You know that LeBron James billboard that recently went up here in Chicago? Well, the Miami Heat — not to be outdone by a private Web site — have unveiled their own billboard in honor of Dwyane Wade.
Anybody got a 35-foot ballpoint pen?
According to Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald: “The billboard along the 79th Street Causeway is just a few miles from Wade’s North Bay Village home, and is one he is likely to pass often. The billboard features an enlarged portion of a contract with the dotted line left blank. Dwyane Wade’s name appears directly underneath the line. The Heat is calling it the ‘Sign Here’ billboard. Should Wade re-sign with the Heat as expected, team officials will try to get him to also sign the billboard.”
Oh, and about that whole “re-sign with the Heat” thing, Wallace adds: “The Heat will officially offer Wade a six-year contract worth about $125 million just after midnight on July 1. No other team could offer Wade a contract for more years or money.”
But forget about the billboards and the money. Of all the big name free agents — Amar’e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, LeBron James, etc. — only Wade has repeatedly stated his desire to continue playing for the Heat…provided they significantly improve his supporting cast (which seems highly likely).
In fact, Wade recently said: “I think anyone who knows me knows what my message has been. I love the city and I love my organization. We just have to work to get it done.”
Going into this offseason, I actually thought there was a very real possibility Wade might want to return to his home city and play alongside Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. But his declarations toward the Heat and not-so-subtle swipes at the Bulls’ loyalty strongly indicate otherwise.
I’m a Wade fan. I think he’s one of the three or four best players in the league (to wit: he’s finished second only to LeBron James in Player Efficiency Rating the last two seasons). He’s won an NBA championship and earned a Finals MVP award. Wade is a certified superstar, and my secret hope has been to watch a Rose/Wade backcourt for the next five years.
However, the possibility of that seems more remote with each passing day. Based on how little buzz there’s been about Wade here in the Windy City, I’m guessing the Bulls’ front office folk realize that and are working all the other angles. That’s just speculation, of course. I don’t know. I’m not sure anybody knows.
Still…I wouldn’t suggest holding out any hope of seeing D-Wade in a Bulls jersey anytime soon.
I wouldn’t say it’s HIGHLY LIKELY that Pat Riley improves the Heat roster.
Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer would be FOOLS to leave their teams wihout doing a S&T.
Miami doesn’t have enough to get a S&T done for anyone of those guys.
As for LBJ, I can’t see him playing ROBIN to DWADE’s BATMAN in Miami. So, don’t look for LBJ to be suiting up in a Heat uniform anytime soon.
The bottom-line is this. If Wade wants to WIN, on and off the court, then the best move for him to make is to head back HOME to Chicago and play for the Bulls.
And don’t OVER-REACT about Wade’s LOYALTY comments.
He already down-played them saying that he was speaking as a CHILDHOOD FAN OF THE BULLS.
I’m sure he isn’t the only Bulls’ fan out there, who questions why Jordan and Pippen weren’t apart of the Bulls’ organization after they retired from playing.
That being said, he could know what I know. Pat Riley doesn’t have a lot of flexibility when it comes to improving his roster, unlike the John Paxson and the Bulls. So, trying to persuade other FA’s to come to Miami by questioning the Bulls loyalty could be a plan of attack.
Now, don’t forget that Henry Thomas, Dwyane Wade’s Agent, used the words, “Absolutely not.” when asked if Dwyane Wade has crossed Chicago off his list of potential FA destinations.
Sure, it looks like DWADE will re-sign in Miami, but it’s not July 8th yet. Things could chance once he comes to the realization that Chicago is the best place for him to ,in the ST and LT.
We dont need him.
umm i think your being abit too biased i would put miami tied for first or SLIGHTY ahead of bulls for best possible destinations now im a die hard bulls fan but im just facing reality here. For 1 if the heat resign wade then theres aligit SUPERstar already on that team
now the bulls have an allstar in rose but at this moment but rose is no dwade
im just hoping garpax can get a superstar (james) this offseason
@ C-Lo, Point taken. However, one superstar does not make a team great. Miami has almost nobody on their roster other than Wade that can be considered a solid contributor for a championship contending team. The Bulls have a young team comprised of Rose, Noah, and Deng, not to mention a very solid player in Gibson. So I think the bulls have a much more solid team than Miami does with much much more potential given their youth. But that is just my opinion.
This not at all a matter of opinion Savage,this is a fact speaking of Chicago having a totally more solid team than Miami because Chicago has so many more weapons build around it than Miami with Rose,Noah,Deng,Hinrich and Gibson in the mix.dwayne wade is all Miami has.GO BULLS.
He’s not signing with Chicago and it will be even more enjoyable whenever the Bulls stomp out the Heat time after time.
U know.. I wanted Wade really bad at first only because I thought James was for sure gonna stay in Cleveland until that sudden end to their season. But after those stupid comments by Wade and seeing how he wants to stay in Miami (but yet opting out cause he’s so loyal) for what I don’t know..that team is more than just one player away from anything special. Unlike our Bulls, Miami has a lot of needs to fill.
