Dwyane Wade Relishes Savvy Veteran Role in 13th Season

Five NBA Finals appearances in 12 seasons is quite an accomplishment. Considering Michael Jordan rattled off six in 15 years, Kobe Bryant is likely to finish with seven in 20 years, and Jerry West earned nine in 14 years, reaching the NBA’s limelight is a characteristic for legendary shooting guards.

For Dwyane Wade, playing in the Finals for over 40% of his career was a pure blessing. He’s in the mix with the above names, when it comes to the four greatest shooting guards to touch a basketball. In addition to his own expertise, Wade has played with the most unique mix of veterans and superstars that I could ever picture.

Caron Butler. Eddie Jones. Lamar Odom. Shaquille O’Neal. Gary Payton. Alonzo Mourning. Jason Williams. Antoine Walker. Mike Bibby. Jerry Stackhouse. Shane Battier. Ray Allen. Chris Bosh. Oh, and LeBron James.

The list could continue even further. From age 22 to 33, there isn’t a personality Wade hasn’t seen in a locker room.

Basketball — on the professional level — has the same concept as learning a new culture. Assimilation goes a long way, whether it’s through society or a game played within a 94-foot rectangle. Wade’s friend and league-rival, Bryant, actually serves as the best example.

In Bryant’s 2015 documentary, “Kobe Bryant’s Muse,” he painted an exact picture for the audience about his transcendent move from Italy to West Philadelphia.

“Once we moved back to America for good, when I was 13 years old … it was different,” Bryant said in the film. “I didn’t understand the slang. I was this little Italian boy and I didn’t understand the fashion. It was like someone took me and dropped me in a bucket of ice cold water, because it shocked the sh** out of me.”

Bryant eventually learned the American way, picking up on traits that he learned from friends, teammates, and coaches. He was literally learning a whole different lifestyle, and adopting characteristics through high school.

Wade has a similar path  attached to his career, but in a different sense.

He was dropped into a pool of veterans early in his career with the Miami Heat.

From day one, he was being integrated into a world of leadership, slowly adding new techniques to his skill-set. Wade was able to learn what it takes to lead a group through the playoffs at such an early stage of his career — he marched Miami to the Finals in 2006, averaging 43.5 minutes per game in the 6-game clash with Dallas. Of the possible 288 minutes during those Finals, he was on the floor for 261 of them, having to score 34.7 points per game just to give the aging Heat a fighting chance.

In just his third year as a pro, he utilized the leadership attributes he drew from his teammates. He did it for one devastating playoff run, carrying a team that had no business taking home the trophy. Dallas was a 60-win colossus, who out-scored Miami by 24 total points in Games 1 and 2. If Gary Payton doesn’t hit a timely mid-range jumper late in Game 3, the Heat’s season dies early and Wade likely doesn’t go bananas to extend the series.

He was surrounded by leaders, from various ages. To top it off, he was coached by a top five leader in NBA history — a nine-time champion that knows how to build a team, keep the egos in check, and internally lead a group of stars to a championship. It was Pat Riley, who was 20 years removed from coaching Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Wade had everything on his side, from a leadership standpoint. There wasn’t anyone in his locker room he couldn’t go to, at any point of the day, and not receive constructive advice.

Four years later, Wade receives another blessing. A roster shake-up in the 2010 offseason results in the most surprising (and criticized) “super team” in history. LeBron James and Chris Bosh join the South Beach party, with the mindset of being a three-headed monster riding their way to an NBA title.

People didn’t realize it at the time, but Wade had a major responsibility at hand. In the back of any superstar’s mind, he’s going to think the journey is much easier by playing with two perinneal All-Stars. He’s going to believe the individual workload diminishes a bit, since there’s more collective talent available.

Wade realized it was the direct opposite, however. He was challenged immensely as a leader during the first two experiments with Miami’s big three. Having to employ all the peculiarities that he grasped with the 2006 experience, Wade had to be the preeminent voice for the new-look Heat. Although James had already surpassed him in personal dominance on the court, LeBron and Bosh hadn’t been gifted with the same championship rosters like Wade. They weren’t suited to be leaders yet, and needed someone in the same tier of stardom to guide them.

For Wade, 2011 was comparable to a first-year school teacher, finally given the keys to his own high school classroom. Not being in this scenario before, he had to take all the tools he learned through training, and apply them in this dream scenario. There would be annoyances. There would be stretches where everything broke Miami’s way perfectly. But, as a teacher would, he really gauged his team-leading skills by how well his troops did on the final exam.

After Miami collapsed in the worst way possible during the 2011 Finals — almost in the same fashion that Wade witnessed Dirk’s Mavericks collapse in 2006 — the superstar took it to a whole new level.

Wade told James, Bosh, and Spoelstra exactly how the division of labor needed to be for this team to be successful. As leaders do, he mapped out how the offensive responsibilities should be, and delegated roles to his teammates. As a result, it was Wade — oldest of the three — who found it necessary to take a personal step back. Miami gelled more peacefully (and successfully) with Wade playing in the shadows of LeBron.

Now, with the current Heat roster that’s 28 years old on average, Wade is faced with a new obstacle.

He’s balancing various things. Age is creeping up to him (turning 34 in January). He doesn’t have a four-time MVP playing alongside him. What used to be a catastrophic Eastern Conference is now becoming more competitive by the year. Plus, the number of new faces and rookie talents that Wade has to help get acclimated with the team is fairly high in Miami.

Wade is currently in the preseason, playing 22-25 minutes each game, trying to avoid nagging injuries before the 2015-16 adventure gets underway. At the same time, he’s understanding that working together with this new group — in a cohesive manner — may take a while.

Miami has started its preseason 0-2, dropping the first meeting with Charlotte by 13. Then, in the second outing, falling to Orlando on a game-winning 3-pointer.

After the two losses, in which Miami has shot 60-of-149 from the field (40.3%), Wade acknowledges that playing with a new bunch is tougher than people think.

"“We’re just continuing to learn,” Wade said. “I mean, we have a lot new guys that never played together, so we’re trying to learn a new offense. Preseason is about learning. So, you need mistakes to learn from. And we have a lot of them.”"

It’s not hard to pinpoint the mistakes Wade refers to.

Turnovers are eating Miami alive, and it’s the same complications they had last season. During the 2014-15 year, the Heat finished with a turnover percentage of 14.5%, which was 25th in the league. The only teams with a lower rating were Utah, Sacramento, Houston, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia —  a group with an average record of 36-46. Houston was the obvious outlier, since they notched a No. 2 seed in the West. But it’s clear:  Don’t expect to have great playoff position if you’re coughing up the ball that much.

In the first two preseason games alone, they’ve given up 36 total turnovers — 22 of them in the Magic loss alone. The issue isn’t really the training camp invitees, neither. 19 of the 22 giveaways came from regular rotation players for Miami, so it was actually the less experienced guys that were more disciplined.

"“We have a lot of things that, you know, our coach will earn their checks from,” Wade said. “They can break down the film and show us what we did wrong. So, it’s good.”"

Wade alluded to how he needed to be more vocal with the newer guys trying to learn the system, and how many of the turnovers can be prevented from just sound communication.

Miami Head Coach, Erik Spoelstra, knows that even though it’s just two meaningless games in early October, something has to give. They can’t expect to rise into the East’s second tier — a group I define as the Wizards, Bulls, and Raptors — by giving up valuable scoring chances.

"“We will have to figure out what it is, Spoelstra said. “Everybody in the locker room knows we have to tighten that up. I think it’s something we will be able to correct with more practice time.”"

He better hope so, and really lay down the law when it comes to the third week of October … right before the regular season. All the practice time last season sure didn’t improve it, but maybe it was because their two generals (Wade and Bosh) missed 58 combined games. Maybe it was because Spoelstra had no consistency and reliability in his lineups.

Miami had a total of zero 5-man lineups last season that played together for 180 or more minutes. Think about that. In a season where there’s nearly 4,000 minutes available, the Heat didn’t have a single 5-man combination register 180 minutes. They only had three lineups that played over 100 minutes together for the season.

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors were the NBA’s paragon of constancy. The champions avoided long-term injuries, and had five different 5-man lineups play over 100 minutes. In addition, their most used lineup (Curry-Thompson-Barnes-Green-Bogut) played 812 total minutes together for the season. In comparison to Miami’s most used lineup, that’s 634 more minutes for Golden State’s starting group than Miami’s — a world of difference.

A huge piece of Miami’s puzzle was sidelined for a blood clot in his lung last February. It was a life-threatening situation for Chris Bosh, and a playoff-threatening situation for the Heat. When Bosh was ruled out on Feb. 16, Miami was 22-30 and barely in the realm of playoff consideration. But, they hadn’t yet acquired their star point guard, Goran Dragic. He would steer the team in the right direction after the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

In the final 30 games of the season without Bosh, Miami went 15-15, an even .500. It placed them at 37-55, just a couple games out of the playoff mix. Had Bosh not been dealing with a serious health condition, the trio of he, Wade, and Dragic would’ve squeezed out three or four more wins. It was literally the only reason Miami was stuck at home watching the first round.

