Dwyane Wade won't be with the Chicago Bulls for long, at least that's what those close to LeBron James are saying.
Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon recently said on the "Wine and Gold Talk" podcast (per Dan Feldman of NBC Sports), "As of right now, people close to James are fairly confident that, at some point this year, Dwyane Wade is going to end up on the Cavs."
Last week ESPN.com's Nick Friedell mentioned that D-Wade could request a buyout from the Chicago Bulls and that "nobody would be surprised if he decided not to stick around for a season in the tank and instead chooses to reach a buyout agreement at some point in the next few months."
Per ESPN,
"Bulls GM Gar Forman said at the Las Vegas Summer League that he hasn't had any discussions with Wade's representatives about a potential buyout, but the widespread belief within the organization is that a deal that would allow Wade to play elsewhere will eventually get worked out at some point during the season."
After trading away All-Star guard Jimmy Butler this off-season, the Chicago Bulls are in rebuild mode aka "tank mode" where they will hope to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and give themselves the best chance at landing one of the highly touted college players who figure to be one-and-done, such as Duke's Marvin Bagley III or Missouri's Michael Porter Jr.
Either way, it looks as thought Dwyane Wade's days in his hometown of Chicago are over. However, NBC Sports' Dan Feldman suggests the Bulls could hang on to Wade until the trade deadline passes, in hopes of moving his $23.8 million expiring contract. Of course, if they can't find a trade partner and their out of the playoff race, as is expected, Chicago can move forward without a buyout, paving the way for D-Wade to reunite with LeBron in Cleveland.
For what it's worth, Andy Slater of 940-AM WINZ is reporting that Wade's kids are already out of Chicago and attending school back in South Florida. That's not to say Dwyane Wade is already plotting on his departure from Chicago, but you can read into that however you want.