NBA free agency Would Dwayne Wade stay with Miami Heat
Dwayne Wade: Will he stay or will he go? Every off-season always brings a ton of questions for every team to answer. What went wrong? What went right? What do we need to do to get better? Who is available and who is expendable? The one question every team dreads answering is who is leaving.
A number of teams are faced with that scenario this off-season as their stars become eligible for free agency, meaning they can test the market to see how much they might be able to make elsewhere. Chris Bosh could be looking for a new home instead of staying in Toronto. Rumors have been spread throughout the media for some time about the future of LeBron James in Cleveland.
Fans in Miami would not mind getting either of those superstars (although neither have been rumored to be interested in going to the Heat), but are more concerned about retaining their own superstar- Dwayne Wade.
Dwayne Wade in 2003 draft
LeBron James was not the only star to be drafted in the 2003 draft. The Miami Heat took a young guard from Marquette University with the fifth pick in the first round named Dwayne Wade.
Wade was ineligible to play in his first year in college due to a Proposition 48 violation. When he did finally step on the court or the Golden Eagles in the 2001-02 season he helped lead the team to its best record since the 1993-94 season (26-7). He went on to lead the team in scoring again during the 2002-03 season with more than 21 points a game and a trip to the Final Four.
In his first year with the Heat, he was able to contribute to the young team as he adjusted to the professional game. The Heat would eventually finish with a 42-40 record, 17 games better than the previous season.
The trade for Shaquille O’Neal would prove valuable to the team in Wade’s second season in 2004-05. Once again the team improved by 17 games finishing with a record of 59-23. Wade really hit his stride in his sophomore year as his season scoring average improved by nearly 8 points from 16.3 to 24.1.
Wade and the Heat looked to a return to the post season again in 2005-06 after their departure the previous season in the Conference Finals. Wade had become one of the more dominant players in the game in just his third season as a professional. His stat line at the end of the season was an impressive 27.2 points/ 6.7 rebounds/ 5.7 assists/ and 1.95 steals a game. The team would go onto win the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks. Dwayne Wade would become one of the youngest players to be named the MVP of the finals after averaging close to 35 points a game.
Should he stay or should he go?
Wade and the Heat have been unable to match the success that they had during their NBA Championship season, but have remained competitive with the exception of the 2007-08 season when Wade was battling knee trouble throughout the season. He was well enough in time to join the U.S. Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Games where he led the U.S. to a Gold medal.
The Heat would do well in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. In 2008-09 Wade led the NBA in scoring with more than 30 points a game for his first scoring title. As for the team, they would lose in the first round of the playoffs both seasons.
As he approaches the official opening of free agency, Dwayne Wade has already stated that his intentions are to stay with the team that drafted him, although he has not stated that he would not be willing to entertain offers from other teams. The front office has not done much to improve the roster since they brought in Shaquille O’Neal (who is now in Cleveland). Even the best players needed a supporting cast in order to be competitive.
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