posted an update on his Twitter page, saying he’d agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant can’t sign the deal until today and team spokesman Brian Facchini said he could not confirm the deal under NBA rules.

The reigning NBA scoring leader is signed with the Thunder through next season under his original rookie contract, which would pay him about $5 million next year. Oklahoma City, which is well under the salary cap, could offer Durant more than two times that much, depending on where the cap is set for next season.

Durant’s spokeswoman, Mary Ford, said he will receive the maximum deal possible, $85 million over five years. She said the contract has no opt-out clause after the fourth year.

Allen returning to Boston: Ray Allen said that he agreed to a two-year, $20 million contract to return to the Boston Celtics.

Kings sign Cousins: The Sacramento Kings signed rookie center DeMarcus Cousins to a contract.

The No. 5 pick in the draft can earn about $7 million in the first two years of the deal, and the Kings have separate team options for the third and fourth seasons.

Salary cap higher than projected: The NBA salary cap for next season was set at $58.04 million, a higher number than projected.

The cap went into effect at 9:01 p.m. PDT Wednesday, ending the league’s moratorium period and allowing free agent contracts to be signed.

It’s a slight increase from this season’s $57.7 million cap, a surprise for teams considering what they were bracing for last summer.