Dwyane Wade to re-sign with Heat
The Miami Heat have agreed to re-sign free agent shooting guard Dwyane Wade, according to multiple reports.
On Tuesday, Wade posted a picture to his Instagram account of Wade wearing a Heat track suit, with the message "Home is Where The Heart Is... My Home, My City, My House..#HeatLifer"
While terms of the deal were not immediately reported, ESPN's Brian Windhorst hinted at the deal's worth in a tweet posted earlier Tuesday.
Wade, 32, averaged 19.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists last season, posting a 22.0 player efficiency rating and 5.5 win shares as the Heat earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to San Antonio in the Finals. Wade struggled against the Spurs, scoring a combined 21 points on 7-of-25 shooting in consecutive losses in Games 4 and 5.
Wade was ranked No. 5 on SI.com's list of top 25 free agents.
Wade is perhaps the toughest player to rank. He can still get maximum velocity on his fastball, just not every night. His integral role for a championship contender, however, helps keeps him among his fellow perennial All-Stars on this list.
The Heat rested Wade for a third of the season, a strategy that paid dividends throughout the East playoffs, as he burned the Bobcats (now Hornets), Nets and Pacers. The smooth explosiveness that has defined him as a player gave way to choppy helplessness in the Finals, though, as Wade struggled to create space and finish around the basket. That Wade ended the year on a low note -- outscored by Patty Mills in Games 4 and 5 of the Finals -- shouldn't completely erase his accomplishments, but he is a diminished player who averaged fewer than 20 points for the first time since his rookie season while playing a career-low 32.9 minutes.
A first-round pick out of Marquette in 2003, Wade exercised the early termination option in his contract last month, after the fourth year of a six-year deal worth $108 million, to become an unrestricted free agent.
After watching LeBron James join the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Heat agreed to bring back big men Chris Bosh, Chris Andersen and point guard Mario Chalmers.
The team also reached agreements with forwards Luol Deng, Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger and acquired former UConn point guard and No. 24 pick Shabazz Napier via trade in this year's draft.
- Chris Johnson
