Tonight, all the mystery will come to an end. The top free agent in the greatest free agent class ever will end the season of speculation.

At 10:00 pm, Lebron James will go on ESPN (TSN in Canada) and let the world know where he plans to sign.

From the beginning the speculation on LeBron James’s final destination has been in flux. Early on it appeared he was destined to leave the small market of Cleveland and the bright lights of New York or New Jersey would be tough for him to turn down. Then it was speculated that James and Chris Bosh would join forces in Chicago. Later indications were coming out that he was leaning toward staying in Cleveland where he grew up. Now only hours from when he will declare his intentions to the world, reports are coming out that he is planning on joining the Heat to form, quite possibly, the best trio in NBA history.

This entire NBA season has been little more than preamble to the free agency season. Despite a great NBA Finals pitting legendary rivals, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, highlight shows still somewhat split their coverage between a fantastic seven game series and the post-season escapades of James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.

There was the talk of the free agency summit to be held between those three, and the subsequent responses from the second tier free agents (Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, and Carlos Boozer) that they would be attending the first annual NBA Free Agent Superstars Conference.

I say second tier, but really you could argue they are a third tier, as LeBron James could be on his own level. That is not to take anything away from Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but King James seems to be a tick above either of them in terms of global status.

Following a holiday weekend filled with suitors making their pitch to the holy basketball trinity, LeBron James remains the last of the big fish on the market. Joe Johnson was the first of the sought after free agents to drop, choosing to re-sign with the Hawks even before the weekend.

Stoudemire agreed to go to the New York Knicks, most likely in an attempt by the Knicks to put together an appealing supporting cast to lure James. Bosh came out on Wednesday and said he’d be joining Wade in Miami, leaving LeBron as the final member of the upper tier. Not long after Carlos Boozer came to an agreement with the Chicago Bulls, and has said he would try and entice James into joining him and Derrick Rose.

So now it all comes down to James. All the upper level free agents have picked their spot for the next few years. I am sure they would all love to have James join them. There has been speculation from the very beginning with experts saying they had sources indicating where James would end up, the latest being the Heat rumours. But James has seemingly done a great job of keeping his intentions to himself. The latest could just be another example of an overzealous analyst finding substance in nothing, or it could be true.

The speculation is building to a climax and no one will be 100% certain until we hear the declaration from the King himself.

Joel MacDougall lives in Halifax and writes about all sports local and abroad. Follow Joel on twitter @jmdougall.