If there’s one big question remaining in free agency, it’s regarding the future of Dwyane Wade. And as of Saturday night, that question remains unanswered.
Wade spoke to reporters on Saturday about if and where he might be playing this season. And as the Miami Herald‘s Manny Navarro writes, Wade can answer the “where,” but not the “if.”
Pat Riley said last month he was hoping to find out around mid-August if Miami Heat legends Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem were going to return for their 16th seasons with the team.
As the calendar continues to inch closer to the middle of the month, its clear Wade, 36, still hasn’t made his mind up and is in no rush to do so. Another thing Wade made clear: if he does play it will not be overseas in China or for another NBA team.
“Heat only,” the 12-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion responded Saturday when asked at the NBA’s Jr. World Championships at Disney’s Wide World of Sports if he would consider playing overseas in China this coming season after signing a lifetime contract with the shoe and apparel company Li-Ning.
“If I play the game of basketball this year it will be in a Miami uniform,” Wade continued. “If I don’t, I’ll be living in Miami and somewhere else probably.”
As Navarro writes, the Heat, who haven’t added a single new player via trade or free agency this summer, are holding roster spots open for Wade and Udonis Haslem, who played a total of 72 minutes last season.
Wade is a future Hall of Famer and won a playoff game for the Heat with a throwback performance in Game 2 of the first round in Philadelphia. But in the regular season, the Heat were 14.7 points per 100 possessions better with Wade off the floor (plus-3.9) than they were with him on the floor (minus-10.9) after they acquired him from Cleveland in February.
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John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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