The highly-anticipated wait is over, Dwyane Wade is expected to join the Chicago Bulls. First they need to clear salary cap room, but Wade will become a Bull.
Dwyane Wade will return home to the Chicago Bulls, according to The Vertical‘s Adrian Wojnarowski. Wade was considering signing with four other teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat.
Wade, 34, held meeting in New York with interested teams on Wednesday. He’s in New York for a Thursday morning television appearance as a guest host on Live with Kelly, according to the NBA’s Twitter.
Chicago was unable to meet with Wade on Wednesday because the Bulls’ flight kept getting pushed back. They ended up cancelling their flight and as The Vertical’s Wojnarowski reports, they were willing to meet with him on Thursday.
Sources: Bulls cancelled meeting, flight kept getting pushed back. If Wade is still serious, Chicago could travel to meet him on Thursday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2016
That meeting is no longer necessary. The Bulls must turn their attention to trading away the contracts of point guard Jose Calderon and sharpshooter Mike Dunleavy to make room under the salary cap to sign Wade.
Calderon is on an expiring contract that will pay him $7.7 million. He was acquired as a part of the trade that sent Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks.
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Dunleavy is owed $4.8 million for the 2016-17 season and holds a $5.2 million team option for the 2017-18 season.
Wade, who went to Richards High School in Oak Lawn, IL, has played 44 games in his career against the Bulls. He is averaging 21.2 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game over his career against Chicago.
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Now Wade will get to be the heralded hometown star. He joins a backcourt with superstar guard Jimmy Butler and point guard Rajon Rondo. That is a three-man lineup that definitely should not be taken lightly.
Wade adds a flash that the Bulls didn’t have, despite having one of the league’s best two-way guards. During his 13-year NBA career, Wade has made 12 All-Star appearances, been to the playoffs 11 times and won three NBA championships.
The Bulls, who missed the playoffs by two games last season, are now a threat to make the playoffs. They have work to do in order to become contenders to win the Eastern Conference next season, however.
The supporting cast currently consists of Robin Lopez, Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson, Jerian Grant, Bobby Portis, Doug McDermott and tony Snell who factor to get key minutes. But that could change to, as the Bulls look to put together a contending team.
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Wade is going home to the Bulls. They have work to do to clear space and finalize a contract with Wade, but the reality has set in, Wade will no longer be a member of the Miami Heat after spending 13 years there.
The Eastern Conference is shaping up to have a different landscape with the many changes that have happened this offseason.