NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls Check On Dwyane Wade

Before Jul. 12, 2014, the Miami Heat still had LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. With LeBron heading home to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Bosh likely off to join the Houston Rockets, Wade might be the lone survivor of Miami’s Big Three.

But if the Chicago Bulls have anything to say about it, the entire Big Three could be heading back to their respective homes.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Chicago Bulls are gauging Dwyane Wade’s interest in joining the Bulls and returning to his hometown of Chicago. The Heat are currently trying to re-sign Bosh to keep him in Miami, but Houston’s max offer and the chance to play on a true Western Contender may hold too great an appeal for Bosh.

Chicago would probably be able to offer Wade more money if they cleared out space in a similar way they were planning on doing for Carmelo Anthony (and are still planning on doing since Melo has not ruled out Chicago just yet). Wade recently opted out of the final two years and $42 million with the Heat and was going to take a pay cut in order to keep LeBron and Bosh in Miami.

Moving to Chicago would put Wade on a contender right away and not worry about Pat Riley‘s plans for the future as he enters the twilight of his career. Wade would be expected to score, but the Bulls’ offense would be more than happy with the 19 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game on 54.5 percent shooting he gave Miami this season (although he only played 54 games and spent most of the year resting).

However, even when LeBron joined the Heat, Dwyane Wade remained the face of the franchise. He helped bring Miami its three championships and selflessly took on the role of Robin when Batman came to town, furthering the fans’ love for him. You don’t just turn your back on that.

As soon as LeBron bolted for Cleveland, you can be guaranteed Pat Riley’s first priority was retaining Wade and Bosh. And according to Woj, the Heat are doing just that: