Dwyane Wade made headlines this past summer in deciding to sign with his hometown Bulls after 13 seasons with the Miami Heat. We'll document that story, and everything Wade has accomplished in Chicago before and after, with Inside Look: Dwyane Wade, airing Wednesday, April 12 at 9 p.m. on CSN. To get you ready for the show, we look back at a timeline of Wade's time with the Bulls this season.
July 1: Free agency begins at midnight, and The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Bulls are one of four teams pursuing Dwyane Wade. The veteran guard has become frustrated in contract talks with the Heat after Pat Riley reportedly offers him $10 million per year.
July 5: Wade continues discussions with three teams: Chicago, Denver and Miami. He is reportedly looking for a two-year, $50 million deal, which would require each of the teams to unload cap space to make room for Wade.
July 6: The Bulls schedule a meeting with Wade in New York, but the front office's flight keeps getting pushed back and the meeting is cancelled. Wade also has meting scheduled with the Nuggets and Bucks, and may meet with the Heat. Wojnarowski reports that the Bulls are still "significantly involved" with Wade and that the meeting has no bearing on Wade's decision.
July 6: Wade reportedly agrees to a two-year, $47.5 million deal with the Bulls. The second year includes a player option. The deal is more than the $40 million Miami offered to keep the face of their franchise, but less than the $52 million the rebuilding Nuggets offered. The Robbins, Ill., native returns home. To make financial room for Wade the Bulls deal Mike Dunleavy to the Cavaliers and Jose Calderon to the Lakers, saving $12.5 million in cap space.
July 6: Wade pens a letter to Miami and Heat fans after choosing to sign with the Bulls. In the letter, Wade admits "this was not an easy decision, but I feel I have made the right choice for myself and my family." He also write that "it has been an honor to have played with (the Heat) and help build a winning franchise with three NBA championships."
July 9: Wade dispels the notion that he holds any anymosity toward Heat president Pat Riley. Though Wade was frustrated with Miami putting a priority on signing Kevin Durant and re-signing Hassan Whiteside, he says that "I love Pat Riley...And I know he feels the same way about me."
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July 15: Wade officially signs with the Bulls. The Bulls' Twitter account sends out a video message from Wade, who says "I'm excited to play at a place that I've always envisioned playing in, playing in the city I was born and raised in. I'm excited to hear your guys' cheers and support behind this organization and this team."
July 29: One day after making a surprise appearance at Lollapalooza, Wade is formally introduced by the Bulls. Among the headlines, Wade says he's excited to return home and says the team belongs to Jimmy Butler, who shows up to the press conference wearing Marquette shorts (both Butler and Wade attended Marquette University). Says Wade: "This is one of those moments for me, that is a dream come true."
Sept. 26: Wade appears in a Bulls uniform for the first time at media day. Though he says the jersey material feels the same, the new environment will take some getting used to: "I was somewhere for so long, I knew where to go, I can walk backwards and get anywhere I want to go. It's just different (in Chicago), but different is not a bad thing."
Oct. 3: Wade is introduced by PA announcer Tommy Edwards in his Bulls preseason debut. Like Derrick Rose, Wade also gets introduced as "from Chicago!"
Oct. 12: Wade, who has been to five NBA Finals and won three of them, sets realistic expectations for the Bulls, saying "When you're coming off a season where as an organization you don't make the playoffs, your goal can't be winning a championship...Your goal has to be day-to-day making steps to improve yourself so you can get to a point where you're a playoff team."
Oct: 23: Wade and good friend LeBron James place a friendly wager on the World Series, featuring the Cubs and Cleveland Indians. The loser between Wade's Cubs and James' Indians will wear the winning team's jersey to the arena the next time the two play each other. On Dec. 2, James makes good on the bet, donning a head-to-toe Cubs home uniform.
Oct. 27: Wade doesn't take long to make his impact felt in Chicago, hitting a dagger 3-pointer to help the Bulls top the Celtics on Opening Night. Wade finishes with 22 points, including four 3-pointers, with six rebounds and five assists.
