Yesterday, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade talked to ESPN’s Michael Wilbon about trying to create a team of Super Friends in Miami. What interested me most was what Wade had to say about the Bulls.
From the transcript on TrueHoop: “I get teared up a little bit thinking about the opportunity I had. … Chicago, that’s my home. That’s where my heart will always be … unfortunately it didn’t work out that I’m in Chicago, but Chicago is my heart. And it will always be. … It was, it was a time where things kind of swinged, and it played on my emotions a lot, because I am a family oriented person and everyone heard the stuff about my kids. That was going to be my final decision. Of course, I want to be just like every man in the world, you want to be the best dad possible. You want to have every moment with your kids.”
If what Wade said is true — and I’d like to think he wasn’t talking about his kids just to heighten the personal drama — then the Bulls had a very real chance to lure him to Chicago…probably with Chris Bosh in tow. And based on what Wade had to say about salary, I don’t think taking a little less cash would have been an issue.
Said Wade: “This decision right here is about winning, and it’s about winning multiple championships. So as we came on, this is not a money situation. I’m not opposed to taking less money than what’s that max number. This is not about the money. … “I’m going to make a lot of money, no matter what happens. I’ve been blessed. I’m not counting every dollar and every cent. Let’s sit down, let’s see what the best thing is for us, for the long haul.”
In other words, the Bulls not having enough cap room to offer two max contracts apparently wasn’t the deciding issue. So Wade’s heart (and possibly his children) is in Chicago and a couple million here or there wasn’t a problem.
What happened? No, really. What happened?
To the outside observer, it sure looks like the Bulls had a legitimate shot at landing Wade, who’s no worse than the third or fourth best player in the league (depending on your standards of greatness). Once they realized that was the case, why didn’t management go all out to sign him? I mean, just imagine a lineup of Derrick Rose, Wade, Luol Deng, Bosh and Joakim Noah. That’s a team that could dominate the Eastern Conference.
Like, for the next decade.
And even if they didn’t nab Bosh, they probably still would have signed Boozer and the same prediction applies.
I ask again: What happened?
I can only see two possibilities. Either 1) Wade is posturing to add drama to the moment, or 2) the Bulls chose to wait for LeBron instead of immediately snapping Wade up. Can’t you just see Gar Forman saying, “It’s great that you want to come here, Dwyane. And we’d love you to…we just need to see how this LeBron situation pans out first.”
If that’s the case, no wonder Wade decided to stay in Miami. And what were the Bulls thinking? Unless LeBron told management during their meeting that he was absolutely, positively coming to Chicago, then there’s no excuse for not jumping on the Wade opportunity with some serious gusto.
Of course, this is all conjecture. Maybe Wade is suffering from selective memory. Maybe the Bulls really did make hot pursuit behind the scenes. We may never know. But still…it’s a pretty big “What If” for the Bulls and their fans to live with if — as expected — LeBron ends up somewhere else.
Oh well. It’s all in the past now. The Bulls have their inside scorer. It’s time to fill in the rest of the roster and start thinking about the team’s future.
Okay, maybe we’ll wait until LeBron makes his announcement tonight…
“Takecare you losers,Murderers and currupt Governors, no need to come on here and school you scrubs on why LBJ came to Miami and not Chicago. He pretty much said it himself…” -Riq80
No, he didn’t come to Chicago cause of that statue outside of the United Center..he couldn’t compete with the G.O.A.T!
Sounds like Riq80 is really hatin on the Bulls because we took away his only chance of his Heat going back to back when we beat the shit out of the Heat and swept their asses in 2007. Ur still bitter about that aren’t u? Just let it go…
OOOOHHHH,So we have totally idiotic heat fans totally hating these damn good old boys from the Windy City with comment No.51 invading our message board.These Bulls will destroy these fools in the postseason just like they beat em down to the wire by sweeping em in 2007,and I can guarantee anyone that loser dwayne fade will get busted right in his grill if he ever walks up to Boozer or Noah and totally shoots his mouth off when they get together in the upcoming NBA season. GO BULLS BABY
Will there ever have been a team with a bigger target on their back now? It . is . on .
My concern is that many quality players/role players would love to play with the combo of Wade, Bosh & LeBron and might take the minimum to do so. Hopefully the Bulls will fill their roster holes as quickly as possible before Miami scoops up the best of the rest.
