Well it finally happened.
According to Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Bulls and Dwyane Wade and have reach an agreement on a buyout.
This has been coming for some time, as it does not make sense to have Wade in the fold for a young Bulls team moving forward. Both sides seem to have been at a stalemate for some time as Wade’s salary is $23.8 million for the upcoming season.
Wade will now be free to move to another team, and many people think that he will be headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers to join his pal LeBron James.
Via Twitter:
The Bulls and Dwyane Wade have reached agreement on a buyout, per sources.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) September 25, 2017
Sources: Cleveland, San Antonio and Miami are leaders for Dwyane Wade post-Bulls buyout. OKC could become factor too.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 25, 2017
What do teams have to offer Dwyane Wade?
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) September 25, 2017
MIA: $4.2M
SAS: $3.3M
CLE: $2.5M
OKC: $2.3M
The minimum for Wade is $2.3M
Dwyane Wade gave back approximately $8M of his $23.8M salary to reach buyout agreement with Bulls, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 25, 2017
The Cavaliers are over the cap, so the only deal Wade would be able to sign at the moment would be for the veteran minimum.
The full banana boat crew of Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Lebron, and Wade were not been able to get on a single team this offseason, so Cleveland does seem to be the most likely option.
What Wade can bring to the Cavaliers is another question. Cleveland has relied heavily on Richard Jefferson over the past two years, so it’s not out of the ordinary for them to use a veteran often. Wade has certainly declined in recent seasons but his per-100 possession statistics show he could still be useful for a championship-level team needing a bench ball handler and scorer.
Whether he would accept that role is another thing altogether, and if role is important to Wade moving forward he could end up in a different place than with James in Cleveland.
San Antonio is another interesting place for him to land, although so to is back home in Miami. We still have yet to see where Wade will sign, but this is just yet another item to declare this NBA offseason the greatest of all-time.