Nov. 8: Wade opens up to CSN Insider Vincent Goodwill about why he chose to leave the Heat after 13 seasons. Among the reasons, Wade admits "I did my homework because I understand Hassan (Whiteside) was a priority, which he should've been. I understood that they were trying to go out and get KD, because that's something they wanted to do. But I had to look out for myself and put myself in a situation that I wanted to be in, if things didn't work out the way I wanted them to work out, and they didn't."
Nov. 10: Wade returns to Miami as a visitor for the first time. He struggles from the field, shooting just 5-for-17 while scoring 13 points. His teammates pick him up, however, in the 98-95 victory, which proves to be an important win by season's end for tiebreaker purposes.
Nov. 28: Two close losses on the Bulls' last Circus Trip lead Wade to reiterate his disdain for the NBA's Last 2 Minute reports. In both losses, to LA and Denver, the league said the following day that calls went against the Bulls which could have changed the outcome of each game. "I hate them. I hate the two-minute reports. I'll go on record saying it again," Wade says.
Dec. 2: Playing against friend and former teammate LeBron James for the first time in a Bulls uniform, Wade scores 24 points in a 111-105 victory.
Dec. 15: Wade posts a touching video tribute on his Instagram to Craig Sager, who passes away at age 65 from cancer. In the video, Wade says "Leaving a legacy is leaving a story to tell. Craig has left us with so many stories to tell, so many memories, so many moments. Whether it's people who want to be like him, whether it's people that never met him and just seen him from afar and enjoy his light that shined on him. That's a legacy. That's a legend."
Dec. 25: Though the Bulls were trounced in San Antonio by the Spurs, Wade becomes the fourth player in NBA history to reach 300 career points on Christmas Day. He joins Kobe Bryant (395 points), Oscar Robertson (377) and LeBron James (301).
Jan. 6: Wade addresses Jimmy Butler trade rumors, saying " It's been a rumor every week but nothing has happened. It's a big market, something to talk about. A couple extra hits. It's the way the world works, the world we're in."
Jan. 14: Wade turns back the clock, scoring 17 of his 22 points in the final period to help the Bulls over the Pelicans and end a three-game losing streak. Wade joked after the game that he "emptied the clip tonight" having the next night's game in Memphis off for rest purposes.
Jan. 25: After the Bulls blow a 10-point lead in the closing minutes to the Hawks, Wade and Butler unleash rants on teammates not caring enough. The 14-year veteran says "You don't care enough. It's got to mean that much to you to want to win. And it doesn't. So I don't know. I don't know happened. I don't know how you fix it. It just doesn't mean enough for guys around here to want to win ball games." Wade is benched two days for his comments, coming off the bench and scoring 15 points in a loss to the Heat.
Feb. 7: "Flash" appears in Sacramento, as Wade scores 31 points in a crucial win over the Kings. Playing without Jimmy Butler, Wade shoots 12 of 18 from the field, scores 20 points after halftime and scores the team's final seven points in the final 65 seconds.
Feb. 26: Wade comes as close to a triple-double as humanly possible, missing out on his first since 2011 by a single rebound. The culprit was Cris Felicio, who went after a rebound in the closing seconds as Wade tried to corral his 10th board. Wade joked about his feelings toward Felicio after the game, saying "No hate. Just a strong dislike, though. You know how long it's been since I had a triple double? It's been a long time."
March 16: Wade expresses "fear" over the elbow injury he suffers against the Grizzlies. The following day the Bulls announce Wade had suffered a fracture in his elbow. They also announce that Wade will miss the remainder of the regular season...
April 8: After missing 11 games and recovering quicker than expected, Wade returns to the lineup against the Nets, scoring 14 points in 24 minutes. Two days later he adds 13 points and six rebounds in the Bulls' 47-point win over the Magic, doing all he can do push the Bulls into the postseason.