The NBA trade deadline has been nothing short of chaotic. The Cleveland Cavaliers have traded away a huge chunk of their roster, including Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder and Iman Shumpert. Among this chaos is veteran Shooting Guard Dwyane Wade, as he has been dealt back to Miami Heat as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski. Wade spent most of his 15 seasons in the NBA with the Heat as he won three titles with the organization and is considered by many their all-time top player.
Spending last year with the Chicago Bulls and this year with the Cavs, Wade has not played to the All-Star level he once played at due to age and injuries.
The Miami Heat are right now in a playoff race with a few teams, and the return of Wade may provide somewhat of a spark to the team, but hard to say he will make the same impact he once did.
Cleveland is trading Dwyane Wade to Miami, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2018
Wade's season
Wade reunited with LeBron James in the offseason after he and the Bulls parted ways. While his stats are not what they were when he was in his prime, they are not terrible. In 46 games with the Cavs, Wade averaged 11.2 points per game, 3.5 assists, .455% shooting and playing in roughly 23.2 minutes per game. In his first 13-year stint in Miami, he averaged 35.7 minutes per game while the past two years in Cleveland and Chicago he averaged less than 30.
Even with the addition of Wade, there will not be a huge roster change as the Heat just sent a protected second-round pick according to NBA TV. The Heat already have shooting guards in Josh Richardson, Wade Ellington and Dion Waiters with Goran Dragic starting at point guard. Wade is probably going to be veteran depth at this point.
He can be a solid presence on the Heat as they push for the playoffs. Will he get D-Wade minutes of old? Extremely doubtful, but he will get some time to support the team on the court and on the bench.
REPORTS: Cleveland is trading Dwyane Wade to Miami for a heavily protected second-round pick (Via ESPN). pic.twitter.com/XSJu8J6Yco
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 8, 2018
Miami Heat playoff push
The Heat currently sits in the seven seed right above Philadelphia.
They trail the Indiana Pacers by one game for the six seed and the Milwaukee Bucks by two games for the fifth seed. A lot of credit has to be given to head coach Erik Spoelstra for bringing back competitiveness to the Heat after LeBron, Wade and Bosh departed. Now he gets a familiar face back, despite the circumstances being a bit different.
Are the Heat legit championship contenders? Probably not, but they can still make a run at the playoffs. Regardless Dwyane Wade will be warmly welcomed back by the fans in Miami that had watched him play a future Hall of Fame career for 13 seasons.