Now in his sixth season playing with his fellow 2003 draft mate, Wade recognizes how important it is for Bosh to be on the court, instead of in the doctor’s office.

"“Chris is back,” Wade said. “He’s back to feeling great. We had some great moments with the first team (starters) tonight, and a lot of that is Chris being a guy who’s our focal point on offense. He moves the ball a lot, and it kinda helps all of us do the same thing.”"

In his first two games in nearly eight months, Bosh has shot 11-of-18 from the field and been Miami’s leading scorer through the two losses. He’s getting back into the groove of working off Wade in the two-man game, utilizing his perimeter jumper vs. Orlando. It’s very possible that Wade and Bosh has the best center they’ve played with since coming together. It’s Hassan Whiteside, who was 6th out of all centers in true shooting percentage last season (61.9%) and 1st in rebounding rate (25.4%).

With a young, budding force in the middle now, Bosh could be able to expand his game with more outside attack. Bosh was on the right track last season, with 22.6% of his field goal attempts coming from 3-point range. Even with the intensified quantity, he still produced the highest 3-point efficiency of his Miami career by knocking down 37.5% of them. It was exactly what Wade, Spoelstra, and Whiteside needed to help them survive the post-LeBron project.

It’s not just his veteran peers that Wade enjoys working with.

When the 2015 NBA Draft rolled around, it was known that Miami was in a tough spot. They still had a lottery pick (No. 10), but they didn’t get lucky enough to land a “franchise-changing” rookie.

Or so they thought.

Nearly every mock draft in the industry had Miami choosing between Kelly Oubre Jr., Sam Dekker, Myles Turner, Devin Booker, or Stanley Johnson.

Never did they believe Justise Winslow, Duke’s stupendous freshman that was a top 15 recruit in 2014, would be on the board at No. 10. Five other teams made a mistake. After the Wolves, Lakers, and Sixers took the three most impactful freshmen, five of the six teams after that should’ve had Winslow on their radar.

The Knicks were the first to pass, and were soon followed by Orlando, Sacramento, Detroit, and Charlotte. The only one that made the correct, sensible pick was Denver, since General Manager Tim Connelly knew they would have to alter their point guard situation in a hurry. They selected Emmanuel Mudiay, the best available floor general.

Winslow joins the interesting mix of veteran and youth talent in Miami after shining in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. He was just shy of averaging a double-double in Duke’s six games towards a national title. He scored 14.3 points and grabbed 9.3 boards per game during the run, and was actually more impressive than the No. 3 overall pick, Jahlil Okafor.

The fascinating part about it — Wade can relate to exactly how Winslow must feel.

Wade was once the youngster, thrown into the mix as a lottery pick in 2003. 12 years ago, Wade was the inexperienced rookie in a locker room full of veterans. In this scenario, Winslow is to Wade just how Wade was to Eddie Jones and Alonzo Mourning. Wade was a rookie who knew he had sensational two-way skills, but just needed the proper guidance.

Except this time, it’s more convenient. Wade and Winslow have some similarities in how they play, what they value, and their self-effacing demeanor.

Winslow has played sufficient minutes in his first two preseason games, getting 28 minutes in the opener and 21 on Wednesday. But, he hasn’t too involved in the offense. And when he was, he’s struggled finding a rhythm. Winslow is 4-of-12 (33.3%) thus far, but two things are evident:  He’s focused on attacking the basket instead of settling for contested jumpers … and he’s not turning over the ball at a high rate (a common mishap for rookies).

All Wade is excited about, however, is that he’s earning his time.

"“The kid is only 19, but he’s just got the body for the NBA,” Wade said. “He’s got a feel for the game. As he continues to learn, his role on this team is going to be even more valuable. So he’s just feeling the game.”"

Wade isn’t wrong. At 6’7″ and 225 pounds, there’s no way you could walk into Miami’s locker room and conclude that Winslow is only a 19-year-old rookie. Not many small forwards are this strong, built, and well-rounded when they enter the league. We know Kevin Durant was a twig in 2007 compared to Winslow’s body style. Miami’s future wingman has a natural head-start to success because of this.

Spoelstra is even more aware of how Winslow is progressing at such an early stage.

"“He’s starting to learn what our system is,” Spoelstra said. “He picks up things pretty quickly. Defensively, he’s able to guard multiple positions and he’s learning how we do it. And offensively, he’s learning the types of places and plays we want him making — cuts, drives, transition plays, and the corner three.”"

