Wade, LeBron joining forces? Heat star is for it

Free-agent-to-be wouldn't ‘have a problem sharing’ spotlight with James


Sergio Perez / Reuters

Dwyane Wade, left, and LeBron James celebrate after defeating helping the U.S. defeat Spain in the men's gold medal basketball game at the 2008 Beijing Games.

By Tim Reynolds
updated 7:07 p.m. ET, Sat., April 24, 2010

MIAMI - It’s been a fantasy scenario thrown around the NBA for months: Dwyane Wade and LeBron James as teammates.

Intriguing?

Absolutely — even to Wade.

Speaking after practice in Miami on Saturday, one day before the Heat try to extend their season by forcing a Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against Boston, Wade acknowledged that he’s got reason to think he and James would work alongside one another.

“We play well together,” Wade said.

Still, he stopped way short of saying the close friends have even talked about the notion of aligning this summer.

Both can become free agents on July 1, a date that looms large for superstars like Wade, James, Toronto’s Chris Bosh and just about every team in the NBA.

“Myself, LeBron, Chris, certain guys are in the driver’s seat to decide where they want to go,” Wade said. “You’re not thinking about it. You’re not worried about it. But I’m sure they hear it a lot.”

Bosh’s season is already over. Wade’s might end Sunday unless the Heat beat the Celtics, something they’ve done just once in the last 15 meetings between the teams. James — almost certain to win his second straight MVP — and the Cleveland Cavaliers would seem to be the favorites to win the NBA title, and he grew tired of the questions about the summer of 2010 long ago.

Wade gets asked about it all the time.

He has said repeatedly that his preference is to stay in Miami, and the Heat will be able to offer him more money than any other team, just as the Raptors will with Bosh and the Cavaliers with James.

But Wade also makes perfectly clear that he wants to Heat to use the salary cap space they’ll have this summer and build the type of team that could contend for what would be his second NBA championship.

And Heat president Pat Riley wants that probably as badly, if not even more so, than Wade does.

“You have to have guys that have the personality that look at it in a bigger picture,” Wade said. “You can’t have two guys or three guys, whatever you call it, that (all) want it to be, ’This is my show.’ You’ve got to want to share it and you’ve got to look at guys and say, ’Are these guys team players or individual players?’

“Myself and LeBron are team players. I think we’ve proven that. I don’t think you can say that about everybody.”

Wade’s approach with the Heat is similar to the one James has with the Cavaliers. Both are obviously dynamic scorers, and both are among the league’s best at setting up teammates for points as well — and in turn, that softens defenses so teams can’t constantly throw double-teams their way.

So would he share the spotlight with James, especially since both are used to being the absolute go-to guys on their respective teams?

Wade didn’t hesitate.

“I don’t have a problem sharing,” Wade said. “That’s what this summer’s about: Sharing. I’m going into the summer with the thoughts that I want to share next year. And whomever those players are, they know that would be my mentality.”

Dwyane Wade is biggest reason why LeBron James should play in Miami

By Israel Gutierrez
igutierrez@MiamiHerald.com

The question no longer begins with the word ``if'' but ``where.''

It no longer seems like a debate about whether LeBron James will leave Cleveland via free agency this summer, especially when he talks about his personal team's ``game plan'' and speaks of his relationship with Cavaliers fans in the past tense just minutes after his somewhat surprising ousting in the conference semifinals.

It's the question of where he will end up that has absolutely taken over sports conversations across the country.

Within that conversation, Miami as a LeDestination seems mostly like an afterthought, with the glamour of New York running in first, and Chicago a close second because of the quality of the roster.

Consider this, then, the ultimate case for James to make Miami his new basketball home. It makes far too much sense to simply be considered a secondary possibility.

Let's start with the obvious. The ability to play with Dwyane Wade every day and create, almost beyond argument, the best pairing of wing players the league has ever seen (don't bother with the Michael Jordan argument because Scottie Pippen is nowhere near the player either one of these two is) should be enough to make the Heat his primary option.

WHAT HE WANTS

If it is true that James is about winning first, as he insisted in his postgame, post-series, post-Cleveland interview Thursday, then this is an automatic. If his obvious frustration with Cavs teammates and their inability to function without him is a driving force for LeBron, then playing alongside Wade will offer him exactly what he desires.

When you consider that the Heat can sell a player like Michael Beasley to a team with salary-cap space to create enough space to sign a third substantial star, possibly a big man like an Amare Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer, then it only makes Miami more intriguing because of the real possibility a true dynasty can exist.

There are two arguments against Miami that tend to dominate, neither of them making much sense.

The first tends to be ego. As in, James' ego won't let him come to Wade's town and not be the obvious attraction.

It might be Wade's town, but in basketball terms, it's LeBron's world, as Kevin Garnett confirmed after Thursday's game. It has been for a half decade, practically, and sharing space with Wade can only help his global takeover because it'll finally offer him that championship that has escaped him.

No matter where he goes, James will not play second fiddle. Besides, it's practically necessary these days, when you think about it, to have a player of similarly superstar caliber by your side. Kobe Bryant had arguably the best post player in the league, at the time, helping him win each of his four titles, first Shaquille O'Neal and now Pau Gasol. No one does this alone.

The other argument against the Heat is the concept of James and Wade not being able to play well together.

More nonsense.

