Miami Heat, Dwyane Wade, and the Price of Loyalty
By Chris Posada
For Dwyane Wade, loyalty can be a funny thing.
The face of the Miami Heat has seen his loyalty called into question by Heat Nation, as word got out that he wasn’t thrilled with the way negotiations on a possible contract extension if he were to opt out of the final year of the two-year, $31 million deal he signed last summer were going. Though he hasn’t actually commented on this situation, nor specified that he was opting out to begin with, Heat fans have done the unthinkable: taken sides against either Wade or the Heat.
Wade has been the Dan Marino of the Heat, and has surpassed him in many way in the eyes of South Florida fans. Playing his whole career in Miami, watching him grow into one of the best shooting guards in NBA history, while leading the team to three championships has all but cliched Wade’s place in Miami sports lore. Now comes word that he might leave town if the Heat don’t meet his terms on a new contract.
Sadly, he might not even be the Heat’s main priority.
Take a number
Goran Dragic will opt out of his contract and test free agency, and Riley has already (jokingly) stated that his future might be on the line if he doesn’t bring Dragic back. The issue is that he’s certainly not a max guy, but as I wrote a few weeks ago (CHEAP PLUG) the Heat have to go hard at him, as they gave up two future first round picks to trade for him, and there are teams like the Lakers and Knicks would badly want a PG and to make a free agent splash. If he somehow gets close to a max deal from Miami, that will effect what they can offer Wade, while leaving little room for Hassan Whiteside next summer.
Speaking of Whiteside, Heat fans valuing him over Wade has become a thing. Signing Wade, along with Dragic and Chris Bosh’s contracts will limit what they could potentially offer Whiteside in the summer of 2016, as Miami doesn’t have Bird Rights on him. So now it’s becoming an issue of whether keeping the greatest player in franchise history over what could be a cornerstone center for the foreseeable future.
As much potential and talent Whiteside showed in 48 games, if you think Wade has question marks moving forward, what do you think of Whiteside? He’s been plagued with maturity issues since he entered the NBA, was forced to go overseas in hopes of playing some form of professional basketball, then finally getting his shot with the Heat, while showing little in the way of being humbled. There were two instances that showed he could be a ticking time-bomb (against Alex Len and Kelly Olynyk) and to think that’s gone and forgotten is reckless. Besides, what if Whiteside got paid and was content by that? Is that not a risk for the Heat? I like Whiteside, but if the Kings were to call and offer DeMarcus Cousins for Whiteside and the 10th pick, I’d think hard about doing that, Cousins’ issues aside.
Don’t call it a comeback
Back to Wade, this contract situation was probably a plan that was put into motion last summer when Wade agreed to his new deal, as he was betting on himself to show that he can still play at an elite level. Wade has seen everyone either get paid, or about to get paid, and now he feels he might be left holding his hand out and not getting anything back. He proved that he still had plenty in the tank. For example:
Player A: 31.9 mpg 21.7 ppg 7.8-16.9 FGM-FGA .463 FG%
Player B: 31.8 mpg 21.5 ppg 8.2-17.5 FGM-FGA .470 FG%
Player C: 36.4 mpg 21.7 ppg 7.7-16.5 FGM-FGA .468 FG%
Player D: 35.7 mpg 21.0 ppg 7.2-16.6 FGM-FGA .434 FG%
If you guessed B was Wade, you’re right. I’m going to guess that 47% from the field gave that away. The other three players? Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, and Damian Lillard. Two of them are currently in the Finals, while Lillard is a superstar in the making. Some might draw concern that his efficiency was his worst since 2009-10, but it only looks bad compared to his body of work; he was second among true shooting guards in field goal percentage. The point is he’s performing at a very high level.
As long as he’s on the court.
Wade’s actual value around the league is definitely limited because of his age (33) and health issues – he only played in 62 games this season – that giving him big money over extended years is a big risk. But all Wade really needs is a team desperate enough to make a dumb decision and pony up to bring a star in. Teams like the Lakers and Knicks that have cap space, frustrated fans, and are sitting under the media’s microscope are teams that need to find a way to compete now. If they miss out on the big free agents like Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Kevin Love, the panic button might be pressed. If they enter the Wade sweepstakes with a big three year offer, would the Heat match?
Is that something that the Heat can even risk?
Those who forget history…
This situation shares similarities with Riley’s negotiations with Alonzo Mourning back in the summer of 2003, which saw the Heat try to bring back Mourning on a minimum salary deal as he was still battling his kidney ailment. Mourning, feeling that he didn’t owe the Heat anything, even as he sat out the majority of two of the last three years of his $105 million contract, and wanted to still try to get one last contract. Enter the New Jersey Nets, who signed a four-year, $22 million deal. All he wanted from Riley was for Miami to match. They didn’t.
