There’s a certain refreshing honesty to Dwyane Wade these days.
Maybe it comes with age or just maybe the veteran has learned that expectations are for others to dwell on.
“There’s no expectations right now,’’ Wade said recently, when asked about what he expected from his new team going into this season. “That’s you guys’ job to come up with what our record is going to be or what our shooting percentage is going to be. That’s not our job. My job, Jimmy [Butler’s] job, [Rajon] Rondo’s job is to come in here Day 1 when we start training camp and get after it and start working and building the team we want to see on the floor.’’
Wait, not one unrealistic mention of being yet another NBA “super team?’’
“No one knows what their team is going to be,’’ Wade said. “There are predictions out there of what we can be. I don’t know how you guys can predict that when you guys have never seen us play together before. We’ve never seen each other play together before, but we know we have some special talent. We know we have some young guys who can play, but we all have to get to work. And it’s going to be a while before we even get a chance to see what that’s going to be.’’
A process that will start Monday afternoon at the Advocate Center, as the Bulls pull back the curtain on training camp 2016, and a roster with some serious new looks to it.
Gone are Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol. In are Wade, Rondo and Robin Lopez.
Lopez is expected to improve the defensive problems in the paint that showed up far too often last season, while Rondo will allow coach Fred Hoiberg to open up his playbook rather than have to dummy-it-down for Rose.
But all eyes will be on Wade, starting with a game plan on how they will hand out the minutes for a 34-year-old future Hall of Famer.
“I’ve had some conversations with coach, but it’s so early we can’t get into it,’’ Wade said of how much he will practice and play. “I think in Miami, coach Spo [Erik Spoelstra] had a plan and his plan for me was that he wanted me to play 30 minutes a game in the regular season. And when he told me that the year before, I wasn’t on board, but then someway, somehow [last season], he wound up doing it and it was successful for me.’’
That it was, keeping Wade upright and playing in 74 regular season games. The last time the guard saw that much playing time in the regular season was back in 2010-11 when he made 76 starts.
Then again, the Bulls have plenty of bodies ready to put in heavy minutes if needed.
“Jimmy’s going to play the bulk of the minutes anyway,’’ Wade said. “I just got to, when I get out there, do the job I need to do, whatever those minutes are. I work very hard man. I just need to take care of my body, especially as I get older. Now I’m starting to understand my body. Last year worked, but that was last year. There’s going to be new challenges this year. I always have the mentality that I’ll do whatever for my team that I need to do.
“Like I said, I’m not trying to play 40 minutes. I’ll leave it up to the young Bull [in Butler].’’
Honesty at its best.
