Yes, things are weird between Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.
No, that doesn’t mean he’s signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, or the Denver Nuggets, or the Milwaukee Bucks, or the Chicago Bulls.
Yes, it feels more and more likely that, at some point before retiring, he will play somewhere other than Miami.
Beyond the contractual stalemate both parties have reached at the moment, Wade also wasn’t thrilled with the Heat’s free-agency approach—specifically the recruitment of Kevin Durant, according to the Miami Herald‘s De Le Batard:
Heat legend Pat Riley? He didn’t merely walk into Durant’s recruitment without his biggest star. He did so without Wade’s cooperation in any way, not financially and not emotionally. Days before the meeting, the Wade camp leaked that Wade was unhappy with Miami’s initial lowball offer (an offer the Heat denies) and would entertain leaving in free agency. Never mind flying out to see Durant or being financially flexible with trust because his Larry Bird rights allow Miami to wink-wink golden parachute him years from now. Wade wouldn’t make so much as a public comment to lure Durant or call him or text him, either. This while vacationing with James overseas, no less.
Wade wasn’t going to persuade Durant to take dollars that could be his, and it’s hard to blame him for that unless you are a Heat management that had grown accustomed to his cooperation and needed his help with Durant while he was vacationing with James. Hassan Whiteside, who had multiple max offers, was willing to give back to make room for Durant. Wade apparently was not.
This is weird to read, if only because we, like the Heat, have grown accustomed to Wade making sacrifices to accommodate Miami’s larger aspirations. Of course, as Le Batard points out, some of Wade’s sacrifices were made for LeBron James or to help accommodate Chris Bosh. But the reduced salaries, the one year deals with no long-term stability—Wade has done his part to keep the Heat flexible. He has, at the very least, done enough to keep up the appearance that he wouldn’t dare play anywhere else, not even when he’s flirting with other teams.
But now, well, everything is bizarre. Wade can get money from other teams, but Miami offers him the best chance to compete—unless he’s planning to take a $15 million-plus pay cut per year to play with LeBron in Cleveland.
