Why one Dwyane Wade rant does not a departure make
All right, the Heat fanbase is at DEFCON 2 right now on the verge of complete collapse. Is there a severe injury? Oh no, thank goodness. Some time of financial disaster befell the team, meaning a move this summer would be impossible? Oh, great, because that would really be awful. So what’s the beef, chief?
“You have to be a person willing to do it,” Wade said. “I’m not sure if Coach wants us to do that. You have to have confidence that guys are going to make that change on the go. … We also have to find a way to mix it up. Stop being a team everyone knows exactly what we’re going to do.”
-Dwyane Wade, Miami Herald, Feb. 8, 2009
So let me get this straight. A super-competitive player got frustrated with an unforseen losing streak and slyly criticized his coaches to the media? Why, that’s … the least surprising thing I’ve ever heard. You guys know that happens like once a month somewhere in sports, right?
Of course you want your team to run like a well-oiled machine with nary a problem visible to the outside world. But we can’t all be the San Antonio Spurs, now can we?
Stuff like this happens, people. For goodness sakes, how many times has Kobe Bryant openly asked to be traded? While it’s unfortunate that the losing has creeped in these last couple of weeks and Dwyane Wade certainly doesn’t like it, just because he got flustered after a game and said something that he immediately corrected doesn’t mean he’s booking a July flight to O’Hare Airport. It means he’s upset and he wants to win more. Since when is that a bad thing.
But it doesn’t matter what Wade says or I say or anyone else says. Because we’ve been on this rollercoaster since the first back-and-forth between Wade and Pat Riley last summer. We all knew this season was basically for naught. We all knew nothing of substance would occur before July 1, 2010. And yet the Heat fan is in a year-long self-flagellation session hoping his pain will somehow encourage Wade and other free agents to come to South Florida. I’d tell you to stop, but it would do nothing.
So just try to have some perspective on the whole thing. Whatever shakes out will shake out, and the Heat will wind up as not too bad of a team at the end of the whole thing. I’m betting on Wade coming back and Riley getting his second big-name guy. Why? Because when exactly has Pat Riley failed at something he really put his mind and effort towards? And you wonder why I haven’t broken a sweat?
6 comments
One thing I really liked about this…
Wade stated:
“It says ‘Heat’ on the front,” he said of the team’s jerseys. “It doesn’t say ‘Dwyane Wade.’ “
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Alot of times thats how he’s playing 1 agains 5 at times
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It’s interesting to me how the current predicament with Wade is actually hurting the team in the long term even if he stays…with all the trade rumors surrounding expiring contracts from Ray Allen to Tracy McGrady and so forth, little talk has been around concerning the Miami Heat, a team loaded with expiring contracts. Why? Well one could only assume that trading away a Jermaine O’Neal or an Udonis Haslem right now is going to indicate rebuilding or chip a few wins off the final season standing, and the Heat organization is too afraid to do anything until Dwyane signs the dotted line.
Of course there’s no one to blame, Wade has his priorities and as long as he hasn’t committed to the Heat then he remains theirs. But with Andre Iguodala, Josh Howard, Kevin Martin, Monta Ellis and Amare Stoudamire floating around, it’s a shame that the only name that’s been mentioned in line with the Heat is Brendan Haywood, a big man who could come through and solve the team’s current short term rebounding problems.
While the Suns would certainly prefer a move for Iguodala, it’s still unknown where AI is heading…so why aren’t the Heat in the race, offering Jermaine O’Neal along with either Dorrell Wright (who would fit in very nicely with Phoenix) or the Marcus Banks trade exception for Amare and Jason Richardson (who Phoenix is also looking to move). Sure they’re stuck with 2 years of J-Rich, but how much better are the playoffs and Wade’s future looking with a starting lineup containing Wade, J-Rich, Beasley and Amare?
The right trade may not be out there, it’s just too bad that the Wade situation, and the oncoming free agency, has pinned down the Heat in their abilities to utilize their expiring contracts. But the trade deadline is full of surprises so who knows…
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Matthew Bunch Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
This whole thing is very frustrating to me. Because Dwyane has made a stink or two, people want to ship out Beasley to make Wade happy. I understand the impatience, but why sacrifice a critical part of your future to get someone (Bosh, Stoudemire) they can get for free (excluding the contract itself, of course) five months from now. It’s tough to admit, but people really just need to give up this season. If everyone can find out a way to do that, the future of the team will be so much brighter.
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Peter Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
See I don’t understand why Beasley would need to be part of any deal when Jermaine has a 23 million dollar expiring contract…He should be one of the most sought after guys and that contract should be able to help the team now and for the future. If the plan is to get Amare in the offseason anyways, why wait? Why not go after him now, send Jermaine and Wright to a Suns team so they can stay competitive, and get back J-Rich along with Stoudamire since the Suns are practically giving him away at this point. It seems too perfect not to pursue for the Heat, though as I said before, the Suns would certainly go after Iguodala if possible.
What baffles me is that there are more valuable players on the block right now (Jamison, Murphy, Martin, Iguodala, Ellis, Hinrich, Butler, Amare, Howard) than there are expiring contracts being shopped (Ray Allen, T-Mac for the most part). So I don’t see why Miami isn’t even being rumored in this search with Jermaine, Haslem, Wright and others all expendable and expiring. I see why they don’t want to get stuck long term with a veteran roleplayer like Butler, Jamison or Murphy, even if they’re quality players, but there’s just no reason not to at least be in the discussion for Amare, Monta Ellis and Kevin Martin. They have the pieces to bring in a K-Mart to play the backcourt with Wade and still bring in Brendan Haywood (the only heavily rumored player for the Heat right now) to replace Jermaine’s production. Wade, K Mart and Beasley looks like a powerful trio for this year and years to come.
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Matthew Bunch Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
I want no part of Brendan Haywood. The Wizards are my second-most watched team. Pass.
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