Dwyane Wade has been giving us all a glimpse into what he might be doing after he calls it a Hall Of Fame career. Chilling with the NBA Countdown crew, interviewing his bro LeBron, he seemed like he’d do well in that environment. In fact. ESPN should say to him ‘as soon as you retire, come be an analyst’.
But for now, it’s all about his contract negotiations with the Miami Heat. There has been a lot of speculation about Wade and the Heat. And every time it sounds like they’re worlds apart. Every story now either sides with the Heat organization or the Wade camp and this recent foray into the Heat’s cap limitations by Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, definitely tilts the needle into Wade’s camp.
If Luol Deng opts in for $10.1 million next season, and if the Heat loses Wade and loses Goran Dragic (which becomes more of a possibility if Wade leaves), Miami would have $56 million committed to 11 players ($1.3 million more if it picks up Michael Beasley’s option).
That would leave less than $10 million in cap space to replace Wade and Dragic if both depart. Among a thin group of unrestricted free agent guards and swingmen, that could get maybe a Danny Green or Lou Williams (not both) or a Mo Williams and Gerald Green (with a little left). That $10 million probably wouldn’t even be enough to land Portland free agent Wes Matthews.
If Deng and Dragic stay and Wade leaves, Miami would be capped out and have only a $5.5 million mid-level exception to replace Wade, which might get a Mike Dunleavy or Green but nobody close to Wade’s level.
If you saw that and your head started to hurt. Let me simplify it for you.
If Wade goes, Dragic will most likely jump ship. If they’re both gone, they would only have 10 Mill in cap space which means they’ll have no chance to get two players of Wade’s and Dragic’ skill.
If Deng and Dragic stay and Wade bolts, they’d only have enough mid-level exception to get somebody like Mike Dunleavy. From Dwyane Wade, to Mike Dunleavy.
It is clear that they need to get Dwyane Wade back. Because there isn’t a snowballs chance in hell that they can replace Wade with somebody of Wade’s skill and resume. Can’t happen.
