Professional basketball is not big around here.

Why should it be? Pittsburgh is an NBA-free zone. The closest team is in Cleveland. Pitt basketball is king.

A case could be made that high school hoops would be a bigger draw in Western Pennsylvania than a professional team.

Even though the city is opening a state-of-the-art arena capable of sustaining an NBA franchise, there is no hope of one moving to Pittsburgh.

Still, it's hard for even the casual NBA fan to ignore the fact that this summer will change the landscape of The Association forever.

This radical change began three years ago when LeBron James turned down a max contract offer from the Cavaliers for a three-year deal.

Dwyane Wade with the Miami Heat and Chris Bosh with the Toronto Raptors opted for similar deals.

It was all engineered for this summer, the biggest free agent class in NBA history.

Franchises began planning for this summer shortly after James, Wade and Bosh signed those deals.

Executives quickly checked to see how much cap money could be shed with the hopes of landing one — or even two — of these big names.

Now, it appears, Miami could land all three.

No wonder Pat Riley wants to coach again.

The Boston Celtics proved an NBA team can completely turn around its fortunes with one great offseason.

In the 2006-07 season, the Celtics won just 24 games.

But after acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to go with Paul Pierce, Boston went 66-16 in 2007-08 and won the NBA title.

Miami could be on the verge of an even bigger "Big Three." A team with James, Wade and Bosh would be an instant contender.

The three have made little secret of the fact they wish to play together. They planned a sort of free agent summit meeting to map out their strategy.

The only stumbling block could be James and his ego — and how much he wants to hold the league hostage.

Should James team with Wade and Bosh and win an NBA championship, he will be saddled with the perception that he couldn't win a title on his own.

Kobe Bryant went through that same stigma with Shaquille O'Neal.

Also, James is from Ohio and has said numerous times how fond he is of Cleveland.

Will that be enough to keep him in there? I don't think so. I think he'll bend to the allure of playing with two other superstars.

If it happens, it will be interesting to watch them succeed — or fail.

Mike Kilroy is staff writer for the Butler Eagle.