Dwyane Wade Discuses Frustrations with Bulls, Defends Fred Hoiberg

The Boston Celtics steamrolled the Chicago Bulls 100-80 on Sunday, and Bulls guard Dwyane Wade seemed exasperated afterward.

"People have a lot of things they can say about Fred [Hoiberg] as a coach," he said, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "I will defend him on this: This is a tough situation he's put in now."

Wade also said, per Johnson: "My job is to play. I have to be better on the basketball floor. Like I said, just running pick-and-rolls all game, that ain't it.

"Talking isn't the thing. Calling somebody out ain't the thing. We're here, man. It's unfortunate. We have to find a way to win games."

Johnson said Wade wasn't lashing out, though the star also expressed frustration that was seemingly directed at general manager Gar Forman and executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson:

Wade didn't help his team much on the floor Sunday. He finished with eight points and zero assists and tallied a plus-minus of minus-37, per NBA.com.

Wade and the rest of the Bulls scored a mere nine points in the first quarter, and NBA on ESPN shared an abysmal shot chart:

The fact Wade said the front office should be answering questions is notable because there is an apparent lack of direction with the franchise.

Chicago traded veteran Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 23 but did not move swingman and superstar Jimmy Butler. Trading Butler would have signaled a full rebuild and shift to the future and likely landed the Bulls a handful of draft picks.

They are now stuck in mediocrity at 31-35 and 1.5 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. The roster Forman and Paxson built is not good enough to realistically challenge the best teams in the East come the postseason (if it gets that far), but it's also not bad enough to garner favorable odds in the draft lottery.

This isn't the first time Wade's comments have turned heads this season. Chicago was enveloped in drama following a January loss to the Atlanta Hawks when he and Butler criticized teammates' passion, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com.

That prompted Rajon Rondo to post on Instagram about how his veteran leaders with the Boston Celtics wouldn't have done something like that.

The Bulls don't look like they will move past the dysfunction and inconsistency in the near future. And since Wade has a player option for 2017-18, per Spotrac, he may leave this offseason so he no longer has to worry about the front office or playing through a potential rebuild if things don't turn around.