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06-04-2008, 04:30 PM
Wade ignores Bulls rumors
Ex-Richards star flattered by trade talk as he rehabs
Fred Mitchell | AROUND TOWN
June 3, 2008
Dwyane Wade says he keeps hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors involving the Bulls and Miami Heat.
Would the Bulls give up the No. 1 draft position to the Heat in exchange for Wade and the No. 2 overall selection? Or some combination of other players and picks?
"I have heard my name being talked about, and I can't worry about it," Wade said Monday at the Attack Athletics training facility on the West Side. "There is one thing in this league that you have no control over. If another organization wants you, then you should feel good to be wanted."
Fred Mitchell Fred Mitchell E-mail | Recent columns
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Wade grew up idolizing Michael Jordan while starring at Richards High School and then Marquette.
"I have a lot of history with the Bulls," Wade said. "And for them to come out with the first pick like that (with a 1.7 percent lottery chance) ... it was fitting that they would do something like that. Nobody thought that would happen.
"To be in that position and sit back and listen to anything and go back to a team and say: 'How about this? and 'How about that?' ... If [the Bulls] don't make any big moves like that, they're still going to have a great player."
Memphis guard Derrick Rose and Kansas State forward Michael Beasley are expected to go 1-2 in the draft.
"We're going to get a great player, as well as [the Bulls] are going to get a great young player. I look at it as there is not as much pressure on [Miami]," Wade said.
Wade will host his basketball camp Wednesday and Thursday at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. A charity basketball game will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday, when Wade and other Richards alumni take on the defending state champions at the Oak Lawn school.
Wade played only 51 games each of the last two seasons because of knee and shoulder injuries. Yet the 26-year-old All-Star guard still managed to average 24.6 points and 6.9 assists last season. He was the NBA Finals MVP two years ago.
When he is not dealing with trade rumors and tabloid gossip regarding personal relationships with the likes of Star Jones, Wade has been rehabbing his body at Tim Grover's elaborate facility.
"Not just for now, but for the rest of my career I want to make sure my body is strong," Wade said.
The Bulls swept the then-defending NBA champion Heat in the 2006-07 Eastern Conference playoffs. The Heat, largely because of injuries, sank miserably last season.
"We just didn't have it; we knew we didn't have it," Wade said. "But I thought [ Pat Riley] did the right thing by bringing everybody back [last season].
"The Bulls looked like they were on the up and up. They looked like a young team on the rise that was really going to do some damage over the next couple of years. To see them stumble like they did this past year was kind of shocking.The one thing I noticed about the Bulls the two years I played against them in the playoffs ... they were very together. But the togetherness wasn't there. The trust wasn't there."
Ex-Richards star flattered by trade talk as he rehabs
Fred Mitchell | AROUND TOWN
June 3, 2008
Dwyane Wade says he keeps hearing his name mentioned in trade rumors involving the Bulls and Miami Heat.
Would the Bulls give up the No. 1 draft position to the Heat in exchange for Wade and the No. 2 overall selection? Or some combination of other players and picks?
"I have heard my name being talked about, and I can't worry about it," Wade said Monday at the Attack Athletics training facility on the West Side. "There is one thing in this league that you have no control over. If another organization wants you, then you should feel good to be wanted."
Fred Mitchell Fred Mitchell E-mail | Recent columns
Related Links
Wade grew up idolizing Michael Jordan while starring at Richards High School and then Marquette.
"I have a lot of history with the Bulls," Wade said. "And for them to come out with the first pick like that (with a 1.7 percent lottery chance) ... it was fitting that they would do something like that. Nobody thought that would happen.
"To be in that position and sit back and listen to anything and go back to a team and say: 'How about this? and 'How about that?' ... If [the Bulls] don't make any big moves like that, they're still going to have a great player."
Memphis guard Derrick Rose and Kansas State forward Michael Beasley are expected to go 1-2 in the draft.
"We're going to get a great player, as well as [the Bulls] are going to get a great young player. I look at it as there is not as much pressure on [Miami]," Wade said.
Wade will host his basketball camp Wednesday and Thursday at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. A charity basketball game will be played at 7 p.m. Thursday, when Wade and other Richards alumni take on the defending state champions at the Oak Lawn school.
Wade played only 51 games each of the last two seasons because of knee and shoulder injuries. Yet the 26-year-old All-Star guard still managed to average 24.6 points and 6.9 assists last season. He was the NBA Finals MVP two years ago.
When he is not dealing with trade rumors and tabloid gossip regarding personal relationships with the likes of Star Jones, Wade has been rehabbing his body at Tim Grover's elaborate facility.
"Not just for now, but for the rest of my career I want to make sure my body is strong," Wade said.
The Bulls swept the then-defending NBA champion Heat in the 2006-07 Eastern Conference playoffs. The Heat, largely because of injuries, sank miserably last season.
"We just didn't have it; we knew we didn't have it," Wade said. "But I thought [ Pat Riley] did the right thing by bringing everybody back [last season].
"The Bulls looked like they were on the up and up. They looked like a young team on the rise that was really going to do some damage over the next couple of years. To see them stumble like they did this past year was kind of shocking.The one thing I noticed about the Bulls the two years I played against them in the playoffs ... they were very together. But the togetherness wasn't there. The trust wasn't there."