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Dwyane Wade didn't like last year's maintenance program, hopes to play 82 games in 2014-15

Steve Mitchell / USA Today Sports

For the third consecutive season in 2013-14, Dwyane Wade came up short of a full slate of games. 

While he occasionally dealt with injury flare-ups last year, his 54-game total was more due to a conscious effort on the part of the Miami Heat to keep him healthy in the long-run and working at full-speed for the playoffs. It's tough to argue when similar efforts in 2011-12 and 2012-13 helped lead to championships, but last season's strategy – which saw Wade average a career-low 32.9 minutes, as well – doesn't sit well with Wade in retrospect.

"Last year," Wade said on Saturday. "We tried something and I wasn't comfortable with it, either."

He acknowledged that how close they came to the title justified the strategy but without LeBron James, "it's a different year." What that means is a heavier workload, both in terms of playing time and role in the offense, and Wade clearly understands that.

"My goal is to be available every day for my teammates and see what that equals out to," he said. "Hopefully it equals out to success for myself, individually, but for our team."

An 82-game slate is probably too big a stretch goal for Wade, who is now 32 and has some tread on the tires. Sitting out the second night of an occasional back-to-back, especially on the road, probably won't hurt, and even with a clean bill of health, Wade can probably expect to miss some time  he's never played more than 79 games in a season and has played fewer than 70 in six of 11 seasons.

Far more interesting than his games played total will be how he looks without James. With James around, Wade developed as an elite off-ball threat, save for a lack of 3-point shooting, but he'll now be asked to shoulder more of a ball-handling and scoring load.

Wade PPG TS% Usage%
2003-10 25.4 56.5% 32.7%
2010-14 22.2 57.5% 30.2%
2013-14 w James 18.2 per 36min 60.7% n/a
2013-14 w/o James 25.9 per 36min 56.4% n/a

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