Adrian Wojnariowski said that Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade is pushing for a resolution to his Free Agency tonight and that the sweepstakes is between the Denver Nuggets, Heat and Chicago Bulls.
Sources: Dwyane Wade is pushing for a resolution on his future tonight: Miami, Chicago or Denver. Pat Riley wants an answer too.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 7, 2016
Wade seems to have narrowed down the teams who he will go to for two seasons to those three teams. According to Woj, additionally, the Bulls are desperately trying to unload the contracts of a couple players in order to clear enough space … but it would be difficult without "Sweeteners".
Those are difficult contracts to unload without incentives (picks). Tougher roster decisions could loom if Chicago wanted to sign Wade.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 6, 2016
It will be interesting to see what Wade chooses. Either way the Nuggets are likely sitting back and not worrying about it at all.
Update (7:45 P.M.): According to The Vertical, Wade will sign with the Chicago Bulls on a two year, $47 million dollar deal. That’s $5 million less than what was reportedly offered by the Nuggets. In the end, it was playing for his hometown that won out over cold hard cash and franchise loyalty for Wade. While having a superstar of his caliber in Denver would have brought excitement and likely a boost in attendance, it would have also created a log jam at the two guard position that almost assuredly would have meant reduced minutes for Gary Harris and Jamal Murray.
Sources on @TheVertical: Free agent Dwyane Wade agrees to a two-year, $47.5M deal with the Chicago Bulls. https://t.co/erSAyWzAYd
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 7, 2016
The Nuggets now also face a difficult road to reach the salary floor, which is anticipated to be $84.6 million. Currently Denver has just over $73 million in total contracts, but also will have to either cut at least one player, or have Juancho Hernangomez play overseas for a year to meet the roster maximum of 15 players. All in all the Nuggets have around $12 million to spend to hit the floor and are starting to run out of quality candidates to add to the roster. More and more it looks like the Nuggets will remain quiet during free agency and try to make a move via trade later on down the road.