Dwyane Wade shocked the NBA world Wednesday and confirmed the growing suspicion that his rift with the Miami Heat organization was becoming un-repairable by signing a two year, $47 million deal to join the Chicago Bulls.
Welcome to Chicago, @DwyaneWade! pic.twitter.com/zfuNMSbQnf
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) July 7, 2016
Wade ended up signing a two-year deal with the Bulls for $7 million more than he was reportedly offered to stay with Miami. Wade as we all know spent 13 years with the Heat, winning three NBA titles and becoming the franchise’s best player in their relatively brief history.
It’s still hard to imagine a world where Dwyane Wade is wearing a different uniform on an NBA court, but if there were a place that seemed possible it would be Chicago, his hometown, and the fact that their jerseys honestly don’t look that different.
Although stealing Wade from Miami and grabbing a rare “big fish” on the free agency market seems like a big win for the Bulls, when you really analyze the move and his fit with the current roster and their future plans, it doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
First and foremost, although Wade had a renaissance postseason in which he average 23-6-4 on 47%-55%-78% shooting and his highest playoff player efficiency rating in four years at 22, the fact of the matter is he is still is 34 years old and will turn 35 midway during the 2016-17 season. He has logged over 1,000 games (regular and postseason) in his career. He has also played more than 30,000 minutes and has had numerous knee ailments including having the meniscus removed from his left knee in 2002, which according to Wade has lead to a number of knee issues since.
The even bigger issue with Wade’s move to the Bulls is the very odd and poor fit with Rajon Rondo in the starting back court.
Dwyane Wade averaged 0.4 catch and shoot points per game according to NBA.com, which was good for 152nd among players measured. He is also a very ball dominant and drive dominant shooting guard who is joining a point guard, Rajon Rondo, that was 2nd in the NBA in touches last season with 95 touches per game last season and 7.5 seconds per ball possession.
Wade was also top five in the NBA in usage rate last season at 31.6% which doesn’t mesh with Rondo who has a usage rate of 18.8% and more touches per game than anybody in the NBA besides John Wall.
Only 28 percent of Rajon Rondo’s shot attempts in 2015-16 were from 20 feet and beyond, incredibly Dwyane Wade only took 79 of his 1,183 shots from 20 feet last season, a paltry six percent. The majority of Rondo and Wade’s shot attempts were mid-range or from five to nine feet which means the paint will be clogged.
To break it down more, 17 percent of their back court’s shot attempts will come from 20 feet or deeper. The league average last season was 28 percent.
The defensive combination of Wade, Rondo and Butler is not very effective either. Butler and Rondo were in the bottom 10 in the NBA in opponents points in the paint and points on the fast break last season, which means they had a hard time keeping opposing offense playesr out of the paint. Not good when you have Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermmott as your front court rotation.
Basically the Bulls now have a veteran back court with two players who need the ball in their hands to be effective and will have trouble creating any spacing or room to operate as teams will pack the paint and attempt to force each player to hit jump shots.
They also have a second year head coach in Fred Hoiberg who struggled mightily in year one and is a proponent of a pace and space offense, not really conducive to two ball stoppers who play a slower pace and can’t knock down jump shots.
I understand the appeal of making a big free agency splash and signing a first ballot hall of famer and a hometown kid to be your next star, but the Bulls were better off rebuilding and retooling their roster around Jimmy Butler after trading Derrick Rose. Not adding two veteran guards who are past their prime and will keep them firmly planted in the cluster of mediocrity in the eastern conference fighting for the right to potentially win 45-50 games and the 2nd round of the eastern conference playoffs in 2017.
