Written by Ananath Pandian at CBSSports.com
While contemplating his exit from Miami, Dwyane Wade has admitted that he flirted with the idea of teaming up with his good friend and former teammate LeBron James in Cleveland. But the lure of playing for his hometown Chicago Bulls was just too much for Wade and while he would’ve liked to play with James again, he just didn’t think the Cavs were a great fit.
Wade also said that money wasn’t really the issue when it came to his free agency. If he wanted to, he would’ve took less money to play where he really wanted to. However, according to James, Wade didn’t sign in Cleveland because the Cavs simply didn’t have enough cap space for his former teammate.
From ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
With the Bulls and Cavs set to play a preseason game Friday, James confirmed that he hoped Wade would have ended up in Cleveland with him.
“We couldn’t afford him,” James said. “It’s that simple.”
…
“Who wouldn’t be interested in a Hall of Famer?” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue echoed, referring to Wade’s likely spot in the Hall. “That don’t even make sense. Yeah, we wanted him.”
The Cavs are above the cap so they could’ve only offered Wade a mid-level exception, which would’ve paid him close $3.5 million on a short-term deal. Wade got far more than that by signing with the Bulls. And while Wade says it wasn’t about the money, a two-year $47 million deal, which the Bulls gave him, is a lot more than $3.5 million.
Wade probably would’ve fit right in on the Cavs, playing alongside James and helping Cleveland defend its title. But as the Wu Tang Clan infamously said “Cash, Rules, Everything, Around, Me,” so Wade couldn’t turn down the chance to play in his hometown for a significant amount of money.
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