If you asked Dwyane Wade to rank his three most likely free-agency destinations from this past summer, would the Miami Heat be in the top three?
It’s a fair question, because, well, Wade left the Heat for the Chicago Bulls. But he also flirted with the Denver Nuggets, whom he indicated, per Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, were his second choice:
Wade said the #Nuggets were the first team to call him when free agency opened up in July and liked the direction of the organization. pic.twitter.com/MCgdQXc93a
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) November 22, 2016
This isn’t that surprising. We knew both the Bulls and Nuggets were making aggressive pushes to sign him. We also knew those overtures outpaced the Heat’s by like a mile. So while Wade’s decision to join Chicago held some emotional appeal, this was a financially-driven situation. He wanted to get paid what he felt he was owed and not a penny less. It makes sense that he zeroed in on the two teams that were offering him the most money.
The Bulls, of course, ended up winning his services, and they were certainly the better fit. Wade doesn’t perfectly complement the entire roster, but the Bulls are closer to making noise in the playoffs than the Nuggets, if only because they employ fewer youngsters and needn’t worry about facing off against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
Still, this makes you wonder: By the end of everything, where did Miami rank on Wade’s list of priorities? We already know they weren’t in the top two, but did they make the top three?
Those are questions for another day.
