Wade puts injured Chalmers in touch with Matthews

Mario Chalmers has had a rough week, but his friend and former Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade is there for him.

Waived by the Memphis Grizzlies only a day after suffering a season-ending torn Achilles, Chalmers finds himself out of a job and with a career-threatening injury. Enter Wade, who quickly put him in touch with a player that was in a similar situation last season, Wesley Matthews.

"Immediately, for me, I went into friend mode, trying to see what I could do to help," Wade said Saturday, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman. "I know Wes Matthews dealt with that last year, and I know he came back strong. I know he still was able to sign a great deal. So my goal was to put them two together, see if he could help him out."

A ruptured Achilles on March 5 of last year ended Matthews' tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers. It raised eyebrows in some quarters, but the rehabbing shooting guard then signed a max contract with the Dallas Mavericks over the summer. While the 29-year-old is currently having his worst statistical season as a pro, he is playing his usual stubborn defense - which creates some optimism that he has mostly recovered from what is a devastating injury.

Wade knows that it's going to be a challenging road ahead for Chalmers, known as "Rio" to his teammates on two Heat title squads.

The injury-ravaged Grizzlies made the cold-looking decision to waive Chalmers in order to sign a healthy body, and Wade echoes previous comments by another former teammate in LeBron James - that there's hypocrisy in how observers view decisions made by teams versus choices made by players.

"Like I've always said, I could talk about it all day: When a team makes a decision, it's fine to everybody," Wade said. "But when a player makes a decision, everybody goes crazy. So I guess it's the business decision they were supposed to make.

"But for me, for a friend ... I'm just worried about (Chalmers) getting back healthy."