Dwyane Wade looks like might actually be out in Miami, but should the Lakers try to swoop in?
Though many people once thought that Dwyane Wade was going to be a member of the Miami Heat for the entirety of his career, that’s looking less and less likely as 2016 NBA free agency rolls on. Tuesday may have been the nail in the coffin, though, as Dwyane Wade was reportedly offered just a two-year, $40 million contract from the Heat, per ESPN.
Also included in the ESPN report was the fact that Dwyane Wade was looking for a deal in the $50 million if it’s to be over two years and that he’s currently negotiating with the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, and still the Heat. You’d have to assume the Cleveland Cavaliers are involved as well despite salary constraints.
However, The Vertical added to that report saying that the real desire out of the All-Star shooting guard’s camp is to sign a long-term deal with a guaranteed third year, even calling that third-year guarantee “a priority.”
Considering that the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t been shy about handing out long-term deals to veterans, should they look to get their biggest prize yet in Dwyane Wade?
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The first part of that answer comes simply by answering the question of if that’s at all feasible. After all, the Lakers have been spending this offseason and, with free-agent cap holds in play, they only have around $12 million in cap room remaining.
Working with that in mind, if the were to renounce the cap holds on all free agents (save for Brandon Ingram), though, that would get them to roughly $23 million in cap room. And if they were to then waive Nick Young and use the stretch provision on his salary (which would spread his cap hold over five seasons, that would give them even more money to work with. Given what we know, that should be more than enough to at least work out a deal that piques the interest of Dwyane Wade.
However, the next question of importance really is if they should make a move like this. After all, the Lakers have already added two veterans in Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov to what was supposed to be a team led by the young core. Would they really want to try to bring in Wade on a three-year contract that would cause him to eat up starter’s minutes from Jordan Clarkson?
Even if you think Clarkson might have a future as a sixth man, I don’t think that going out in signing Dwyane Wade is the way to put that plan into action. It seems like a short-sighted move for a team that needs to be looking much further ahead.
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There are still plenty of budget free agents left out there that the Lakers could pursue. And even though Wade may be more available than ever before, he shouldn’t be one that LA has in mind.