After spending his first 13 NBA seasons in Miami, Dwyane Wade made the move to Chicago this offseason, signing a two-year deal with the Bulls. However, it certainly wasn’t the first time the 12-time All-Star considered joining his hometown team. As Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com details, Wade admitted this week that he nearly signed with the Bulls in 2010, but ultimately remained in Miami when it became clear that Chicago could only add two players out of the Wade/LeBron James/Chris Bosh trio.
“I mean, this is a place I wanted to play,” Wade said of Chicago. “It was a place LeBron also loved. We loved the city of Chicago. It’s a great market as well. Obviously, the sunny sun of Miami is great too. We had two great choices. It pretty much boiled down to what we felt we could build. … Chicago was very tempting from a standpoint of what they had on the roster when it came to young talent. But when it came to the point Miami was able to get three players, that changed the whole dynamic of the summer.”
With Wade now less than two weeks away from making his regular-season debut as a Bull, let’s check in on a few more notes on the former Finals MVP and his new team…
- While his experience in Miami perhaps colors his views on the issue, Wade also said this week that he believes super-teams are “great” for the NBA, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. “At the end of the day, whether you dislike the Heat or you loved the Heat, you was tuning in to watch the Heat, right?” Wade said. “Same thing with Golden State.”
- Most teams view a championship as the perennial goal, but Wade is being a little more pragmatic about the Bulls’ goals this season, Goodwill writes in another CSNChicago.com piece. “When you’re coming off a season where as an organization you don’t make the playoffs, your goal can’t be winning a championship,” Wade said. “It would be unrealistic to say, ‘Oh, we want to win a championship.’ Of course we do. But it’s so many steps before you get to that.”
- Wade and Rajon Rondo were the Bulls’ most notable free agent additions this summer, but they weren’t the only guards signed by the team. K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune takes a closer look at free agent signee Isaiah Canaan, who is trying to adjust his game to better suit the club.
- Bulls will incorporate yet another new guard this season, in Denzel Valentine, and Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders says that the first-round rookie is an ideal fit for the team.