MIAMI WILL WIN NBA TITLE?…….BUT THEY HAVE NO CONSISTENT OUTSIDE SHOOTERS. MARIO CHALMERS SHOT 31% FROM THREE POINT LAND LAST YEAR AND 40% OVERALL. THAT SUCKS. TEAMS WITH GOOD DEFENSIVE STRATEGY WILL EXPLOIT THIS. MAYBE HIRING TIHIBODEAU WAS A SAVY MOVE BY THE BULLS BECUASE OF TIHIBODEU’S REPUTAION AS A DEFENSIVE GENIUS.
Can I vent for minute?
1) Kudos to Bulls Gar/Pax. Over the past year and a half, they made all the right moves. And, they’re the only team, other than Miami, of course, to have gotten better after all this. They are now one of the top three teams in the east. Good job. Booze was a good signing, and I was glad to hear that they’re already speaking to the available shooters around the league. I’d like to see them explore some trade options and not stay all in on free agency. It’s played at this point.
2) I don’t want to hear another media person, who’s been reporting on free agency all summer, criticize LeBron’s decision to milk this for all it was worth…As their popularity and bank accounts grow just from being slightly related to this story. You’re getting paid, and on TV, telling me you’d rather not be…KMA!
3)The Decision–the show–again was a good idea that raised money for a good cause. I don’t even know what my wife was planning to watch that evening, but 10mins to 8 I turned to ESPN and hid the remote. The actual decision bothers me a bit. In my opinion LBJ has just voluntarily taken himself out of “the conversation.” There’s no way he can have a better place in NBA history than (Robbins, IL’s own) D. Wade–unless D. Wade retires a few before LBJ, AND LBJ continues to win rings. It just feels…weak…for lack of a better term. I wanted him in the Chi, but the only decision I couldn’t respect was Miami.
4)Since the first time I saw LBJ in HS, I’ve compared him to Magic. Maybe we get to see that version of LBJ which will ultimately be a good thing for the game. He’s my PG on this super team. He facilitates for everyone else, which will make for exciting…and pretty (old school term)…basketball.
5)The Kobe factor: I think “The Decision” is the direct result of the media over-selling Kobe’s legacy. The majority of his rings were won as Robin to the single most physically imposing Batman in the history of the NBA. In the clutchest of moments it was D. Fisher and R. Horry who stepped up to save the day. His 4th-qtr-biggest-of-games-free throw % is horrible. All of his rings needed one of the league’s best big men (generally considered the main building block of great teams, except for in Kobe’s situation for some reason). LBJ said himself, he knows the history of the game, and if you win a lot of rings the talking heads will put you in “the conversation” with Mike… deservedly so or not. I’m not a Kobe hater, but promoting him as potentially the greastest is just a gross exaggeration of what he has meant to the championship teams he’s played on. And, LBJ deserves the same overrating when he wins multiple rings with the superteam.
6)I haven’t disliked a team this much since the Pistons!
7)Cavs owner Gilbert disgusts me! He has already profited more from LBJ’s basketball talent, than LBJ can reasonably expect to profit himself. And, he still has the audacity, not to mention lack of class and professionalism, to trash the person most responsible for whatever incrase in value the team has seen. LeBron doesn’t owe him, the team, or the City for that matter, a thing. In fact, they owe him. I can guarantee you this one thing: LeBron would’ve stayed if Cleveland’s offer included stock!
Bulls players don’t ever leave the Windy City because they have always believed in winning NBA titles in Chicago, where just about everywhere else is where players are running faster than cheetahs when they totally experience heartbreaking defeats all the time.lebron james should have signed with the Bulls if he truly wanted endless NBA titles in Chicago, or he should of even stayed in Cleveland if he truly believed in himself of winning NBA titles in Ohio,because Jordan and Pippen never left the Windy City until they started winning ultimate prizes and those two always had zero intentions of playing alongside Magic,Thomas,Malone or even Bird because those two always had the intention of dominating/beating those big bad boys down to the wire.I can guarantee anyone Rose and Noah won’t ever leave Chicago until they start winning titles in the Windy City just like Jordan and Pippen,Isiah Thomas who stayed in Mo-Town and won 2 championships in Detroit or even Paul Pierce staying in Boston until he gave those Celtics a 17th ring in 2008 and came close to winning another in 2010,not to mention Tim Duncan who stayed in San Antonio untill he won it all in 1999 and later won 3 titles since then.lebron james leaving those Cavaliers is just another shaquille oneal/kevin garnett/clyde drexler whom left their respective first teams, Minnesota,Orlando and Portland for rings in Boston,L.A and Houston.
