Dwyane Wade’s meetings around the NBA have concluded and now most of the contenders are feeling optimistic that they’ll be able to meet the aging guard’s lofty demands.
Wade wants a contract of at least $20 million per season for three seasons and so far the Heat have been very reluctant to go that far on both dollar value and term. This has allowed teams such as the Nuggets, who’ve already offered Wade more than $50 million and the Bucks to come into the race and now even the Bulls feel like they have a shot as well, despite travel issues that kept them from attending their scheduled meeting.
So where does the situation stand after all of those meetings have finished?
Chicago remains significantly involved in Dwyane Wade pursuit, league sources tell @TheVertical. No meeting today has no bearing on status.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2016
Sources: In last few hours, Bulls calling teams to unload contracts, trying to create space to sign Dwyane Wade. Wade is serious about them.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2016
Those contracts, according to Woj, are for the recently acquired Jose Calderon as well as Mike Dunleavy Jr. At the moment, the Bulls have about $8 million in cap space, and should they clear those two contracts from their books, they’d clear about $12.5 million in space, which would give them enough room to sign Wade for his demands. But, the Denver Nuggets are also feeling that they have a good chance to sign Wade after their meeting with him.
On @790TheTicket …. @markkiszla tells us that his Nuggets sources believe they ended meeting with 50/50 shot at Wade
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) July 6, 2016
Wade recently met with Heat owner Micky Arison, and as the tensions between Wade and Pat Riley have grown over the past year or so, Arison had to step in to smooth over the cracks and attempt to end the acrimony. That lead to Wade’s one year $20 million contract for last season, but whether the cracks are too big to mend this time is up for debate.
I'm told Dwyane Wade's meeting with Micky Arison is over. No immediate resolution to report.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 6, 2016
And in Milwaukee, the Bucks believe that Wade is “very serious” about them, though they too have cap issues they’d have to deal with in order to sign the former Marquette star.
Bucks believe Wade is “very serious” about them. But they can’t offer him as much $ as Denver/Miami w/o trading player for pick(s).
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 6, 2016
So at the moment, the Heat, Bucks, Nuggets and Bulls are all confident that Wade will eventually sign with them, with no clear favorite at the moment. Stay tuned.
