Three-time NBA champion and Miami lifer Dwyane Wade is virtually impossible to imagine wearing a uniform other than that of the Heat. But his camp is doing its best to sell everybody on the idea that it could actually be a legitimate possibility.
According ESPN’s Brian Windhorst in an appearance on 790 AM The Ticket on Thursday, Wade’s representatives have been in touch with the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs to inform them of the 12-time All-Star’s availability this offseason.
Windhorst previously reported that free agent talks had stalled between Wade and the Heat and that Wade was ready to listen to offers from other teams.
Such whispers definitely come across as an attempt from Wade’s camp to boost his value by gaining leverage, especially since those two teams are both bitter rivals of Wade’s having gone up against him in the NBA Finals twice apiece. Additionally, both the Spurs and the Mavericks have big money committed to the shooting guard position already, having respectively locked Danny Green and Wesley Matthews into long-term contracts just last year.
This current summer is the best time in all of NBA history to be hitting free agency thanks to the league’s great salary cap eruption. Simply put, those on the open market should be expected to act out of basic self-interest by maximizing that opportunity as much as possible and in any way possible, Wade included. The likeliest scenario has always been for Wade to return to the Heat, the only team he has ever known in his 13-year career. But just like last offseason, the credibility of Wade’s threat to leave is going to be the ultimate determinant of just how lucrative the 34-year-old’s next deal will be.
Image Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
H/T theScore