Just one team desperate enough to make a dumb decision.
Mourning retired in November of his first season in New Jersey, before attempting another comeback.
More importantly, what if Wade left, how will that look for Riley and the Heat? Over the years, Mourning, LeBron James, and Shaquille O’Neal all left/forced their way out for one reason or another. The common thread was they weren’t getting what they wanted – money (Mourning); power (LeBron); respect (O’Neal). If Wade left over money – especially being the face of the franchise – could outside perception of the Heat go from respecting an organization that has a family-like atmosphere to one that players can’t get anything they request? Is it petty for players to try and get buddies jobs or refuse to practice? Of course it is. But this is 2015 and that’s the era we live in. Players worry about their brands, or how they’re being treated. And even after making over a hundred million dollars and being set for life, players will always want more. Which is fair.
Move along, nothing to see here
But it’s the outcry that many have shown against Wade about how he could go from “Heat Lifer that is willing to sacrifice money for the good of the team” to being Kobe Bryant has been fascinating. Heat fans and front office officials have been planning for 2016 and beyond since last summer, while also trying to hold out hope for remaining competitive in the present.
I’m guessing that would be the reaction to someone who said that sacrificing was important to the betterment of the team.
Except for when it happened last summer with the other member of the Big Three that stayed.
What’s odd is that there wasn’t much anger towards Bosh, who also opted out of his deal and speculation was that he would be willing to take less than the maximum if it would help the Heat, for signing a max deal after LeBron bolted.
I apologize, speculation is the wrong word.
Of course, that was all before the Houston Rockets were more than willing to swoop in and offer what was a surprising max deal to Bosh, whose apparent value decreased during the Big Three era because of the diminished statistical productivity from his time in Toronto. Once LeBron fled, that Rockets offer must have looked reeeeeeeally good to Bosh. The Heat saw no choice but to match, as they were already reeling from one superstar’s departure.
So why didn’t Bosh stand by with the idea of sacrificing money to help the team? Was helping the team no longer a priority? Did it not come up? Did Riley just panic? Or was it a 30-year old star wanting to make the best financial decision as he approached the latter part of his career? This was the same Chris Bosh that many Heat fans were down on because he wasn’t putting up 20 and 10 every night like he did with the Raptors, but stayed on because the Heat opened the wallet and all of a sudden was revered by those fans.
I’m as a big a fan of Bosh as anyone. I’ve always gone along with Erik Spoelstra’s idea that he was the most important player during the Big Three era. I supported his new contract. But it’s completely hypocritical for Heat fans to applaud one while slandering the other. It shouldn’t work that way.
Keep in mind that Wade lost out on $11 million over two seasons by opting out of his deal, with the intention of using that savings to bring back LeBron, while also trying to bolster the Heat’s rotation. Sure, there was talk of the Bulls kicking the tires on Wade once LeBron announced his decision. But Wade ended up signing for less and coining the term “Heat Lifer” that the team made into a marketing campaign. Did he sign for less because the Bulls, or another team, didn’t offer more money? We’ll never know.
Maybe Wade is just upset with what the Heat did with that $11 million, per season; depending how you want to look at it, the Heat either used it on Luol Deng, a former All-Star and nice replacement at small forward, or one could see it being used to re-sign Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen, and bringing in journeymen Shawne Williams and Shannon Brown. Yikes!
So much like Bosh found out last summer, weighing value over loyalty will get you paid. Or what if there’s a team trying to force the Heat to blow cap space for 2016 and beyond by clogging up money on Wade? It’s quite the gamble, as a team would need to offer a deal that they would feel Miami matches, thus not clogging up their own space. A big free agent summer without Miami’s involvement benefits a lot of teams.
Or after everything that has been laid out before, maybe it’s something as simple as Wade wanting to cash in one last time before hanging it up.
And maybe this whole situation will be resolved with the Heat offering a simple three-year, $54 million deal, or even a one-year max to let Wade actually be the highest player on the Heat for the first time in his career.
But for fans to worry about Wade or the Heat not playing ball is something that has gotten out of control. Wade’s not going anywhere because the Heat won’t let him go. Not to New York. Not to Los Angeles. Not to Cleveland. Not to China.
In the past, I covered two different angles of loyalty: one from the fan’s perspective, and the other from Pat Riley’s. Now those two perspectives collide, as fans questioning why Wade would try to force the Heat’s hand, while I felt that Riley’s loyalty to his players have bitten him in the past.
Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley are the Miami Heat. We wouldn’t recognize the franchise without either one.
Heat Nation shouldn’t have to choose sides.
You don’t do that with family.