Three Reasons Why Dwyane Wade Is Staying in Miami

Aside from LeBron James, Dwyane Wade headlines what may be the most star studded free agent class of all-time. While Wade may not be the franchise cornerstone LeBron is due to his age, it is certain Wade will be in a better situation and get his max dollars.

However, Wade has been anything but satisfied with the Miami Heat management over the past few seasons due to a lackluster supporting cast, and first round exits.

Wade showed his frustration after the first round exit to the Celtics saying that it would be his last first round exit in a long time, and if the Heat plan to resign Wade, they need to put the supporting cast around him that allows the Heat to make deep runs.

The first reason why Wade is going nowhere is Pat Riley. Everyone should have the confidence that Riley will get Wade the players he needs for the Heat to be a legitimate championship contender.

Coming into the season everyone knew this season was a waste, the Heat were going to try to shed salary, likely make the playoffs and get bounced in the first round. The former is actually more important, the Heat like other teams are putting all their chips in 2010 free agency.

For the Heat to resign Wade they would have to add another top-tier scorer to go with him, a potential target in free agency would be Chris Bosh.

Bosh hasn’t shown he can be the go-to guy on a contending team; however he would be a great second option to Wade. With Bosh, the Heat would be getting a big that can score in a variety of ways. Bosh can make the outside shot, go down low in the post and even go off the dribble.

Some rumors suggest Bosh feels he can be a true number one option on a title team, and he isn’t playing second fiddle to anyone. Bosh would be a great fit with the Heat.

Another option would be Amare Stoudemire, who the Heat looked into trading for at the deadline but couldn’t get a deal done. Stoudemire like Bosh would provide a great pick and pop threat. Stoudemire has had a great second half, and showed that he fully recovered from the eye injury.

The knock on Stoudemire is that some think he’s a very good compliment to Steve Nash, that he plays off Nash and may not be able to do so with Wade. I assure you Stoudemire and Wade could be the most athletic duo in the league.

This would seem like the most likely option if Stoudemire were to opt out. The Heat showed great interest in Stoudemire at the deadline, plus Miami is a destination Stoudemire would welcome as he is a Florida native.

The second reason would be that Wade has built an empire in Miami. He has been the face of Miami basketball ever since he came into the league, and has proved to be the most productive player of his draft class not named Lebron James. They don’t call it Wade County for no reason. Wade won a title in Miami and is the face of Miami.

The third and final reason would be where the Heat play, Miami. The location of the team is a very underrated factor, and not one that comes to mind when we think of free agent destinations.

Remember last year when Hedo Turkoglu chose Toronto over Portland not because of the money but due to Toronto being his wife’s preference, a bigger market and having a larger Turkish community.

Turkoglu chose lifestyle over winning which hasn’t worked out well for him, but Miami is that kind of place where a player could take a slight pay cut to play alongside Wade in Miami, one of the cities that fits NBA players preferred lifestyle.

While the Heat haven’t had the best attendance, if they were to get a new squad with a top-tier free agent, they would draw like they did back when they had Shaq O'Neil.

In 2005, the Heat had the best attendance in the league filling up 101 percent of the arena. In 2006, the Heat had the second best attendance in the league.

It’s not that Miami doesn’t have great fans. It’s just the Heat's season was a waste. With a new squad, the Heat would return to the days where they consistently sold out the building. Any player would love to play alongside a superstar in Miami.

The bottom line is that the Heat have cap space. It’s just wait and see time for Wade, however everyone should be confident that Riley will be able to pull it off and build a title contending squad.