Dwyane Wade dropped a bombshell on the NBA world when he announced last night that he was leaving the Miami Heat to sign a two-year free agent contract with the Chicago Bulls.

Most basketball observers thought that Wade's flirtation with Chicago and other teams was just a way for him to bargain and get a larger contract from Miami, the team he had played for his entire 13-year NBA career. However, the Heat would not budge on the two year, $40 million deal they were offering. Although Denver had offered Wade the most money ($52 million over two years), the Chicago native decided to go back home and sign with the Bulls.

According to Chris Mannix from The Vertical, Miami Heat President Pat Riley was not about to mortgage his team's future in order to give the 34-year old Wade a three year contract for $60 million. Wade's desire to want a three-year guarantee from Miami was more about pride than anything else, according to Mannix and Riley would not budge. Although no NBA team had offered Wade three years, he chose Chicago anyway and will help Bulls fans ease the pain of losing both Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to the Knicks this offseason. It will also be interesting to see what kind of recruiting power Wade will have next summer, when the salary cap expands to a projected $108 million.

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