Wade on future: 'I'm not a predictable person'
On his way out of the Advocate Center after his first season with the Bulls, Dwyane Wade stopped to have a long conversation with reporters and kept everyone guessing about his future.
Wade has an option to stay with the Bulls next season for $23.8 million. It's unlikely he'd land that type of salary with any other team if he became a free agent, and switching teams would likely mean his kids changing schools again. Logic suggests a return to the Bulls, but Wade didn't accept that premise completely.
"I don't really go with the signs, I'm not a predictable person," Wade said Saturday. "I don't know. It's not a bad thing for me. I'm in a good situation. As a player, you can decide what you want to do.
"I have a lot of money to decide if I want to take it or not. It's not a bad thing, because I worked my butt off for it over my career, so no rush in my mind. I don't have to think about it right now. I've got at least a month before my mind starts going there. I'm just going to get away and let my hair grow a little bit, get a tan."
Wade, 35, has made no mention of retiring, but did remain open to the possibility of adding a fourth NBA title to his legacy.
"I don't need to ring chase, but I can. It's a great luxury to have if I want to do," he said. "Or I can be a part of passing down my knowledge to younger players."
If Wade decides to stay, the Bulls will have some money to spend on free agents this summer - roughly $17 million if they keep Rajon Rondo, $30 million if they don't. Is it possible Wade will use his influence to help improve the Bulls' roster. That plan worked like a charm when he played for Miami.
"I don't know," he said. "It happened at a time in Miami where it just so happened one of my good friends (LeBron James) is one of the best players to ever play the game of basketball on the planet. And something great happened out of it. That was then. This is now. It's a different time.
"It's all about the picture that's presented to everyone here and what the goal and future is going to look like. It's not just about, 'Oh we have Dwyane'. Dwyane ain't going to play that much longer, not forever. So it's a different time, a different situation."
It's a far-fetched scenario, but another one of Wade's best friends in the league, Clippers point guard Chris Paul, is expected to opt out and become a free agent this summer.
"When I did that the first time (in 2010), it was 'Let's win championships,'" Wade said. "I don't want to tell somebody to come here just to come here because I need a friend."
Speaking of friends, Wade offered praise for Rondo, once a bitter rival in the Miami-Boston days.
"I definitely really became a fan of Rajon as the season went on," he said. "It's always good to have another coach on the floor. I thought he was great with the young guys on the team. I thought he was great with understanding how to handle me and Jimmy (Butler)."
Wade also offered some strong support for second-year coach Fred Hoiberg. At the end of Friday's season-ending loss to Boston, some fans at the United Center chanted "Fire Hoiberg." Wade said he disagreed with the chant.
"Talent is very important. Talent makes all of us look better," he said. "Fred was dealt a young team and a team that didn't really have an identity. It was kind of unfair, in the sense, in his second year to get a whole new team and say 'be great with it.' It takes a while. It takes time.
"And he's still as a young coach learning the game and figuring things out himself. Everyone wants you to be the Cleveland Cavaliers. I thought as the season went on and I watched Fred, I watched the coaches, I thought they did as good as they could with the hand they were dealt."
At this point, it doesn't seem likely the Bulls would trade Butler this summer and opt for a complete overhaul. If that happened, Wade is probably out the door for sure.
"Well, obviously it is a Dwyane Wade decision. Jimmy is, you know, a huge component in me being here," Wade said. "Everyone knows that Jimmy's my guy, and I'm here because of our conversation (last summer)."
Wade did say he wants to hear about a clear direction for the team's future from the Bulls management team of John Paxson and Gar Forman.
"I want it smack dead in my face, of how it's going to be," Wade said. "What's their thought of what my role or position could be here? All of it. It's not just one-sided. … I look forward to the opportunity where we sit down and have that face to face about what both sides want to do."
Options are usually settled by June 30. Free-agency begins on July 1. Wade said he'll have that meeting whenever Paxson and Forman are ready. For now, we wait.
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