Get ready: We have officially reached the “Dwyane Wade is thinking about leaving the Miami Heat to join forces with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers” portion of the NBA’s 2016 offseason.
There’s this:
Happy 4th! @cavsdan @KingJames @DwyaneWade. Enjoy!
— Luxury Jets Group (@LuxJetGroup) July 5, 2016
And then there’s this, from the Huffington Post’s Jordan Schultz:
League source: Dwyane Wade in preliminary talks with #Cavs to reunite with Lebron. Talks still early.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 5, 2016
It’s not tough to imagine James and Wade teaming up eventually. Maybe they worked out a deal in 2010. If James joined Wade in Miami then, Wade would eventually join him in Cleveland later.
The key word here, though, is “eventually.” It would be incredibly bizarre to see Wade sign with the Cavaliers now knowing they cannot offer him any real money, while also knowing that the Heat are baiting him with $20 million per year, according to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne:
As for Dwyane Wade. I’m told negotiations are at a bit if an impasse right now, but the Heat is still optimistic Wade will re-sign with the only franchise he’s ever played for.
Miami has offered a two year, $40 million deal, as Dan LeBatard reported earlier today. I hear that would be with a player option in Year 2
Wade is hoping for a longer deal, or more than the $20 million he made last year, if he is to accept a two-year deal, according to a source.
Wade can likely get the money he’s looking for on the open market, outside Miami. But it won’t be from Cleveland. His options are essentially limited to non-contenders. And is that really how he, at 34, wants to spend a portion of his twilight?
All of which makes it more likely that Wade signs a two-year deal with Miami, thus keeping his lifer legacy alive.
Of course, if he does take that two-year deal with a player option, he will once again hit free agency in 2017, when both James and Chris Paul (early termination option) are expected to reach the open market.
If they’re all open to playing in New York, with the Knicks, where Carmelo Anthony is under contract through 2017-18, we may just see the on-court version of the banana-boat fam come to fruition yet.
