Is Dwyane Wade's Knee a Bigger Concern Than He's Leading Us to Believe?

It goes without saying that the Miami Heat can't afford to go long stretches without All-Star second option Dwyane Wade.

Though LeBron James' heroics carried the team during the handful of games Wade missed last season, a protracted absence could potentially be devastating to the team's hopes of repeating as NBA champions.

The notion that the Heat might be better off without Wade emerged last season among some onlookers, but head coach Erik Spoelstra explained just how badly the team needs him on the defensive end (via ESPN's Michael Wallace):

"

He really makes our defense that much more dynamic -- to be able to have him frontline the defense, impact the ball, create some havoc on the perimeter, but also on the backline of the defense, protecting everything like a free safety. He's essential to what we're trying to do.

"

In short, yes, Wade matters.

So it should come as no surprise that he'll be taking his time coming back to the court while recovering from knee surgery he had in July.

Wade is confident about his progress—at least enough to predict a return in time for the beginning of the regular season. He's less sure about those preseason games, but who can blame him.

For now, he's just following the doctor's orders (via ESPN's Michael Wallace):

"

My body will tell everyone what we will do. We have a plan and we're going to follow our plan to be ready and right for the season. I'm confident we'll be right. I'm working my way into it.

"

That certainly sounds like good news on its face, but it's also not much news to go on. It's the kind of ambiguity that might go unnoticed were it not for the fact that we've seen Wade stay mum about his health before.

He reportedly had his knee drained prior to Miami's Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers, but we had to hear about it from "sources close to Wade." In fact, Wade himself discounted the role injuries might have played in the 2-of-13 shooting performance that ensued in that Game 3.

Will Wade just tell fans what they want to hear this season? Will we have to get the bad news from those same sources who let us in on the knee problems precipitating his hit-or-miss postseason?

Or, is this all much ado about nothing?

Ordinarily, you'd assume the best in this kind of situation. After all, there's not much Miami can do to prepare for the worst.

The short-term prognosis is certainly reason for optimism. Wade's surgery was a success, and he immediately began his rehabilitation process thereafter. More recently, he claimed (via the Sun-Sentinel) his recovery is ahead of schedule, so perhaps all the worrying is for nought.

Then again, we don't know anything about how Wade's knees will hold up over the long-term.

If you recall, Wade had surgery on this same left knee before the 2007-08 season. Pain in the knee continued unabated until he eventually sat out the final 21 games of the season to receive treatment.

Should this season take a similar course, we might be seeing a lot more of Ray Allen than we bargained for.

On the other hand, if Wade can go another five years without the pain returning, most fans will gladly take that.

The real concern in the meantime isn't necessarily that Wade will miss a bunch of time or descend into a steep decline. It's that he'll be slowed by nagging pain or become tentative, the kind of things that could significantly detract from his explosiveness.

Were Wade a pure shooter capable of spotting up and nailing three-pointers, you could live with that kind of worst-case scenario. But he's not. He's a slasher who makes his living getting into the paint, lifting off and taking plenty of contact. The last thing that kind of guy needs is a knee problem that won't go away.

It's the last thing the Miami Heat need too.