The Cleveland Cavaliers were interested in reuniting LeBron James with Dwyane Wade this offseason. Unfortunately for the Cavs, they didn’t have the money to make that happen.
“We couldn’t afford him,” James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It’s that simple.”
Cleveland coach Tryonn Lue backed up his star player.
Who wouldn’t be interested in a Hall of Famer?” Lue said, via McMenamin . “That don’t even make sense. Yeah, we wanted him.”
Wade was certainly out of the Cavs’ price range. He signed a two-year, $47 million deal with his hometown Chicago Bulls in the offseason. The contract has a one-year player option, which Wade will likely take. But he’s set to make $23.2 million during the 2016-17 season.
The only team over the cap more than the Cavaliers is another that Wade and LeBron are familiar with, the Miami Heat.