LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, together again.
From the start, it was expected that once Wade and Chicago reached a buyout agreement on his $23.8 million contract for this season — he still gets nearly $16 million of it — Cleveland was likely where he landed. The Spurs made calls, the Warriors made a call, meanwhile Paul George and Carmelo Anthony tried to recruit Wade to the Thunder, but the lure of LeBron and chasing another ring was too much.
Wade has made his decision and will sign a minimum deal with the Cavaliers on Wednesday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.Wade, 35, will sign a one-year, $2.3 million veteran’s minimum contract as a free agent, league sources said.
Wade agreed to a contract buyout with the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. He and James are longtime friends and won two championships and made four trips to the NBA Finals as teammates on the Miami Heat.
Wade gets what he wants: Plenty of minutes (as many as his knees will allow), a chance to contend, and a chance to play with his good friend LeBron again. It was always going to be difficult to stop this deal from happening.
Wade will likely start at the two, sharing time on the wing with J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver. This gives Cleveland more depth and certainly more scoring — Wade averaged 18.3 points even if it doesn’t give them better defense. People may try to knock this signing saying Wade doesn’t match up well against the Warriors, and that’s true, but neither do 99.7 percent of NBA players. Wade helps the Cavaliers get back to the Finals, then they take their shot.
