Did Pat Riley want Dwyane Wade to leave the Miami Heat?
Probably not.
We think.
Okay, shit, we’re not really sure after finding out this from the Miami Herald‘s Ethan J. Skolnick:
While you're watching Kelly Ripa, one more nugget: Pat Riley never called Dwyane Wade during the entire process.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) July 7, 2016
This was most likely some negotiating ploy. Pat Riley didn’t want to overpay a 34-year-old Wade. There was probably a part of him that was excited he didn’t take the Heat’s two-year, $40 million offer (or whatever it ended up being), instead opting for a $47.5 million pact with the Chicago Bulls.
At the right price, Wade, who was oftentimes the Heat’s best offensive player despite what certain advanced metrics say, would have made sense for Miami. But Riley didn’t want to put the Heat in the same position in which the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves with Kobe Bryant—paying too much for what a player has already done, not what he can do, thus handcuffing the franchise’s ability to plan for a future without him.
Wade has made financial sacrifices in the past, so there’s that element to consider in all this as well. But he, unlike, say, Dirk Nowitzki, has been rewarded with multiple rings.
All of this is basically just a fancy way of saying that the split between the Heat and Wade makes sense for both parties.
Pat Riley’s silent-treatment game prior to Wade’s decision is a different story.
