Dwyane Wade is going to get bought out by the Chicago Bulls. The only questions are when — before training camp? during camp? early in the season? — and for how much?
When it happens, Wade will be an unrestricted free agent. LeBron James is confident he will come to Cleveland, and the Cavs are likely the front-runners. LeBron and Wade can chase another ring together.
But Miami is lurking, it’s where Wade has emotional ties. Udonis Haslem is pushing for that, he told the Palm Beach Post.“I would love to have him back, everybody knows that,” Haslem said. “Not only is he a great competitor, great teammate I learned a lot from but also a friend of mine, I consider him a brother.
“I just want Dwyane to be happy. This is the last lap for us both. We deserve to finish it the right way. Whatever makes him happy finishing his career. … hopefully it’s in Miami. I would love for it to be Miami. I want him to finish it right and have no regrets....
“We talked about finishing our careers together,” Haslem said. “We really want it to be the case. Plans change. So if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t put any strain on our relationship but it’s still a goal of mine. Hopefully we can end it that way.”
The Heat can create the roster space and have a $4.3 million room exception they can use on Wade. Cleveland is already at the max 15 people on the roster, although they are trying to trade Iman Shumpert and could make other moves to clear a spot. Still, the Cavs could only offer a minimum deal and would have to pay a healthy luxury tax on that (which Dan Gilbert likely would).
Other suitors could pop up as well when Wade is on the market. For now, Haslem is just doing his part (and it’s not tampering if a player does the recruiting).