In order to be able to afford Dwyane Wade, the Chicago Bulls had to clear some cap space. They did just that by trading away two players.
Multiple reports say the Bulls traded Mike Dunleavy to the Cavaliers in order to dump his salary. Dunleavy was owed $4.837 million next season. Both ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and The Vertical’s Bobby Marks say the Cavs are using part of their Anderson Varejao trade exception to take Dunleavy.
Cleveland will use part of the Anderson Varejao $9.6m trade exception to take in Dunleavy's $4.8m contract. https://t.co/Cna25fFwap
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 7, 2016
The bigger contract the Bulls shed was that of point guard Jose Calderon. They traded the Spaniard to the Lakers, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
Chicago has traded guard Jose Calderon to the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 7, 2016
Lakers will get two future 2nd-round picks from Chicago while giving up rights to an undetermined player (someone likely drafted long ago.)
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 7, 2016
Calderon was owed $7.7 million next season. Dumping both Dunleavy and Calderon saved the Bulls a little over $12.5 million.
Wade’s contract with the Bulls is for $47.5 million over two years, with a player option for a third. Wade now becomes the team’s highest-paid player, ahead of Jimmy Butler, who will make $17.55 million next season.
