According to Mavs Moneyball, Wade has now reached out to other teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs.
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As the Miami Heat focus on a Sunday meeting with Kevin Durant, free agent Dwyane Wade is intensifying talks with other teams, including the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks, sources told ESPN. Offering a $10 million annual salary will surely anger Dwyane Wade. But the 12-time All-Star clearly has set his sights higher than the one-year, $20 million deal he signed last summer.
If Durant chooses Miami or the Heat swings and misses and ends up spending most of what it has left in salary-cap space to keep Wade, the Heat won’t have much in the way of cap space to offer free agents or its own players.
Wade’s fielding offers from outside suitors in the range of $20 million annually over the course of two to three seasons, Wojnarowski reported, which the Heat have been reluctant to meet so far. Phil Jackson was asked Saturday about the Knicks’ interest and he stuck to the rules this time, refusing to comment, but it’s clear the Knicks would love to have him at shooting guard.
This is the second straight year Wade has threatened to leave, and last year he ended back up with the Heat after a brief, peaceful showdown.
Now, a GoFundMe account has been created by some Heat fans who are trying to help raise money for their goal of $10 million to pay his salary and for him to re-sign with the team. After agreeing to a four-year, million deal with Hassan Whiteside on Friday morning, Miami wants to see what Durant decides before proceeding with Wade.
The 34-year-old Wade has played 13 years in Miami and won three National Basketball Association titles with the Heat, the first coming in 2006. He averaged 19 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists playing in 74 games, his most in five years, this past season.
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While Wade has never played for the Bulls, he has certainly played his hometown team. He would join a team already stacked in talent, acquiring Derrick Rose via trade and have a deal in place with Joakim Noah.
