The Chicago Bulls and Dwyane Wade have agreed to part ways via a contract buyout. Wade (35) signed a two-year deal with the Bulls before the 2016-2017 season after spending the first 13 years of his career in Miami. He opted into the second year of his Bulls deal this past summer, a year which he was owed $23.8 million. The team entered rebuild-mode when they traded star Jimmy Butler to Minnesota during the draft and speculation of a Wade buyout came into the minds of many.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Wade gave back $8 million of his salary in the buyout agreement and will now be a free agent.
He will likely go to a contender, very possibly Cleveland to play with LeBron James again in attempts to get one last ring. This buyout is unsurprising considering Wade is getting old and didn't have a role on a rebuilding Bulls team in 2017-2018.
Wade's Bulls situation
Last year Wade played in 60 games in which he averaged 18.3 points per game and 3.8 assists. Wade also shot 43.4 percent from the field. Not terrible numbers, but a far cry from his in-prime numbers. His age and recent injury problems also benched him for a lot of games, and going into this year it was obvious that he would not play a full season, again meaningless on a team that may not win more than 25 games this year. It was an odd signing in the first place considering the Bulls' championship window closed years ago and signing a guy who was already aging, past his prime kept them only floating around .500 and nowhere near a title.
Last year's Bulls team went 41-41 behind Wade, Butler, and Rajon Rondo and basically was the epitome of mediocrity. It came time to rid the Bulls of aging veterans and trade what they could for future assets. While Wade is a future Hall of Fame player and one of the best shooting guards in history, his age and contract was not going to garner any trades of value.
It was lucky the Bulls could at least get some of that salary back with the buyout instead of having $23.8 committed to a guy who no longer serves a purpose.
Wade's future
Wade leaves Chicago (his hometown) with no bad feelings. He now can shoot for one last title, and according to Woj, the front-running suitors include Miami, Cleveland, San Antonio, and possibly Oklahoma City.
It can be easy to assume Cleveland and LeBron James, but Miami is where he raised his family which can also be a factor. Do not expect an answer right away, but he will be with a new team sooner or later.
Wade tells Tribune: "It was a dream for me to play in Chicago. We made playoffs. But org decided to go in new direction. I respect that."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) September 25, 2017
