Bulls players, family ecstatic about Wade signing
LAS VEGAS — There are plenty of Chicago Bulls fans who can’t wait for Dwyane Wade to start playing for their favorite team, but maybe none more so than Bulls forward Bobby Portis‘ mom, Tina Edwards.
“That’s actually like my mom’s favorite player,” Portis said with a smile after the Bulls’ summer league win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday. “That’s all the things she always talked about when I was growing up as a kid was ‘D-Wade this, D-Wade that.’
“My mom actually texted me the same day when he said he was coming and she was like going nuts. It was crazy.”
Wade agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the Bulls on Wednesday night. While coaches and executives aren’t allowed to talk about the deal until it becomes official, the young Bulls players are ecstatic to have Wade on their team.
Like so many players around the league, Bulls rookie Denzel Valentine watched Wade growing up and is thrilled to get the chance to play with him. Valentine’s minutes may decrease in the short term with Wade on the roster, but the Michigan State alum isn’t concerned about that at the moment.
“I’m going to be learning from the best of the best,” Valentine said. “D-Wade is probably one of the best shooting guards to ever play the game so if I can learn from him my first couple years, see how he gets ready for games, plays games, takes care of his body. Just learning the ropes from him and Jimmy [Butler] and [Rajon] Rondo — those guys are all phenomenal players, they won championships. So if I can learn from those guys and still play and be in the rotation, that’s probably the best situation for me.”
For his part, Wade is trying to look forward to playing in his hometown Chicago.
“To go home and play with Chicago is something I’ve always dreamed of since I’ve been a little bitty kid,” Wade told reporters in Miami on Saturday. “It’s cool to be able to make those kind of choices. You see KD make a choice for me. We’ve seen LeBron make choices for himself. You get killed for it, but at the end of the day, if you love the guy, the individual, then you’re happy that they’re able to make that choice and that they seem happy with the choice that they are making.”
Portis knows whenever Wade’s deal becomes official and the Bulls’ No. 3 jersey becomes available, his mom will have to have one.
“She’s going to get it for sure,” Portis said. “She has No. 3 Miami so I know she’ll get that one.”
