The Bulls had a busy day Friday.
Chicago execs met with Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, David Lee and, in a surprising development, with Dwyane Wade for the second time in two days.
A source told the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls are hoping to convince Wade they can sign one of the premier power forwards (preferably Bosh, with Boozer or Lee presumably as the back-up plan) to add to a core featuring Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah.
Sources said the Bulls contacted Wade’s camp again early Friday morning and Wade agreed to a second meeting. “He was very impressed by the first meeting,” one source said. “He’s really taking free agency seriously.”
Wade says the 2nd meeting, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, was mutually agreed upon. He told the AP: “Things are getting very interesting,” but shrugged when asked if the Bulls had made him an offer.
The Tribune also reported a long-shot, dream scenario early Friday wherein the Bulls engineer a sign-and-trade for one maximum free agent, thus preserving their nearly $30 million in salary-cap space for two other significant free agents, which could even include James.
The Bulls appear to be at the epi-center of the free-agency game, and Wade and Bosh are real possibilities for the Bulls at this point.
A source told ESPN that, “Wade is unclear how the Heat, who currently have just two players under contract, will be able to build a championship contender around him given salary-cap constraints.”
While the Bulls meet this afternoon with LeBron in Akron, Wade is scheduled to meet with the Heat in Chicago. This could be an interesting meeting after all the time he’s spent with the Bulls, although the Bulls were not able to get a commitment from Wade.
