It doesn’t sound like NBA free agency will feature Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade this year.
Wade has a player option and could hit the open market, yet a cool $24 million might convince him to do otherwise. Here’s ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne on the matter:
Wade has until June 27 to inform the Bulls of his decision. After the season, sources said, Wade told the Bulls he had no interest in being part of a rebuilding situation, if they chose to deconstruct a team that gave the Boston Celtics a strong challenge in the first round of the playoffs this year.
As we noted recently, the Bulls are taking phone calls for Jimmy Butler in large part because teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers keep making offers.
Obviously, the Bulls dealing Butler would mean Wade waves the city goodbye and goes to contend elsewhere.
Wade leaving never seemed realistic anyway. The Bulls paid the 35-year-old guard incredibly well so he wouldn’t and the team got back 18.3 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting, the former the worst mark of his career since his rookie season and the latter his worst overall.
Some will point out the Bulls challenged the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the playoffs, but those Celtics were gifted the seed and Chicago’s production clearly centered on the health of Rajon Rondo and nothing more.
Translation—if the Bulls decide to blow it up, they’ll be more than happy to see Wade come off the books.
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