Will Dwyane Wade only spend one year with the Chicago Bulls? According to the 35-year-old guard, it’s possible, as he’s about to potentially enter free agency with an open mind.
Wade has a player option with the Bulls for 2017-18. Should he opt in, he’ll make just under $24 million during his second season with his hometown team and will become an unrestricted free agent the following year. And of course, if he turns down the option, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As of today, it sounds like Wade doesn’t have a clue what he’s going to do. Chicago got bounced from the postseason on Friday, and during his exit interview this afternoon, the 12-time All-Star told the press that he doesn’t even know what his main priority is yet as he prepares to make this decision.
“There’s so many different variables that come into play, especially for me at this point in my career,” Wade said after his exit meeting with the Bulls’ front office. “Like I said, I have a great luxury. I don’t need to ring-chase, but I can. It’s a great luxury to have if I want to do.
“Or I can be a part of passing down my knowledge to younger players. It’s either way. Whatever I decide, I’m going to embrace whatever role I have on a team. That’s sometimes being the second option. Sometimes I’m going to be the first. And sometimes this season, I had to be the third or fourth. It all changes, and you want to be the best at whatever role is presented to you. I’ve always been that way. It won’t change. That will always be me.”
Of course, Wade’s been in offseason mode for less than 24 hours, so there’s no way that he knows exactly what his plan is. But Wade seems like he hasn’t put any thought into this to the point that he’ll even consider ring chasing if he wants.
Wade also told the media that no one should expect him to make a decision anytime soon.
“I don’t know,” Wade said. “I don’t really go with the signs. I’m not a predictable person I don’t think. But I don’t know, it’s not a bad thing for me. I’m in a good situation, whether there’s a lot of options or not. I’m in a very good situation to where as a player you can decide what you want to do. And I have a lot of money to decide whether I want to take it or not. It’s not a bad thing — because I’ve worked my butt off for it over my career. But no rush in my mind. I don’t have to think about that right now. I got at least a month before my mind starts going there. So I’m just going to get away and let my hair grow a little bit, get a tan.”
Once Wade figures everything out on his end, he may end up being one of the more intriguing names in free agency depending on what that list looks like. If he wants to take less money and ring chase, odds are a bunch of teams will line up for his services. If he wants to get paid, that list of teams would be a lot shorter.
And obviously, if he decides to opt in with the Bulls, all of this is for naught and we’ll just wait to have this discussion next year.
(Via ESPN)
