We make decisions every day based on our feelings and circumstances. Not all of our decisions always make complete sense, not even to us.
Dwyane Wade’s decision to sign with the Chicago Bulls last summer left the basketball populous completely confused, including yours truly. I found some solace in the idea of watching Wade’s influence on Jimmy Butler, even though they technically play the same position, which contributed to the confusion as to how this made sense as a reasonable basketball decision for the three-time champion.
Wade made it known that he had strong off-court motivations for joining the Bulls, returning to his home city that has suffered an ongoing streak of violence over the years. Would those motivations be leading him to finish out his career in Chicago?
Conventional wisdom suggests that Wade didn’t go to the Bulls thinking he would have a chance at competing for a championship. He did only sign a two-year deal with a player option for this summer, so I’m curious as to how he weighs his options going forward.
The Bulls have been as strange as advertised this season. The “three Alpha” crew of Wade, Butler, and Rajon Rondo didn’t thrive, the personnel otherwise is young and ill-equipped for heavy-duty warfare, and head coach Fred Hoiberg has been feeling the heat.
Wade recently had to defend Hoiberg by suggesting that Bulls management should more so be in question when it comes to the team’s struggles. It was reported that Wade, Butler, and Rondo often waive off Hoiberg’s play calls to do their own thing while on the floor. While that isn’t exactly uncommon for high-profile players to do at times, it only speaks further to the alleged disconnect throughout the Bulls organization.
I would expect this to bother Dwyane Wade.
If decisive structural change doesn’t happen quickly for the Bulls, Wade’s tenure in Chicago will diminish the significance of his last good basketball years. He’s been ruled out for the rest of this season with an elbow injury, shortening the window even more.
Is there a potential route to making the Bulls a contender with Butler and Wade at the helm? With the right overhead and luck, I might say yes. But I question why Wade would want to endure dysfunction and controversy during this final portion of his career. For those of us who’d like to see Wade go out on a high note, perhaps a bold move to the Spurs or Clippers would suffice. Goran Dragic has already co-signed on the idea of Wade finishing out his career back in Miami.
Wade definitely doesn’t need to go ring-chasing, and I understand his motives in signing with Chicago were about more than just basketball, but given the state of the franchise, does he really want to go out like this?