@savage
i 100% agree with you on that bulls have a better overall team
the point i wanted to get across is just that the heat’s team is only dwade on a night in night out basis just look what he was able to do this past season he singl handly took the heat to the 5th seed in a weak confernce
ok i need to stop this lovefest i have for wade i still hate him for bashing bulls
So what if dwayne fade totally hates the Windy City and this totally proud and storied Bulls franchise??????Let that man stay in South Beach and get thumped by Rose and Co. in round 1 of the postseason if they ever see each other again in round 1 or later in the postseason because Chicago will want to destroy Miami in the playoffs,especially after dwayne fade’s remarks about this organization’s loyalty to it’s current and former players that have always been totally false.Let Chicago thump him fade and co.e how like these Bulls swept them in first round of the playoffs back in 2007.dwayne fade HAHAHAHAHAHA LOL.GO BULLS.
The East has never at all been a weak conference there have been so many NBA titles won by the East because of their defenses, while the West has always been overrated because of stupid run and gun offenses.Boston has 17 NBA titles,Chicago has 6 NBA titles,Detroit has 3 titles to show for themselves and Miami with 1 NBA title in 2006,and these are all teams from the East,the East has always been a strong conference,especially with it’s storied history.That’s 27 NBA titles overall of teams from the East.
Apparently Wade and James are being approached by the Globetrotters: http://route19.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/james-and-wade-headed-to-harlem/
i stand by what i said about the east
and i meant recent memory not of all time just look at the standings in the west their 8th seed had 50 wins while in the east our bulls made the playoffs with 41 wins and it hasnt just been this season its multiple past seasons this has happend the east is solid1-4 but 4-8 is just a bunch of mediocre teams
True that C-Lo-The-Great,the East has been totally mediocore of recent memory,especially our Bulls because this Bulls team has not even tallied off at least 50 wins since their 6th and last NBA title back in 1998, and the highest number of wins this team has tallied off is just 49 since then.And yes, 4-8 seeds barely even reach 40 wins while 4-8 West seeds easily reach that feat of at least 40 wins and some 4-8 seeded from the West win at least games.You don’t even mostly see this from teams from the East,I mean rarely.
C-Lo_The_Great,
I never liked when people say the East is “weak” because the term “weak” is up for interruptation. The East in the last decade has not been “deep”, there isn’t much depth. But the East has always been top heavy. From 1-8 the West would be stronger overral but the east always had a couple of power house championship favorite teams at the very top. In the last 6 years the East actually has half of the championships. The Pistons, Heat and Celtics (and if KG didn’t get injured the C’s probably would have won last year making the total 4 in the last 6 years). In the East you have the Cavs, Magic, and Celtics. The East is top heavy while the west has more depth. So it’s how you want to define the word “weak”
@ C-Lo-The-Great and BULL4EVER
I agree, and I remember some d-bag on ESPN calling it the ‘Leastern Conference.’ I think most ‘stars’ the past 5-10 years want to play somewhere warm – there are few options for a warm climate in the East (Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta?), and most have an Allstar. The recent Detroit team was great for a long time, but records have shown a stronger Western Conference recently. Seems the West has ‘better’ and more bigs.
Ok let’s get back to the topic of discussion folks.Now just imagine this…the Bulls get neither Wade or James. So after saying that who’s really left? Think realistically. Bosh? Probably not. I see Bosh going with either Wade or James. The same could be said for Boozer or Amare. I think the Bulls will probably over pay for another player that has not proven himself worthy of leading a team to anything more then the playoffs. If the Bulls don’t get Wade or James then this free agency was a bust. Getting Joe Johnson, Boozer, or Amere will not get us a championship and isn’t that what we all want here?
well assuming we dont land a mega star i still like our chances if bulls do land joe johnsen they would still have enough cap to sign some quality guys (i think) drose will be a year better the progression of noah gibson and james johnson should benefit us greatly and the main thing i look at is we are able to keep lu deng & hinrich now i dont mind trading either for making the bulls a better squad but both are proven veterans that we know what their able to do
then agian having bosh and lebron doesnt hurt
F*** Wade who care about him! I rather take Lebron James (face ass lol)
If we don’t get either James or Wade..I wouldn’t say our offseason is a bust, that’s crazy..u can’t force guys to play for our Bulls. It is what it is, I’ve already takin Wade out of the equation.. if he wants to be stupid and stay in Miami with that crap of a team then so be it, getting one player is not gonna make them title contenders year in and year out.
Even though the guy pissed me off with all his taunting and showboating against our Bulls..I’m hopin for James, not because of just what he’ll bring to our team but what him and Rose could do together. In my eyes with James Rose is still the main guy. But to say this offseason would be a bust if we don’t get certain guys..it’s oh well, if these FA’s wanna win then Chicago is their best choice. Period.
I agree, F… Wade! I understand he is having some drama issues with his x-wife and kids here in Chicago but, he does not have to disrespect the Bulls organization like that by saying we are not a LOYAL organization.
I rather take make changes by trying to sign Lebron James this summer starting from: July1-July16 to give me an accurate answer. If he say no then so be it. I would then go after Chris Bosh, David Lee, Rudy Gay and others right way by not wasting to much time on Lebron James.