Empty the Bench

Rumor: Dwyane Wade could be traded to the Chicago Bulls for a package that includes the #1 overall pick in the draft (aka Memphis PG Derrick Rose).

Source: Chicago Tribune

Analysis:

Two seasons ago it looked like Dwyane Wade was the second coming of Michael Jordan after he carried his Miami Heat to an NBA title with a slew of spectacular individual performances and an onslaught of… free throws.

But with his draft classmate from ’03, a guy by the name of LeBron James, elevating his game and starpower to new levels, Kobe Bryant re-establishing himself as the world’s best all-around hooper, and the Heat sputtering to the league’s worst record in ’08, Wade is finding out the hard way that this is a “what have you done for me lately?” league.

Wade has now played in just 51 games for two straight seasons due to a laundry list of ailments that are increasingly tagging him as a significant year-to-year injury risk. Fair or not, the 6-4 combo guard has still yet to play in all 82 regular-season games over his first five professional seasons, a fact that would force any team to think twice about heavily investing in this would-be franchise player.

Dwyane Wade Photo Credit: Icon SMI

And there’s the Wade conundrum: when healthy, he’s clearly one of the league’s very best scorers, a guy who will shoot about 10 free throws a game, facilitate the offense with about 7 assists/per, and generally make things very difficult on opposing defenders. When his jumper is on—he’s a career 48% shooter—Wade can be nearly unstoppable. He’s also a plus defender who averages about 2 steals and 1 block/per.

A lot of teams would love to have the 26-year-old Wade on their squad. The injury history is a major caveat, however, which is one reason he’s finding himself the subject of trade rumors this summer.

More on the Dwyane Wade trade rumor after the jump…

Memphis PG Derrick Rose has just about established himself as the clear-cut favorite to go first overall in this month’s amateur draft; he has future All-Star written all over him and looks like a kid you can build around. Would the Bulls rather bring an already established superstar like Wade back to his hometown, however, instead of bank on a rookie (especially given the in-flux situation in Chicago)?

Any deal would likely look somewhat like this: Wade, the #2 overall pick, and a spare part or two in exchange for the #1 pick and a combination of two players from the following list: Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni (I’m not exactly sure which salaries would make this work). To me, Gordon and Thomas would make the most sense since the Bulls would likely spend their pick on forward Michael Beasley.

That said, I don’t expect to see Wade in a Bulls uniform next season. Superstars don’t come along very often, and I can see Pat Riles & Co. chalking up the ’08 season to bad luck and moving forward with a reloaded core centered around Wade, who has reported no setbacks in his rehab, and Beasley. Oh, there’ll be some changes made this summer to the Bulls’ roster—Kirk Heinrich will almost certainly be traded if/when Rose arrives—but this one seems like a stretch.

Related: Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Derrick Rose, Andres Nocioni