Is Heat’s Chris Bosh set for reunion with Dwyane Wade at Bulls?
ESPN says 11-time All-Star will be dumped by Miami in a few weeks
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Chris Bosh, who helped the Miami Heat win two NBA crowns alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, might reunite with Wade on the Chicago Bulls, according to a report Friday.
An ESPN website report said Bosh, who has not played since last February due to blood clot issue, will likely be released by the Heat in a few weeks and that the Bulls were in the forefront of teams interested in the 11-time All-Star forward.
The Heat could drop Bosh on February 9 after he will have missed a full year but could also wait until March 1 so Bosh would not be eligible to play for another club in this year’s NBA playoffs, possibly pushing back a return to the 2017-18 campaign.
Bosh, who turns 33 in March, was not medically cleared to play this season and there is no assurance he would be declared healthy enough to return should another team sign him.
Bosh, Wade and James combined to lift the Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals starting in 2011, with Miami taking the title in 2012 and 2013.
After the Heat came up short in 2014, losing the finals to San Antonio, James left Miami for Cleveland, where he has powered the Cavaliers to the finals in 2015 and their first NBA crown last year.
Wade, who turned 35 last Tuesday, departed for his hometown Chicago Bulls before this season.
He spoke about the possibility of Wade joining the Bulls after a Chicago practice Friday in Atlanta, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“I play with the Bulls and I don’t even know that,” Wade said. “That’s news to me. He’s one of my good friends. The biggest thing with Chris is ... his health. He’s not even playing basketball right now.
“I’m sure somewhere in the back of his mind he would love to be able to do again but I know his steps and that moment is not here now. I can’t even talk about next year.”
Wade said Bosh, who attended a Bulls home game earlier this month, had not mentioned the prospect of playing with Chicago to him.
“He has something serious and they [Heat] want to make sure it’s not life-threatening and then it goes from there,” Wade said. “I know Chris is worried about his health first. He has a family that he loves and he wants to make sure that he’s as healthy and whole as he can be. But also he loves the game of basketball so when that day comes there are always going to be stories about guys where they have friends at.”
It could be a factor in Wade exercising his player option to return to the Bulls next season.
Bosh has averages of 19.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in 893 career NBA games with the Toronto Raptors and Miami. He averaged 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 53 games for the Heat in 2015-16 before blood clots cut short his season.
While the Heat have the second-worst record in the NBA this season at 13-30, the Bulls are in the heart of the Eastern Conference playoff race at 21-22. They own the eighth and final playoff position but Charlotte and Milwaukee are within a game of Chicago.