This is good news for Miami!!
Looks like LeBron took the easy way out to me. Taking on the challenge of winning a title for his hometown in Cleveland would have been worth several championships with the new, stacked “Big Three” in Miami. He should have stayed the course in Cleveland, and his popularity would continue to soar, which automatically increases his income with more endorsements!
hey guys just puting this out there.. why not get michael redd from the bucks yea he is 30 but i think he still has some bball left in him? this guy is 21 plus a game when he is healthy. plus he is 6,6 not a bad pick up? what u guys think
Hey mike, Redd should be considered. The Bulls still need another PG, SG, combo G, 2 Cs, 1 F. I would also like to see Acie Law come back. I like the idea of bringing Brad Miller back as the 3rd C, I do not think he can be the primary backup. I believe that Noah will step up as the leader of the defense. I have heard that Rose is working on his 3 pt shot. More than ever now the Bulls will need a very strong bench. Gibson, I believe will challenge for a starting position and will surely be the first F off the bench for either PF or SF.
i agree boppinbob lets stack this team..
who will our guard me who can defend? reddick cost almost as much each year as Tyrus got, reddick cant play defense.
Cavs fan here folks, we all got taken for a ride. They’ve been planning this for YEARS. It was ALL a show.
Brings that LBJ choke job against the Celtics into a new light, no?
Sorry about Wade playing you guys. It’s STUNNING that he would use his kids to prop up the drama..utterly stunning.
I would agree with u guys on Michael Redd..and yes the Bulls are gonna take a look at him (He is on the list) along with Redick who we offered 3 years 20 million today as well (Magic have 7 days to match) but the problem with Redd is that he gets hurt. Every year he’s has a knee problem or tears his ACL. I wouldn’t mind him but more than likely..he’ll get hurt.
We need to look at some defensive guys as well..Matt Barnes??
good point trim3 but we should stack the crap out off this team.. i heard the magic would match any offer for redick?
@ Mike
Good, I hope the Orlando Magic match that offer the Bulls made for JJ Redick, I don’t want him!!! He plays the same style like: Kyle Korver. (a good 3 point shooter but, he is not a good defender.)
What the Bulls need is a balance of a good SG scorer (Kyle Korver we have him already) and a good SG defender like: Anthony Morrow, or Wes Matthews or Ronnie Brewer! to slow down great players from scoring like: Kobe, Wade, and others.
Then we mate have a chance of winning a championship title if everyone is healthy! lol
k i agree they have to go out and get them. but morrow already got an offer from the nets so we are not geting him.
I’d be very surprised if the Magic matches the Bulls offer of 20mil/3yrs for JJ Redick. If I were JJ, I would absolutely beg Otis Smith to not match for the chance to start and play significant minutes along side D. Rose and C. Boozer. JJ could become a modern day Jeff Hornacek when he averaged 15 pts a game playing alongside Stockton and Malone.
Wes Mathews is probably off the board as the Blazers made an offer for him: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5370235
Starting at over 9 million so we can forget about that. Ronnie Brewer does pretty decent defense but has no offensive game. With such a defensive specialist for a coach, I’m sure Thibodeau will be able to shape up JJ and Korver. I’m pretty certain that the Magic will not match because with the Chris Duhon signing they are roughly 13 million dollars over the luxury cap. That means their payroll is sitting at 96 million. If they match they’re probably looking at roughly 105-110 million. I mean do they really think Redick is worth 13-14 million a year? Probably not.
what is this why the heck are Miami fans or just no knowing basketball people talking hon here why don’t they take a match and strike it while they talking with there hot air cause the only thing the three stoogers are gonna win ever is fat contracts they will never have enough money to have any players on there team that will actually help them to be good enough to compete while CB$ and Dwade are hurt oops they forget they both always get injured so what will they do then on an already thin team. well I am gonna say it Da bulls are solid and they have three solid stars also which means this is gonna be a really great season for us fans here in Chicago so Heat fans stay on the beach and watch hot girls cause on the court only thing yr heat is gonna do is lose cause the east has stacked teams this year there are no easy games maybe only toronto but outside of that everyteam including the cavs and new york wont be easy to beat the cavs are ok without LBj so hope your ready to get your butt whooped in MIami lots Peace.
You said it, Reggie. It would appear that the Heat could not absorb even on big injury, let alone the normal slate of things that go wrong, especially with such high-minute starters.
Oops, I didn’t mean to be smiling, while I typed that …