LeBron, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving are definitely over Pippen in the All-Time SF list and players like Worthy, Wilkins, Barry can ''steal'' Pippen's 6th spot...
In SGs, it's clear to me that Wade is number 3 behind MJ and probably Jerry West. Also, Miami is clearly D-Wade's team which makes it even harder for LeBron to claim the Number One title...
Big 3's first season was successful even if haters want to say the opposite. Miami was 2 games far from the championship. There is no opponent that can beat them in the East (4-1 the Celtics, 4-1 the Bulls).
By acquiring Dalembert and ex-superstars like Redd, Ford or T-Mac Miami automatically improves in terms of regural season wins. So, I'm not optimistic when I say the MVPs are close, quite realistic I would say...
LeBron won't have to make the step you mentioned because of his size. If he feels that his athletic ability is overshadowed by his age he will develop a post game using his size (which is not hampered by age)