Dwyane Wade Says He'll Decide Whether to Retire After Return from China

Dwyane Wade said Wednesday in Beijing that he hasn't decided if he'll retire or play another NBA season.

"When I get back from China, I'll focus on that," he said during the unveiling of his "Way of Wade 7" shoe with Chinese apparel company Li-Ning, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. "Right now, I'm focused on the game after basketball. Whatever happens in basketball, it happens.

"I've done everything that I can to this point to put myself that I’m in this position I am today, where I can do something that hasn’t been done globally yet. The basketball will take care of itself. I'll sit down and figure that out once I get back from this tour at some point."

While Wade contemplates his future in the NBA, his financial future seems secure, as he and Li-Ning announced a lifetime contract Wednesday. 

Wade, 36, averaged 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 21 games for the Miami Heat last season coming off the bench. He was one of the team's better players in its opening-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the postseason, averaging 16.6 points per contest. 

Wade is a free agent, and the Heat can offer him either the $5.3 million taxpayer mid-level exception or the $2.3 million veteran minimum.

He's remained noncommittal on his future since Miami's season ended, answering questions about his future immediately after the team's Game 5 loss by focusing on the 2017-18 season, per Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel:

"Coming into this year and not knowing how this year was going to play out at all, starting the season in Chicago then moving to Cleveland and ending in Miami, I couldn't ask for a better ending to it. I was like a kid my whole time back, just happy and thrilled to be back and be around these individuals on my team and getting the chance to be in the trenches with them.

"To be here, to be back, to be a part of that, to be a part of leading not only by voice but leading by example, laying it all out on the line with these guys, I felt good about that. I felt good about the Miami Heat whole organization and its future and the kind of players and the kind of people that are in that locker room and in the organization. I was thankful that I could come back and be a part of that."

It's hard to imagine Wade returning for another season for any team other than Miami, where he spent the majority of his career, winning three titles. But his comments this offseason haven't offered any indication that he'll choose to return, period.