LeBron James and Dwyane Wade together again: it’s the reunion every NBA fan needed to see once again before both players start the downturn of their respective careers. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Wade has officially agreed to join the Cleveland Cavaliers on a one-year, $2.3 million deal.
Wojnarowski adds that although Wade considered a return to the Miami Heat, the chance to play with his best friend in James as well as compete for an NBA Championship was too much to pass up for the 14-year guard out of Marquette.
After earning $23.2 million in 2016-17, Wade exercised his $23.8 million player option for the 2017-18 season for a team he expected to compete in the postseason. Instead, Chicago traded away Jimmy Butler and failed to sign free agents that would help in the immediate playoff chase. With Wade and the Bulls not seeing eye-to-eye on their respective futures, the 35-year old worked out a buyout to become an unrestricted free agent. In the agreement, Wade agreed to give back $8 million and walk away with $15.8 million.
Miami Herald
Teams in the hunt for Wade included San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder. At Media Day on Monday, Thunder forward Paul George, who had been working out with Wade this offseason, said he was in Wade’s texts, Snapchat, and Twitter DM’s trying to recruit him.
In 2010, LeBron James left Cleveland to join Wade’s team in Miami, where the duo won two championships in four years together with the help of forward Chris Bosh. Now, it’ll be Wade’s turn to come to James’ team and help him compete for an NBA Championship against the juggernaut out West that is the Golden State Warriors.
The issue to figure out now is whether Wade will start or come off the bench. Starting Wade seems like the wrong way to go, especially since the starting lineup will need space for LeBron to operate and J.R. Smith is the perfect fit for that unit. However, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype reports that Wade has been told he would start if he chose Cleveland.
David Santiago l El Nuevo Herald
Wade will be turning 36 in January and he’s coming off of his 14th season where he averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, as well as 1.4 steals per game for the Bulls last season.