If you were thinking that Dwyane Wade might be interested in coming to your favorite NBA team next season and are not a Miami Heat fan, think again.
Wade made is abundantly clear that he’s only interested in playing with the Heat.
“I don’t want to be on the market at all. I’m not curious at all. I want to get to it (with the Heat). I want to be able to sign my deal and move on and not have to deal with any rumors, any free agency, any this, any that,” Wade said, via the Palm Beach Post. “This is where I want to end my career. So we’ll figure it out.”
While team president Pat Riley has called center Hassan Whiteside the Heat’s “No. 1 priority,” he echoed Wade’s feelings, doing nothing to indicate that the future Hall of Famer will play anywhere but Miami.
“We’ll sit down and we’ll talk about that with Dwyane…He wants to win, I think, as much as he wants to do anything. Compensation to a player is not just a way to get paid and to live your life,” Riley said. “Compensation to a player is about recognition and respect and place. We know where he belongs…He’s a lifer. What he’s done in this city over the last 13 years is irreplaceable and so we’re going to do the right thing. There’s no doubt.”
It’s good to see both parties on the same page here. Wade is the greatest Heat player of all-time. With all due respect to Shaquille O’Neal, Wade was hands down the team’s best player for their first title in 2006.
While he ceded that spot to LeBron James for the 2012 and 2013 championships, James and Chris Bosh would never have gone to Miami it were not for Wade’s presence.
Additionally, coming off of a season where he played 74 games and averaged 19 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.1 rebounds a night, Wade can still play the game at a high level.
The fact that his playoff numbers were better across the board indicates that he’s still not afraid of the big moment and that few players are better when the lights are shining brightest.
Neither Wade or the Miami front office should want anything but a reunion for next season. The fact that it seems inevitable is only common sense — and very nice to see.