They play different positions. They have different games. They both can dominate with the ball in their hands, but they both enjoy playing off the ball as well.

Wade was the leading scorer on the Olympic team despite almost never being the primary ballhandler. James is a playmaker who can average double-figure assists with a teammate like Wade.

For both players, playing with this kind of talent alongside will be breath of fresh air, not any sort of conflict.

By the way, for those who remain concerned Wade could bolt Miami, check out a recent video posted on Twitter of him responding to his Heat fans online. Not the act of a man preparing to abandon ship.

RILEY COULD COACH

There also remains the very real possibility that Pat Riley could coach the duo if they team up, which would take the uncertainty of the coaching situation out of the equation. That uncertainty would be there if James chooses to stay in Cleveland, or if he chooses Chicago or New Jersey and their vacant coaching seats, or even if he chooses New York given Mike D'Antoni's incomplete track record and inability/unwillingness to coach defense.

It might be premature to consider LeBron a former Cavalier. It has, after all, only been hours since his season ended and his thoughts officially transferred to his future plans.

But it's never too early to plant the seed. He can't find a better teammate than he can here. Not Derrick Rose. Not Chris Bosh.

So when you ask ``where,'' Miami should be LePlace.

Wade And LeBron, Possibly Teammates In 2010?

Imagine, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James playing side by side on the New York Knicks in 2010. Last night Dwyane Wade backed up all the speculation, after the Miami Heat lost to the Indiana Pacers. During an interview Wade acknowledged the fact that they both played for Mike D'Antoni last summer during the Olympics and he would love to reunite with LeBron James and D'Antoni on the Knicks.

"It's not crazy," Wade told The Post in the visitor's locker room of Indiana's Conseco Fieldhouse. "It could happen. We both understand that. We both signed the same contract. We did it together. More than anything, it's fun to think about. It's exciting to know we both control our future. Will it happen? Who knows. He has some something he's trying to accomplish in Cleveland. I have something I'm trying to accomplish in Miami. But up until 2010, it will be fun to think about."

It will be hard to believe that King James will ever leave his home town of Cleveland, where they will be able to offer him a max NBA contract. Unlike other teams the Cavs will have the cap room to do this. The possibility of LBJ and DWade playing side by side is definitely possible, but work has to be done by the Knicks to free up the space to sign both these superstars.

They will demand top dollar from any team, so if the New York Knicks think they will be able to sign these 2 superstars they better start cleaning house now. If these two ever play on the same team in the NBA, they should be referred to as LeWade.

Much Ado About No-Ring

May 17, 2010 by Corrie Trouw

If this basketball thing doesn't work out for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, they could probably form the world's tallest duo of magicians. How else do two humans make the NBA's conference finals disappear into thin air?

In case you've been too focused on basketball news that actually happens on the court, James and Wade are finally just weeks away from their much hyped free agencies. And with both stars now home for the remainder of the postseason, the media has completely opened the Where-To floodgates. Because after all, who cares about the most important games of this season when we can talk about what might affect next year?

In all seriousness, yes, the free agent class of 2010's final destinations are hugely relevant. The futures of at least a third of the league's franchises will swing violently based on which pieces of paper a few humans autograph. But the current coverage is madness.

The conference finals are rife with great parallel storylines. In the Western Conference, Steve Nash and the Suns, left for dead at the trading deadline, have exorcised demons of their playoffs past. In their path, Kobe Bryant continues to build his post-Shaq legacy. In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics are the ones risen from the dead, as most wrote off Boston as a casualty of time's devastating erosion of talent. And like the Lakers, the Magic return to this stage with legacy and rings on their minds.

Yes, we've seen these four teams before, but that's no excuse to take them for granted. Not when the Seven Seconds or Less Era has one last shot at vindication. Not when Kobe and Phil Jackson might be making their last title push together. Not when The Big Three raise their games one last time in their brief but historic Boston run. And not when Vince Carter finds himself in position to erase so many of those doubts. All four of these teams and what their title hopes represent should rivet us as sports fans. But by the level of LeBron/Wade-mania, you wouldn't know it.

Somewhere we lost track of what is important in sports. Consider the popularity of the NFL draft and college recruiting. For all of the attention those feeder processes get, you would think first round draft picks and blue chip recruits are guaranteed success. But many ignore the ugly truth, that for all of our "who's next?" hysteria, we often miss out on the stories at hand.

Remember A-Rod's 2007 resigning during Game 4 of the World Series? Critics skewered Rodriguez for stealing the Fall Classic's thunder, but why? Sure, Rodriguez could have announced it at another time, but he didn't force anyone to care more about next year's games than a championship at hand. He simply took advantage of a situation where we as sports fans simply couldn't help ourselves. In the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, we wanted to know what was for dessert next Turkey Day.

What's especially striking about LeBron and Wade is that neither has had much to do with the NBA title over the last few seasons. For all the hype and all of the Summer of 2010 obsession, you would think we were talking about guaranteed entries to the NBA Finals.

So don't worry, LeBron and Wade will still be there come July 1st to obsess and speculate over. But if this season is any sign, they might not have anything to do with next year's NBA title, either.

Welcome!!!

Ok so the possibility is out there.

Can it happen? DEFINITELY!!!

And I am ALL FOR IT!!!! Bring LeBron to miami and lets have Wade and LeBron in MIAMI!!!!!