Best odds to land Wade? Bookies say Cavs, Heat and Thunder have about same chance

As Diego Quezada expected, the availability of Dwyane Wade after the Chicago Bulls‘ buyout, reported here by Matt Pineda, changes the landscape of the organization he ultimately reaches a deal with. European bookmaker gives three teams very close odds to reach an agreement, with a fourth one seen as a dark horse, although a report says multiple teams have an interest in Wade.

Cleveland Cavaliers - 190

Miami Heat - 200

Oklahoma City Thunder - 210

San Antonio Spurs - 1800

The Heat can offer a million or two more reasons to join them, if money was the only criteria. But what happens next year? Wade and teams will look at a multi-year picture of how he and his family fit in with a team and its culture .

Tim Reynolds writes,

Miami has a $4.3 million exception available if they choose to pursue Wade. Cleveland or Oklahoma City would only be able to offer about half that, and the Cavaliers -- even if they got Wade for $2.5 million -- would likely be adding several million more on what could be an enormous luxury tax bill after the season.

How will the Thunder be able to afford Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade next season? Does Wade want another one-year stay in town?

Bookmaker.eu has Miami fighting Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors for fifth place in the eastern conference. Will the odds change if Wade returns to Miami?

That online betting platform has the Eastern Conference grouped into four general tiers: two teams fighting for 1st, two others for third, three for 5th, and the rest. This season they think the Milwaukee Bucks, and 76ers will make significant strides, while the Toronto Raptors will fall out the top four. Betters give the Heat better odds than what many media experts predict will happen this season.

Rather than speculate on the unknown, I’ll deal with how Wade fits with the team, if and when he returns to Miami. The Heat were down that path earlier this year in the Gordon Hayward drama: all for naught. I don’t want to worry about something that may or may not happen, especially with the first pre-season game coming up in less than a week.