Robb: Old Rivals Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo Form Odd New Pairing In Bulls Backcourt
SALT LAKE CITY (CBS) – Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade were bitter rivals for much of the past decade. Next season, the veteran pair will make up the Chicago Bulls starting backcourt after Wade agreed to sign a two-year deal with his hometown team per Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical.
The move ends a 13-year stint with the Miami Heat for Wade, who now will join a reworked Bulls roster that includes Rondo and Jimmy Butler on the wing. The trio make up three ball dominant players that have lackluster 3-point shooting numbers, so the dynamics within Fred Hoiberg's offense will be challenging to deal with to say the least.
In order to clear salary cap space for Wade's deal, the Heat agreed to send small forward Mike Dunleavy to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bulls point guard Jose Calderon is on his way to the Lakers as well, per Wojnarowski.
With all the dominoes falling in the right place for Wade's departure from Miami, the most fascinating element of this arrangement will be how the relationship plays out between Rondo and Wade in the backcourt and what impact that has on Jimmy Butler's availability in a trade.
By landing a couple of veteran players in their 30s, the Bulls seem committed to staying relevant for the time being, even though the rest of their roster does not line up well to push for a deep playoff run in the Eastern Conference. Then, there's the fact that Rondo and Wade have some bad blood dating back all the way to 2011 when the point guard suffered a brutal elbow injury after he was pulled down by Wade in Game 3 of the Celtics-Heat second round series.
The run-ins continued during the 2012 playoffs as well and Rondo even called Wade a dirty player during the 2011-12 season.
The rivalry has clearly faded in recent years as the Big Three in Boston was dismantled and Rondo moved on to a pair of Western Conference teams in Dallas and Sacramento. Still, the pair of headstrong guards will be a tough challenge for Fred Hoiberg to manage in the midst of a pace and space offense he likes to employ.
If things go south with both players, Butler may be more available on the trade market during the season, but it's hard to imagine Wade agreed to sign there without assurances the team would remain committed to being a playoff contender. Chicago's moves in the coming days should shed more light on that front.
On a whole though, the move weakens the Eastern Conference overall and is a plus for Boston from a team perspective. Miami with Wade was a bigger threat to the Celtics in the long term than his presence on a middling Chicago team. With fewer teams to climb over in the East now, the Celtics are positioned well to move up the ranks and push the Raptors for a No. 2 seed this season.