Report: Heat, Dwyane Wade agree to 2-year deal
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Although the most important member of the Miami Heat's former "Big Three" in LeBron James is gone, the two other pillars still remain.
With Dwyane Wade, sources say it is a two-year deal with a player option for next season. Expect about $16-17M in salary this coming year.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) July 15, 2014
Given the Heat's spate of offseason signings and his ties to the franchise, Wade's return was inevitable. The move shores up Miami's revamped roster, with Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts on the roster to partially alleviate the loss of James.
Wade's 11 seasons in Miami has been fruitful, bearing three titles between 2006 and 2013. Wade is the franchise leader in games played, minutes, field goals made, free-throws made, assists, steals and points.
Ordinarily, inking a player of Wade's caliber is worthy of aplomb and celebration, rather than tepid excitement. That is rooted in Wade's declining health, which has forced him into missing significant amounts of games through the past three seasons.
But a 31 year old Wade, when healthy, can still produce. Playing alongside LeBron surely inflated his numbers, but he did average 19 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game on 54.5 percent shooting from the field last season, good for a PER of 22.
The deal leaves Miami capped out, which would presumably bring their offseason shopping spree to an end. But it should be noted that this is the second time Wade's career that he's left money on the table to help the Heat compete. He turned down two more years at over $20 million per season in order to become a free-agent.