With the committed to being one of the worst teams in the NBA this season and Dwyane Wade set to turn 36 in January during his 15th year in the league, it never made sense for him to spend a second season in the Windy City.
And Sunday night, hours before reporting to training camp, he and the Bulls came to an agreement on a buyout on the final year of his contract, league sources confirmed to The Washington Post, before Wade himself confirmed the news on Twitter a short time later.
By taking somewhere around an $8 million haircut off his $23 million contract for the upcoming season, Wade now gets the opportunity to choose his next team.
He’ll have no shortage of options. His former team, the , will be one option, as will the , and because of his friendships with , Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, respectively. The could also be a possible destination given the organization’s championship pedigree.
So where will Wade wind up? And, perhaps more importantly, where should he? Here’s a ranking of those five possible destinations, from worst fit to best:
5. Miami Heat
Going back to Miami would be a sentimental move. The Heat drafted Wade fifth overall in 2003 and he teamed with Shaquille O’Neal to win a championship in 2006 and then two more with James and Chris Bosh in 2012 and ’13. But wanting to return to South Florida is the only reason a reunion with the Heat makes sense.
For starters, of the five teams Wade is expected to consider, Miami is clearly the worst. The Heat is expected to be a mid-tier playoff team in the Eastern Conference this season, but it would be a mild surprise if it advances out of the first round, let alone truly challenges the Cavaliers at the top of the East. So if Wade wants to try to chase a championship, it can’t happen here.
On top of that, it’s difficult to see where there are minutes for Wade to play. The Heat already has Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson at point guard, and Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Rodney McGruder and Wayne Ellington to play at either shooting guard or small forward. Could Wade be an upgrade over some of them? Sure. But the Heat would likely want to employ him as a sixth man, and the combination of coming off the bench and playing for a mediocre team simply doesn’t add up unless it’s for purely sentimental reasons.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
Unlike the Heat, the Thunder has a chance to be an elite team this season after acquiring Anthony, and arguably are the best team in the West not named the Warriors. But there are two issues here: the presence of three ball-dominant players in Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Paul George, and a general lack of shooting on the Thunder’s roster.
It’s already going to be difficult to get Anthony, Westbrook and George enough shots. Considering Wade hasn’t had a usage rate lower than 26 percent since his rookie season, it’s hard to see how he could easily fit into the mix. Combine that with the fact that the Thunder already will be giving heavy minutes to two below average three-point shooters in Westbrook and Andre Roberson, and the idea of adding Wade into the mix further compromises an already difficult spacing situation in Oklahoma City.
So while the idea of adding a player of Wade’s talent would obviously be appealing, as well as another feather in the Thunder’s cap as it tries to take down Golden State, it’s a more awkward fit than one would initially think.
3. San Antonio Spurs
This would be an intriguing fit. Tony Parker is coming back from a quad injury. Manu Ginóbili is one of the few rotation wings in the league older than Wade. Those factors, combined with several inexperienced or uninspiring options at both the point and wing (Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes, Kyle Anderson and Derrick White, to name a few), creates a clear lane for Wade’s services with the Spurs.
Add in the mutual admiration between Wade and Gregg Popovich over their years of battling against one another, and this is a situation where both fit and need make a lot of sense for both sides. The lack of a state tax in Texas can’t hurt, either.
The reason it seems unlikely to happen, though, are the draws of playing with either Paul or James in similarly needy situations with Houston or Cleveland. For as much of a draw as there is to play for a team with the championship pedigree of the Spurs and a coach like Popovich, playing with one of Wade’s friends will likely be a bigger one.
2. Houston Rockets
From a pure basketball standpoint, this seems like the best fit. While Wade isn’t the good three-point shooter Mike D’Antoni would prefer in his guards, Houston has a clear need for a backup point guard behind Chris Paul and James Harden. If either needs to miss any time, the Rockets won’t have much of an option to take over.
Wade is still a good ballhandler and would be a nice secondary creator for the Rockets, even potentially allowing both Harden and Paul, excellent catch-and-shoot guys, to play off the ball at times if all three are on the court together. Factor in the lack of a state tax, his friendship with Paul and Houston being expected to challenge for one of the top spots in the West, and it makes plenty of sense for Wade to come here.
Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey is always capable of pulling off a move like this, and it certainly would be fun if Wade wound up in Houston. Still, it doesn’t seem like his next destination.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
It wasn’t a coincidence Wade and James were working out together recently — and publicly sharing videos of it. The longtime friends and former teammates have remained exceedingly close even after James left Miami, and a reunion has always been expected at some point in the future.
So why not now? Beyond the personal reasons, it makes plenty of sense from a basketball standpoint. With no timeline for Isaiah Thomas’s return to the court, the Cavaliers will be in need of some shot creators besides James. Derrick Rose will likely be the starter in Thomas’ absence, but he’s a subpar option. Wade, though, would not be. Wade would also be preferred ahead of both Richard Jefferson and Iman Shumpert on the wings for Coach Tyronn Lue, and would give the Cavaliers another battle-tested veteran in their quest for a second championship.
Unless Wade decides he can’t take a second straight season of Midwestern winters, he should sign with the Cavaliers sometime in the next few weeks.
