5 Greatest NBA Free Agency signings since 2010

#4 Miami Heat re-sign Dwyane Wade while signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh (2010)

The summer of 2010 was hotter than the Miami Heat’s nickname suggests about the team’s locale and the four very successful seasons that would follow. Under the leadership of Pat Riley, a man known for winning in the NBA, the Miami Heat would pull off a trio of free-agent signings that saw the Heat a dance partner in four consecutive NBA Finals and a winner in two straight.

July 7th, 2010 will be remembered as perhaps the beginning of one of the greatest single off-season free agency hauls any team in any pro sport has ever pulled off. It started with an announcement that day that Dwyane Wade would be returning to the Heat by signing a new contract, his third with Miami. However, Wade’s re-signing also came with the news that his 2003 Draft Class friend, Chris Bosh, formerly of the Toronto Raptors, was joining Wade in Miami.

The electric news did not end there for Miami Heat fans as 24 hours later it was announced in a televised one hour special known as “The Decision” that fellow 2003 Draft Class friend and colleague and perhaps the game's best player, LeBron James, was leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat also. This gave Miami a roster that would be built around 3 of 2003’s 5 best draft picks all in their primes and until this union, all three were franchise players.

These signings ultimately led to Miami losing the 2011 NBA finals to Dallas, winning the 2012 and 2013 titles against the OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs respectively, and finally losing to the Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals after which LeBron James returned to Cleveland.