NBA Rumors: Dwyane Wade Will Join The Cavs Or Heat For NBA Season, Stephen A. Smith Believes

The latest NBA rumors have focused on Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade and where he will play in the coming NBA season. The Bulls are a team that is officially rebuilding after making a deal with the Timberwolves to trade All-Star Jimmy Butler. Rajon Rondo also signed with the Sacramento Kings, leaving Wade all by his lonesome on a team that is mostly decent players with some new unproven talents tossed in. Among those talents are Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn who arrived via the Minnesota trade, and No. 7 draft pick Lauri Markannen from Arizona.

As ESPN‘s Nick Friedell indicates, for the 2017-18 NBA season, the Bulls were picked dead last in ESPN Forecast‘s recent projected standings. The Chicago Bulls have a clear plan moving forward to build from the ground up, so that means it’s highly unlikely Wade will stick around as the Bulls are “in the tank.” Friedell also notes that the Bulls are in a position to lose often this coming season just based on how their roster looks. The team’s top veteran star as of this report may be Robin Lopez, who isn’t terrible but isn’t an All-Star either. Wade is a star caliber player on an unworthy roster for his talents. So with the team rebooted for the future, it’s become clear that Wade will be probably be departing the scene, but where to?

According to ESPN personality and journalist Stephen A. Smith, it will be to only one of two teams. In a recent rant on ESPN’s First Take, Smith called it “shameful [Wade’s] on a team is in this state of affairs” with regards to the Chicago Bulls. Smith said that he expects “Dwyane Wade to be gone by the NBA trading deadline, if not before.” Smith added that it will only mean Wade goes to one of two places though: the Miami Heat or Cleveland Cavaliers.

Smith suggests that Miami Heat, Wade’s longtime team where he won three NBA championships are one of the frontrunners. He notes that Pat Riley knows he should never have let his star player walk. Smith also contends that Miami would have been in the playoffs if Riley had kept D-Wade on the team, as the Heat finished outside of the eighth spot. Wade’s new team, the Chicago Bulls, took that final spot due to a tiebreaker they held over the Heat.

The other team Smith suggests that Wade will go to is, of course, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are a team that any star who doesn’t join the Warriors in pursuit of a title might head to in order to try to win a ring. It would reunite Wade with his former teammate LeBron James sometime during the next season in which it’s already uncertain if point guard Kyrie Irving will even be on the team. The Cavs picked up former NBA MVP Derrick Rose during the offseason while the Irving situation remains on the backburner.

Smith actually believes that Dwyane Wade could head to the Cleveland Cavaliers just for the coming season as a “pit stop” to win another championship. After that run with LeBron James, who is rumored to be heading out to Los Angeles after this season, Wade would return to Miami to finish his career, Smith suggests. The moves make sense, as there aren’t a whole lot of other teams that seem logical for the longtime veteran to join at this late-stage in his career. Still, deals do take shape that nobody sees coming.

Other NBA teams look like they could also add in an experienced player like Wade for a stronger playoff push. These might include the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, and Oklahoma City Thunder, but would Wade choose any of these locations or be willing to take a lesser deal there? Each of these squads added another All-Star player to their rosters over the offseason. Houston added Chris Paul, Boston signed Jazz star Gordon Hayward, and the Thunder made a deal for the highly-coveted Paul George of the Pacers. Adding Wade would make a trio of talents on any of these rosters as each of these teams looks already destined for playoff success.

Wade could go to Miami or Cleveland next season, or it could be a surprise. The NBA basketball world was shocked when Paul George ended up being traded to Oklahoma City after months of speculation that it would be the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, or Los Angeles Lakers acquiring him. Will Dwyane Wade’s next team be just as surprising, or fit into the mold of what ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith suggests?

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