LeBron James vs. Dwyane Wade: Who Should the Miami Heat Build a Team Around?

Miami Heat: Who'd you rather build a team around, LeBron James or Dwyane Wade?

The Miami Heat kind of answered that question already by selecting Dwyane Wade in the 2003 NBA Draft. But to be fair, they never had a chance at selecting LeBron James to build their franchise around—as he went first overall in the same 2003 NBA Draft.

While that situation worked out pretty well for the Miami Heat, winning the 2006 NBA Title with Wade, and still being able to lure LeBron James down to South Beach during the much-hyped free agency of 2010.

You still have to wonder, which player the Miami Heat would take if they could go back in time to the 2003 NBA Draft—only this time holding the number-one overall pick.

While we'll never know who the Miami Heat would've picked if they had a shot at both LeBron and Wade, it brings us back to the original question that we're here to debate:

At this point in both their careers, would you rather build an NBA franchise from the ground up around LeBron James or around Dwyane Wade?

The first argument made in favor of Dwayne Wade will undoubtedly be the fact that he has one more ring than LeBron does. While that's a fair argument, it should be noted that Dwyane Wade won a ring with Shaquille O'Neal in 2006. It was arguably the last above average year of his illustrious NBA career, averaging 20.0 ppg and 9.2 rpg.

When LeBron had Shaq running the court with him during the 2009-10 season, O'Neal was a significantly different player, averaging only 12.0 ppg and 6.7 rpg. So while the "Wade won a championship with Shaq, and LeBron didn't" argument is realistic—it isn't necessarily indicative of true franchise-building success.

Now that the championship argument is somewhat laid to rest, let's start this debate by looking at both players' statistical production over the span of their now nine-year careers.

LeBron James

27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7.0 apg, 1.7 stlpg, PER of 27.10, 48.1% FGP

Dwyane Wade 

25.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1.8 stlpg, PER of 25.62, 48.4% FGP

It's ridiculous just how similar LeBron and Wade have been over the past nine years, with LeBron getting the slight statistical nod, outperforming Wade in all categories—but steals per game and overall field-goal percentage.

The most-telling statistical category is player-efficiency rating that rates players' productivity per minute. I know the 1.48 statistical difference in PER between Wade and LeBron might seem minimal, but a high-level of efficiency is an incredibly valuable asset to have in the NBA.

If the statistical production isn't enough to sway you one way or another, look at the individual accolades that each player has accumulated.

Wade has earned one NBA Finals MVP Trophy, two All-NBA First Team selections, one NBA Scoring Title, eight All-Star appearances and one coveted NBA Championship ring.

LeBron has earned two NBA MVP Trophies, eight All-Star appearances, one NBA scoring Title, three NBA All-Defensive First team honors and five NBA All-First Team honors.

The main difference between LeBron and Wade is that LeBron has three more NBA All-First team honors than Wade. He also has multiple regular season MVP trophies, while Wade has an NBA Title—the one thing that has eluded LeBron in his nine-year career.

LeBron has more individual accolades and Wade has the ring, which make the decision of whether to take Wade or LeBron as the foundation of a franchise that much harder to make.

The one piece of this debate, though, that might turn out to be the real difference maker is the issue of health concerns. While both LeBron and Wade haven't suffered career-altering injuries, LeBron has definitely been the healthier of the two players. 

LeBron has missed only a handful of games over the span of his nine-year career, while Wade has missed close to 100 games in his nine-year career—suffering from injuries to his shoulder, ankles and knees.

While Wade's career hasn't necessarily been slowed down by injuries, there are more concerns surrounding his long-term health than there are surrounding LeBron's—which undoubtedly impacts both respective players "franchise-ability".

So there you have it. With all that being said: Would you rather have LeBron James or Dwyane Wade as the foundation for your NBA franchise?

Personally, I'd go with LeBron James because while he's not necessarily the more "clutch" of the two players, he's without a doubt the more efficient and more complete player—that is one of the most important facets of building a team around a single player.

More importantly though, who would you take to build your NBA franchise around?  

Let your thoughts be known in the comment section below.

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