Wade-ing It Out

Danny DolphinJul 3, 2010

I’ve been following the NBA offseason, widely regarded as the wildest offseason in professional sports history, with a level of focus I never thought I was capable of reaching. It got to the point last night where I was thinking about going for a late night swim, with my laptop.

In the last 24 hours the intense speculation has not been about Lebron James, the top prize this summer, but about South Florida’s most important, beloved athlete in Dwyane Wade, the face of the Miami Heat organization.

TOP NEWS

Dallas Mavericks v Portland Trail Blazers

Going into free agency, everyone in the NBA world gave no thought about Wade actually becoming a free agent. Wade returning to Miami was a forgone conclusion in everyone’s mind. Meeting with other teams would simply be a formality.

The Heat were in prime position to be the king of free agency by surrounding Wade with some elite support in the form of guys like Lebron James and/or Chris Bosh.

The focus has apparently changed over the last 24 hours. Or has it?

The Wade Rumors Begin

The perception now, above all, is about keeping Wade in Miami.

It’s like you just got married and have already started to look around for a home when your wife, out of nowhere, blurts out “I think we made a mistake”.

Umm, huh?

Its like South Florida experienced their first hurricane of the season Friday night when Ira Winderman, of the Sun Sentinel, first reported that Wade was going to meet with the Chicago Bulls for a second time.

Is it so wild that a player who was in Chicago would grant another meeting for a team that eagerly wanted one? What did Wade have to lose by going? This meant absolutely nothing in my mind.

‘Wade Leaning Towards Chicago’ Rumor

Chad Ford, an NBA “expert” for ESPN, later published a story (or fairy tale), that a source close to Wade said he was learning towards signing with the Bulls.

This joke of a story carries as much weight as I did in high school. I was dubbed with the nickname ’stick’ by my teammates.

What’s to say that ESPN didn’t tell Ford something like this: “Listen, let’s blow this thing up. Whether Wade is even leaning one way or another we want the world to be turned upside down and glued to our site and our network. Regardless of what happens, this free agency has been a crap storm anyway so nobody is going to take heat for being wrong.”

‘Luol Deng Trade’ Rumor

Then there had been talk of Chicago nearing a deal that would unload Luol Deng and his hideous contract (four years and $50 million remaining). Deng has been as healthy as a horse in his NBA Career thus far… that is a horse that’s about to be put down. He has had only one season, just one, in which he didn’t experience some sort of injury causing him to miss significant playing time.

The theory after this, another rumor, was that it would enable the Bulls to go after Bosh, Wade, and James if they each took a small pay cut. Again, I don’t see Deng getting traded.

‘The Custody Issue’ Rumor

This is the only legitimate story in the past 24 hours that put any sort of fear into my heart over losing Wade to the Bulls. Wade was awarded full custody of his kids recently but his seemingly nutso ex-wife is likely to appeal.

If she were to gain some sort of joint custody over the children that could put Wade in a tough spot because it would obviously be easier to make arrangements when both the mother and father live in the same state. She lives in Illinois.

This is the only reason I can see Wade saying peace to South Beach and it’s completely non basketball related.

If Wade were to go to Chicago in a decision based on spending time with his kids, who are we to bash him? Family comes first.

The Bottom Line

It is impossible to sort the truth from the garbage out there. Most of the unnamed sources that have been continually listed in these reports by various sportswriters could be their pets for all we know.

Nobody is afraid of a false report because everyone is doing it. The level of journalism out there during this whole thing has been sad.

The ‘Chicago hometown’ talk is being way over hyped. Most NBA players have multiple homes in multiple cities. Wade has homes in both Chicago and Miami. He happens to spend much of the offseason in Chicago, just as Carlos Boozer and Amare Stoudemire do in Miami.

Is it also possible that the “Wade to Chicago” frenzy has been a smokescreen, as several key agents say ? Could this all be Pat Riley at work behind the scenes?

A friend brought up the scenario of Riley using Wade to keep Chicago distracted, so he can go hard after Bosh and James under Chicago’s nose and get them on board with the Miami dynasty.

It sounds far fetched but never put anything past Riley. He is a manipulator.

What about the fact that Wade was receiving little media attention, while James and Bosh were thrust into the spotlight? He could have set out to create a buzz to boost himself back into the limelight. Let’s not forget that all of these guys, as well as they carry themselves, are egomaniacs at heart. It’s impossible for them not to be.

Imagine using cash as toilet paper, having everyone treat you like a God everywhere you go, with gorgeous women hanging on you like a coat rack and then try to stay grounded.

Remain calm.

Let the so called “experts” give their “expertise.” Don’t put much into anything being reported because we have just as good an idea as they do about how this entire mess is going to unfold.

Miami still has three things going for them that Chicago can’t match: 1. Weather, 2. Beautiful bikini-clad women year-round, and 3. A Front Office that truly cares.

The situation will unfold soon enough so we should all enjoy the holiday.

Okay I have to run, I just got word from a very reliable source that my neighbor’s dog may or may not have just pooped on my driveway.