The Miami Heat would be willing to bring Dwyane Wade back if he agrees to play for their $4.3 million cap exception and accepts a role off the bench.
Dwyane Wade isn’t being shy about the fact that he wants to be bought out by the Chicago Bulls so that he can play for a contender. In a conversation with TNT’s David Aldridge, Wade said “it’s no secret” that he wants to play elsewhere.
Where that place is, if Wade is bought out, could be determined by a number of factors. There is speculation and multiple reports that Wade could sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers or Miami Heat.
The only contender of that group is the Cavaliers, but he’d likely have to take a bench role to play there. He’d also have to come off the bench if he were to return to the Heat.
According to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, the Heat would be interested in bringing Wade back if he accepts a bench role, and would play for the team’s $4.3 million cap exception.
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When Wade left that summer, it left the Heat in a bit of a lurch. They were fortunate that Dion Waiters became available and, last season, Goran Dragic and Waiters coalesced into a formidable duo.
Miami has plenty of depth in the backcourt with Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Josh Richardson and Rodney McGruder all expected to receive playing time this coming season.
It makes sense that, if Wade were to come back, he’d have to come off the bench. Anything else risks the chemistry that Dragic and Waiters formed last season.
Wade could play the 3 as the nominal small forward, but a ball-dominant player such as him could still disrupt the flow of the offense that the team discovered in the second half of last season, and paid so much money this summer to explore further.
Fans have wondered since Wade left about if he were to return, what sort of role he’d play. This report about answers that.
The question now becomes: Would Wade accept such a role in order to return to Miami, where he spent the first 13 years of his Hall-of-Fame career? Or would he prefer to compete for a championship this season, and return some other time down the road?