The Chicago Bulls over the weekend reached an agreement on a buyout of the second year of All-Star guard Dwyane Wade's contract.

According to Cody Westerlund of 670TheScore.com, this move has put the Bulls to essentially pay Wade nearly the entire salary for the contract for only one season.

Chicago's decision to go through an entire rebuilding mode this summer had backed them into the corner with Wade toward their only true option being to buy him out of the final year of his deal. The 35-year-old is still a productive player but is no longer a piece to build around at this point of his career.

Although this does set the Bulls back a bit, there is finally a sense of direction with the franchise centered on their young core group that Wade did not necessarily fit in. It would have been a wasted year for him that could be best utilized playing for a title contender.

With that in mind, Wade appears to be headed toward a deal to join his close friend LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It shouldn't take him long to acquiesce to playing alongside James given their previous experience together with the Miami Heat. He is coming off a productive campaign where he averaged 18.3 points on 43.4 percent shooting from the field with 4.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game.