With LeBron James and Dwayne Wade easily being the ’Big Two’ during the free agent bonanza that this summer has become, individually, they may not be the most critical.

The free agent list has a few good to great wing players.  Accompanying James and Wade in this category would be Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson and the newly-filed, Boston Celtic forward Paul Pierce.  Odds are that Pierce will stay put, but Johnson is certainly looking at options outside of Atlanta.

While James and Wade can be viewed as A+ options for directing a franchise toward instant contender status, Johnson would probably register as a B.  But in the frontcourt, there’s seemingly one player who mentioned as the sidekick to the stars – and that’s Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh. 

Bosh has indicated that he desires to be the premier, franchise player on whatever team he chooses.  For him, that is absolutely the correct thing to say.  He shouldn’t jeopardize his worth to competing organizations by admitting what we all know as the truth – that he would not be able to carry a team into the postseason on his own merits.  The 6’10″ power forward needs a multi-skilled wing player to get to the next level – and we’ve already seen that the player needs to be considerably better than Hedo Turkoglu.

So why is Bosh any more valuable than, say, Carols Boozer?  Or even Amar’e Stoudemire?

In a word, versatility.

If Bosh lands in Miami, he could be reunited with Jermaine O'Neal.

When compared to Boozer, Bosh has true PF length.  Bosh’s range on jumpers extends a little bit deeper as well.  And Boozer is vertically challenged and not a threat to block shots.  Don’t get me wrong: Boozer is a hard-nosed, grind-it-out player.  Every team needs those type of players.  But they don’t need to pay them big time money, either.

Stoudemire is very explosive, but his overall game lacks the refinement of Bosh’s.  The two have comparable size, but Bosh is more willing to get tough rebounds.  Bosh also does a better job of playing containment defense, an area where Amar’e seems to lack focus at times.

Also, when considering this as a long term investment strategy, the age of the three contestants must be taken into account.  Carlos Boozer is 28 years old.  Amar’e Stoudemire is 27.  Bosh is only 26.

Professional sports is all about mismatches and players’ abilities to capitalize on them.  If a team is going to invest in a player the caliber of James, Wade or Johnson, it only makes sense to solidify that investment by ensuring that his supporting cast can also generate some advantages.  Bosh’s versatility makes him the best candidate to fulfill that requirement.

There are already numerous reports of the frontrunners in the free agent chase – New York, Chicago and Miami – all attempting to secure Bosh’s services in hopes that it will set them up for at least one of the ‘Big Two.’