Miami prioritized reaching an agreement with Hassan Whiteside at the beginning of free agency because the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers were chasing him. Of course, it’s only a rumor at this moment, but one made relevant after Dwyane reportedly turned down a two year, $40 million dollar offer from the Heat, as originally reported by Tim Reynolds of the AP. Is this why the Cleveland Cavaliers Twitter account just followed Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union? This time, the Heat are trying to balance re-signing Whiteside to a four-year, $98 million maximum deal and improve their team after a failed bid to land Durant, who ultimately chose Golden State.
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Several rumors spread that Wade flew to Cleveland to talk with former teammate LeBron James and majority owner Dan Gilbert. Could Wade actually leave Miami?
The Chicago Bulls have maintained significant interest in Wade and may still decide to join the Nuggets in NY for a meeting with Wade, league sources said.
Dwyane Wade is scheduled to meet with Nuggets officials Wednesday in NY with a two-year, $52 million offer on the table, Yahoo Sports reported, citing National Basketball Association sources.
Wade and his representatives likely wanted to move more quickly and so the meeting will not go on. But as Skolnick reports, that couldn’t have been Wade’s plane because he was still in Europe and is only flying back to the US on Tuesday morning. He’s never been the highest paid player on his team and is the only player in franchise history to be a part of all three of their championships. Still Wade played in 74 games for the Heat past year, the most since 2010-11.
One Cavs fan, Brandyn Brosemer, though is attempting to help by raising money through a GoFundMe page that has a goal of raising $20 million to pay Wade’s salary.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN, meanwhile, is reporting that Wade is now demanding at least $50 million over the same two years, a price tag the Heat just aren’t willing to budge on.
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The Heat, who offered 10 million less, can match the Nuggets offer to Wade by trading the contract of Josh McRoberts to a team with cap space. Wade has 3 rings, a scoring title, 12 All-Star appearances, and is the Heat’s all time leading scorer while Pat Riley has paid him dog shit compared to other Heat players.