This is Wade’s first real challenge of this nature, in regards to molding a player who could very well turn out to be as proficient as him. He’s never really had this type of situation, since the 2010-2014 era was mainly about chasing championships with three alpha-males. During those years, you’re not really thinking about the future  as much.

But, when you’re winning 37 to 45 games in the East now, it’s becomes a different story. Wade has too much love and admiration for Pat Riley and the Heat organization to slack in the developmental department. He has to help Winslow become what the city needs him to be. And it’s not a worry, because he wants to.

Facing another arduous challenge in the coming years, Wade is trying to preserve his health, athleticism, and endurance for this ever-changing NBA.

The league is constantly switching through trends, and the current one happens to be based around speed, athletic versatility, and the increased use of drives and 3-pointers. Mid-range offense is still relevant and important, but it’s clearly trending downward.

In 2014-15 season, the total number of 3-point attempts was a mind-blowing 55,137, shattering the NBA record. Considering there were 205,570 total field goals attempted, that’s 26.8% of all shots being taken from long distances.

What does this mean in relation to Wade and other aging veterans?

As the league pushes towards this new vision, older players have to use more energy on the defensive end. Between the longer close-outs on 3-point shooters and then being able to stay in front of the younger penetrators (i.e. Elfrid Payton, John Wall, Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo, Jordan Clarkson), older defenders are still trying to adjust.

The game is getting faster, and teams are attacking earlier in the shot clock than previous years. That assuredly takes a larger toll on veteran guards … especially those with a history of knee tendinitis issues. It’s the same reason Kobe Bryant became a weaker defender as he turned 34 years old in the 2012-13 season, and Wade is about to hit the same mark.

Even on the offensive side, the NBA’s newer regime has made it essential for Wade to alter his behavior.

Over the course of the last two seasons, we’ve seen Wade take on a few different habits. His areas of attack on offense are the most glaring. In terms of how often he shoots from certain areas of the floor, his proportions have changed from 2013-14 to 2014-15:

• 0-3 feet from basket: 35.3% of his field goal attempts in 2013-14, down to 22.9% in 2014-15
• 3-10 feet from basket: 19.8% of his field goal attempts in 2013-14, down to 18.7% in 2014-15
• 10-16 feet from basket: 15.8% of his field goal attempts in 2013-14, up to 20.2%% in 2014-15

The conclusions drawn from above are that he’s settling more from mid-range, and slightly  going away from the “Flash” everyone once knew. In fact, his 22.9% field goal density from 0-3 feet was the lowest of his 12-year career. Before last year, he never had it below 33% — so he was a full 10% under his career-low. Additionally, his 20.2% density from 10-16 feet (mid-range) was the highest of his career. He had never been over 15.8%.

Last year was also the first time in Wade’s career that he played a bulk of minutes at the small forward slot. Wade was on the court for roughly 395 minutes as Miami’s small forward, which was 20% of his total minutes. He’s never been asked to play that much at the three, and the days of seeing Wade in the game as the primary ball handler (point guard) are over. It was the first year of his career that he didn’t really see any minutes at the position — Spoelstra and Riley always used him sporadically as the main creator.

Perhaps where Wade has the upper hand on Kobe Bryant, however, is that he’s very self-aware. He doesn’t negate the notion that his game has changed, or that he has to switch up the way he approaches younger players.

"“Well, I can’t play their games. I can’t play the athletic game anymore like that,” Wade said. “So, you just got to compete your butt off on the defensive end of the floor. Then on the other end, I’m going to make them play my game. Slow them down, take away their strengths. It’s just a different challenge than I had when I was young.”"

For someone that conceals his fiery competitiveness more than most, Wade still has the hunger to outshine the new, vigorous talent.

"“To go against and to see a guy like Victor (Oladipo), who’s making that step every year to be an elite two-guard in this league … I enjoy those matchups,” Wade said. “It’s cool. It’s all a challenge, and I play this game for that – to be challenged daily.”"

With Wade balancing the factors of durability, nurturing younger talent, and sharing the spotlight with Chris Bosh, this is set to be a lively expedition for him as a leader.

This team shouldn’t be counted out. If Wade’s worrisome knees hold up, his role as Miami’s captain could have them right behind his former teammate.

The one he already trained on how to be a champion.

*All statistical support credited to Basketball-Reference**

Shane Young is a credentialed NBA writer for HoopsHabit.com and BBallBreakdown. You can follow Shane on Twitter, or email him at syoung@hoopshabit.com.