Thursday, June 30, 2016

D-Wade to Cavs in Free Agency?

I've been thinking off and on the last couple of days about Dwayne Wade coming to Cleveland in free agency. What a sensational backcourt that would be: D. Wade and Kyrie!

Of course it’s a long shot, but then who expected LeBron to bolt to Miami in 2010? And who expected him to return in 2014? And who expected the Cavs to be the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the Championship Finals?

LeBron and Wade are the best of friends. They now have the same number of rings [3]. They entered the league together. They arguably had the most success together [Four Finals, two Championships]. LeBron went to Wade’s team in free agency. It would be delicious symmetry for D. Wade to bring his talents to the North Coast in free agency, and join LBJ, Kyrie, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, a much stronger nucleus than Miami put together.

Assuming Wade leaves Miami this year, why would he head West where he would have to battle several top teams for a chance to return to the Finals?

The big question is salary. Wade wants to get paid after sacrificing millions so that the Heat could build a stronger team. The Cavs are over the cap but if there is a way to do it, Cavs management is savvy enough to find it, and Cavs owners are rich enough to fund it. It would mean the departure of several Cavs players — Delly and Mosgov for certain, perhaps Shumpert and J. R. as well — but they’d all be leaving with rings.