“Here we are now, entertain us.”
Kurt Cobain would have loved NBA free agency in the year 2016. It’s a bigger deal than the NBA Finals the month before (even a seven-game epic) and it’s part of why old, cantankerous sportswriters are so shocked by what millennial basketball fans care about. The inter-league player movement and the possibility of future greatness is what stokes the embers of an NBA fan’s heart these days, just not the actual greatness, because only one team gets to bask in that. Fans are too concerned with what their team might do the coming summer than how they fare in May.
On July 1, everyone has a shot at the 2017 title. Now, on July 5, only one team seems to have a shot, at least according to the hyper-reactive NBA Twitter hivemind. And general managers aren’t immune to going on tilt after a big signing, either. So, it’s not inconceivable the Cavs are looking at ways to sign Dwyane Wade in free agency.
Not inconceivable, but highly improbable. Enough so that if you hear some — probably intoxicated — fan in a Cavs jersey over the next two days loudly proclaiming a counter-move involving Dwyane Wade after Kevin Durant’s stunning free agency decision, know that they’re just blowing off steam and don’t really know what they’re talking about. Except, of course, if we’re dead wrong, which isn’t out of the question.
Sure, this might be accurate:
League source: Dwyane Wade in preliminary talks with #Cavs to reunite with Lebron. Talks still early.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 5, 2016
And, sure, perhaps Dwyane Wade, Dan Gilbert and LeBron James all boarded a chartered flight together in an effort to somehow enhance a team in the East that just won the 2016 NBA Title. All in order to more adequately battle the Four Horseman out West.
Happy 4th! @cavsdan @KingJames @DwyaneWade. Enjoy!
— Luxury Jets Group (@LuxJetGroup) July 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/LullOnSports/status/750138079059509248
(Remember, this is the guy who spotted Gilbert’s plane going to Florida two summers ago when we were equally as snarky about the whole thing.)
https://twitter.com/Pchopz_/status/750160659111874560
Except, Dwyane’s Monday Snapchat post appeared to make the above scenario even more impossible, simply from a geography standpoint; although, we live in a different world than NBA superstars and it often takes us months of planning and saving to simply board a flight that covers a couple states.
That'd be quite the turnaround to go from Ibiza to Fort Lauderdale to Cleveland (sorry to be a Debbie Downer) pic.twitter.com/3Z2lzpTunB
— Bottlegate (@Bottlegate) July 5, 2016
And Wade still supposedly has a Wednesday meeting with the Bucks, which has been confirmed by multiple reporters.
Source said Bucks meeting with Dwyane Wade scheduled for Wednesday in New York.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) July 4, 2016
Was told that, as of now, Dwyane Wade’s meeting with the Bucks on Wednesday is still on. FWIW.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 5, 2016
But then Brian Windhorst just dropped this bomb:
Dwyane Wade has canceled some free agent meetings with teams he'd set up with this week, sources said.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 5, 2016
And Zach Lowe confirmed one of those meetings was with the Bucks.
Includes Milwaukee, sources say. No meeting w/ Bucks. https://t.co/XKSHTSNQn1
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 5, 2016
The Nuggets are also reportedly in the mix, and the Heat even offered Wade a two-year, $40 million deal, after an insulting initial offer that was half that amount.
Heat has offered Wade 2 years, $40 million with a player option in second year.
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) July 4, 2016
Except, he appears to have declined the offer, which isn’t surprising considering how incredibly low their first salary suggestion was:
The same deal Wade reportedly rejected from Heat. https://t.co/jD4NQ2KSrS
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 5, 2016
A few things to keep in mind before Cavs fans start thinking about how a D-Wade addition will look against Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and the Warriors. Dwyane Wade still can’t shoot threes and still needs the ball in his hands to be effective; he still turns a year older next year, too. We’re not going to say Wade can’t perform at an All-NBA level from time to time, but he’s a couple seasons removed from even the Heatles days, when that 2014 Finals wasn’t pretty for him.
Plus, with the holds, the Cavs are already over the salary cap and — right now — could only offer Wade the full mid-level exception ($5,628,000). Sure, they could let J.R. Smith walk in free agency, but they still need to re-sign LeBron. Then again, James might be willing to take a discount on his next one-and-one deal if it means his good buddy joins him in his home state of Ohio.
Wade signing in Cleveland is possible, and even more so since we started writing this piece. But it’s improbable, and we hate to be the ones to tell excited Cavs fans this, but your title-winning team from 2015-16 would probably be worse with Wade in the fold, depending on who else is brought back (they’re already missing Timofey Mozgov and Matthew Dellavedova and J.R. Smith might be next.)
It’s natural to panic a little with the idea that one of the top three best players in the world just agreed to sign with a team that won 73 games last season. But if the Cavs sign Dwyane Wade, it’ll be an overreaction, and not the right one, either.
