What Dwyane Wade’s return to Wade County means to the Miami Heat
The Miami Heat’s prodigal son has returned home, but what does that mean exactly?
You may have heard the news, but in case you haven’t… Dwyane Wade is finally back in a Miami Heat uniform.
As the NBA trade deadline was coming to a close, the Heat completed a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Heat legend, sending just a future second round pick back in return. Since then, Wade has acknowledged that is his final go around and he wanted nothing more than to end his career in Wade County.
It’s been a different experience seeing Wade in different uniforms over the last two years, and he never looked right in any of them.
He never really seemed to fit in Chicago or Cleveland, and it became more evident with each passing day. There were even moments that Wade was caught watching Miami Heat scores during halftime of Cavaliers games this season, according to reports.
But what does the final version of Wade bring to the table for the Heat? Well, mostly leadership and experience.
He can still handle the ball a bit and make the occasional fantastic play, but he’s not the Wade we watched mesmerize us in the playoffs two years ago. Yet, he can serve as another competent ball handler and scorer down the stretch in games. He’s currently not a major upgrade over any of the players in the Heat’s wing rotation, save for maybe Wayne Ellington. But that’s not really important.
The excitement that he’s going to bring by simply being in a Heat jersey, is understated.
One thing to pay attention to, is how Josh Richardson reacts to the return of Wade.
Richardson has been enjoying a really good season being one of the team’s focal points. However, with Wade’s return, his confidence could take a hit. Wade may become head coach Erik Spoelstra’s choice late in games, because of his experience and reverence in Miami. So will Richardson use that as motivation, or will he mail it in? That will remain to be seen. At the very least, the young buck is excited to keep learning from his mentor.
"“I want to start knowing things, how he does it. I want to start learning all the small stuff that he does so hopefully one day I can end up doing the things that he does.”"
Next: Miami Heat: The Dwyane Wade and Hassan Whiteside show
But for now, we can enjoy living in the euphoria of Wade making his way back home.