D-Wade's Next Destination (Part 2 of 6)

A quick glance over the Central Division reveals one common theme: every team in this division is lacking a dynamic shooting guard of Wade’s caliber. Don’t get me wrong, Dunleavy and Redd are top notch talents when they’re healthy which, unfortunately, is not very often. Gordon had a career year in 2008-09 but he’s a huge liability on the defensive end as an undersized two guard. In short, every team in the central should be in play for Dwyane Wade but realistically only two really stand a chance.

Detroit rolled the dice in 2008-09 by shedding three key members of its 2004 championship team, (Billups, McDyess and Wallace), for cap space, then turned right around this summer and exhausted that cap space on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva who will make a collective 17 million in the 2010-11 season. With a payroll right around 50 million the Detroit Pistons have already eliminated themselves from the Wade sweepstakes unless they can trade Hamilton and Prince for a couple of expiring contracts.

Indiana would certainly be relevant once again if they would be able to pair Wade with Danny Granger. The problem here is that Indiana is bleeding profusely from a financial standpoint. The Indiana Economic Digest reported in February that the Pacer franchise has lost money 9 of the last 10 years. They simply can’t afford Wade’s hefty price tag.

Milwaukee simply is unattractive to any player with playoff aspirations. It will be a very cold day in hell before Milwaukee is able to convince a player of Wade’s caliber to don their green and red Christmas jerseys.

Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland. Try and imagine the unthinkable for a moment; what if it was Cleveland and not New York who scored both Lebron James and Dwyane Wade?! Imagine James and Wade running a fast break together! The high flying theatrics would be endless and every game, home and away (even in Memphis), would sell out. Unfortunately Cleveland can only court one superstar in 2010 given that they’ve committed over 48 million already and of that amount, James takes away 17 million if he does not opt out. Besides, Cleveland’s more pressing need in 2010-11 will be signing a center once they secure the services of the king as both Shaq and Big Z are near the end of their careers.

Chicago is the clear cut winner in the central division. Not only is this Wade’s home town but the thought of following in MJ’s shoes as the marquee player of a championship caliber team has to appeal to him. If the Bulls hold course they will enter the summer of 2010 with more than enough cap space needed to sign Dwyane Wade to a long-term deal.

Committed Salary – 29 million.

Talent – (Standout = Rose) Others = Noah, Thomas, Hinrich, Deng, Salmons, Taj Gibson, James Johnson.

Contend - Imagine the Bulls with Wade playing alongside Rose. Would there be any doubt that they couldn’t duplicate their playoff performance against the Celtics in the 2008-09 playoffs?

Offer – 20 million a year seems like the minimum amount that should be offered to a top 5 player in the league. The Bulls would have close to 12 million to bring in another post player if the cap remains the same.