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On Wednesday evening, noted NBA reporter extraordinaire Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bombshell into the laps of Miami Heat fans, Chicago Bulls fans, and Marquette Golden Eagles fans everywhere.
Dwyane Wade has informed the Bulls he plans to sign a deal with them, sources tell @TheVertical. Bulls sending out contracts now.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 7, 2016
Marquette icon Dwyane Wade has played every single one of his over 30,000 career minutes wearing the black and red of the Miami Heat after being drafted fifth overall by the team in 2003, but he’s trading that in for the red and black of the Chicago Bulls starting this fall. CSN Chicago’s Vincent Goodwill is reporting that Wade’s contract is for two years, and will play the Chicago native $47.5 million.
This is significant news for Marquette fans for more reasons than just the uprooting of the most successful pro to ever play for the Golden Eagles. Wade, who won 3 NBA Championships and a NBA Finals MVP with the Heat, will be teaming up with former Marquette forward Jimmy Butler in Chicago.
Between Wade and Butler, the Bulls are going to corner the market on players who have been to Real Chili.
— Rob Hart (@RobHart1980) July 7, 2016
Wade also gets a chance to be a spiritual replacement on the Bulls roster for the now traded Derrick Rose. Both Rose and Wade are Chicago natives, with Wade coming from Robbins High School, while Rose attended Simeon Academy. With one year remaining on his contract, the Bulls solved the apparent friction between Rose and Butler over who was the alpha dog by dealing Rose to the Knicks. Wade will replace Rose as the hometown guy on the roster, but at 34, with 13 somewhat injury plagued NBA seasons behind him, it seems clear that Wade will be taking a back seat to Butler in Chicago.
There is one final aspect to this acquisition by Chicago that we have to acknowledge. The Bulls are coached by Fred Hoiberg, and if you’re only a casual NBA fan and you’re saying, “hey, that name sounds familiar,” well, you’re correct. Hoiberg just finished his first season at the helm in the Windy City after coaching Iowa State for five seasons. Yes, THAT Fred Hoiberg, and THAT Iowa State, the same coach and place that attracted the attention of Jameel McKay, Deonte Burton, and Nick Noskowiak after they had decided to end their time (or in the case of Noskowiak, just their association) with Marquette. We got to joke about Hoiberg taking a job coaching a former Marquette player in Butler last summer, and now this year, we get to tap the keg on all the “Hoiberg recruited ANOTHER former Golden Eagle” jokes you can shake a stick at.