Dwyane Wade is officially on the move. On Sunday night, Wade and the Bulls agreed to a buyout agreement, less than 24 hours before Wade was scheduled to start training camp with the team. Wade agreed to give up about $8 million of his $23.8 million salary, and in exchange, the Bulls bought him out and allowed him to now go out and sign with whichever team he wants for the upcoming season.
So where will Wade ultimately end up? That’s the question everyone is trying to answer right now—and it doesn’t sound like Wade has made up his mind just yet. But at this time, everyone seems to have a guess as far as where Wade will sign.
ESPN is reporting that the Cavaliers have emerged as the favorites to ink Wade to a deal, which would reunite Wade with his former Heat teammate and close friend LeBron James. The Cavaliers reportedly tried to make the reunion happen last summer, but the Cavaliers didn’t have enough salary cap space to work out a deal at the time.
But Wade and LeBron have kept in touch in recent weeks—they were spotted working out together in early September—so there is a lot of speculation about Wade potentially signing with Cleveland. And that speculation was ramped up on Sunday night after LeBron "liked" an Instagram post suggesting that Wade should sign with the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers aren’t the only team interested in Wade’s services, though. Fresh off working out a trade for Carmelo Anthony on Saturday, the Thunder are also reportedly in the mix to land Wade. Wade is close with Carmelo, and Oklahoma City has a team that could contend for a title next season. So Wade taking his talents to OKC to team up with Carmelo, Russell Westbrook, and Paul George for a season would make sense.
Wade could also end up back with his former team, the Heat. Heat president Pat Riley has spoken about possibly reuniting with Wade this offseason, and Miami would reportedly have the most money to offer to him. They could pay him more than $4 million next season, while the Cavaliers could only offer $2.5 million and the Thunder could only offer $2.3 million.
And there is one other team that has surfaced as a potential landing spot for Wade. The Spurs—who could pay Wade $3.3 million—also reportedly have interest in signing him. It’s unclear how interested they are in doing it or why Wade would consider them over his other options since he has closer ties to all of those teams due to the players on them. But regardless of where he ends up signing, Wade told the Associated Press that he is going to make a decision very soon.
"I’m going to take tonight and some of tomorrow and speak to the teams or players that are on my list and go from there," he said. "My decision is a pure basketball decision, and I’ll make the one that fits me best at this point in my career and with what I feel I have to offer a team that needs what I have to offer."
Stay tuned to see where Wade decides to sign in the coming days.
