The Miami Heat suffered through losing LeBron James last offseason, and now longtime star Dwyane Wade is dropping hints that he is not happy. Wade has the ability to opt out of his deal this offseason, and currently feels that the Heat are not making him a top priority.
A friend told The Miami Herald that Wade is "pissed" about the organization suggesting he opt in this season for $16 million, and then make $10 million in each of the next two seasons. Other sources are saying Wade is going to want a three years and between $50 and $60 million.
Wade has struggled to stay on the court for several years in a row, so his still-top-notch statistics must be taken with a grain of salt. When playing, Wade remains an elite shooting guard. This past season he averaged 21.5 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 62 games, but saw his field goal percentage drop to 47 percent. The previous year, with James on the roster, Wade shot 54.5 percent on four fewer shots per game.
Wade's father spoke to a Miami internet-radio show and clouded the picture of Wade's future with the Heat, the only team he's known.
"The best answer I can probably give to that is, you guys have had D-Wade ever since he came in the league, let's just pray with God that he stays here the rest of the way."
Wade has big-market options should he choose to leave Miami. The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are almost completely devoid of talent, have lots of open space on their rosters, and cap room to burn. The Lakers make less sense than the Knicks; Kobe Bryant plays the same position as Wade, and is not the type of young talent that will learn from Bryant and be passed the torch. The Knicks do have a dominant scorer in place in Carmelo Anthony, but Wade plays a different position, and has chemistry developed from their time on the national team in the Olympics.
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