Dwyane Wade Playing Hardball With the Heat, Claims He's Open to Leaving

Dwyane Wade, one summer after taking less money from the Heat so they could have salary cap flexibility, is now demanding more money on his next contract, but Miami is balking at giving it to him. And so now 33-year old Dwyane Wade claims he’s ready to leave the Heat and explore his options. Yeah, sure. From the Miami Herald:

"Last summer, in order to give the Heat flexibility to augment its roster, Wade opted out of the final two years of a contract that would have paid him $41.6 million. He instead accepted a two-year, $31 million deal, which included a player option for next season at $16.1 million."

Wade’s hope is this – I helped you guys out, I’m the best player in franchise history (LeBron bolted!), and with the salary cap going up, hook me up for one last big money deal.

Did both sides have a handshake agreement that if he opted out last summer, they’d hook Wade up this summer? Probably. Pat Riley is too smart to cave this early, and he knows the team lacks depth. Plus Wade turns 34 in January, and his field goal percentage took a plunge when LeBron left. He doesn’t rebound well anymore, and who cares that he scored 21.5 ppg when he’s got to sit out 20 games in hopes that he’ll fresh for the playoffs?

Plus they’ve got to pay Goran Dragic and Luol Deng soon.

I can’t imagine a scenario where Wade leaves Miami. Along with Pitbull, he’s Mr. Miami. Who’s going to give $17 million a year to a shooting guard who can’t shoot (28 percent on 3-pointers), and is past his prime? Michael Jordan and the Bobcats are desperate for a shooting guard, but we already noted Wade doesn’t shoot.

What, he’s going to bring a winning mentality to … Sacramento? The move is to stay in the East, hey, maybe he can get the Knicks to overpay him!