Dwyane Wade has long been considered the one player that would never leave his original team. The one guy who would be on the Miami Heat for life and be the guy who would continue to be the main piece of the team, even into the twilight of his career. That twilight is fast approaching and despite what the Heat and Dwyane Wade both say, that’s a fact. Wade isn’t the same guy he was five years ago.
That’s one of the main reasons the Heat and Wade are at a standstill with their discussions on a new contract. Dwyane Wade isn’t sold in returning to the team for next season at $16 million dollars next year. Instead he wants a max contract and he feels he deserves one due to all the sacrifices he made for the team over the years and pay-cuts he’s taken to help the team. Instead the Heat want Wade to opt-in next season not only for his non-max deal but all to increase their chances to chase Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016.
At this point, the Heat should just take a number and get in line.
Following from Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald.
The Heat seems to want Wade to opt into his contract for next season at $16 million, then become a free agent and leave their and his future blank-check open. This will give the Heat the flexibility it craves to make a run at a player like Kevin Durant.
Pipe dream? Maybe.
But that’s what Wade himself once told the Heat about his great friend LeBron James being in Miami. Miami wants to have the flexibility that gets Riley in a room with Durant.
The Heat can have room for Wade, Bosh, Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside and Durant … but only if Wade opts in for this year and gives them that flexibility by being a free agent in 2016. This requires Wade to have a lot of trust, obviously, and the leap of faith that the team will take care of him in 2016.
It also requires some creativity and relationship-building with Whiteside, who will be tucked away in something called a “cap hold.”
And it ultimately involves — and this is a big ask — Wade being OK with newcomers who haven’t done much of anything for the organization, like Dragic and Whiteside, earning more than he does.
A lot of good things need to fall in place for the Heat for this to work but why not? Why can’t the Heat be the team to bring in Kevin Durant. Sure, KD wants to go home but, as we’ve seen in the past with LeBron James, home might not always be the best answer.
Wade is at a weird point in his career. He’s not playing a ton of games anymore and he’s not getting the same money he once commanded when he was younger and had less injuries. It appears that Wade wants the money that he missed out on about five years ago and it might be time for the Heat to take that money and use it on younger and more talented stars.
