Miami Heat: The future of Dwyane Wade still in limbo

Despite the start of the 2018-19 NBA season being just two months away, the future of Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade is still up in the air.

The 2018 NBA offseason has thus far been extremely uneventful for the Miami Heat.

Despite coming off a first round playoff exit at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Heat have made virtually no change to the core group that produced a 44-38 record last season. In fact, the largest piece of news thus far has been the re-signing of veteran sharpshooter Wayne Ellington.

Of course, the most notable lack of activity relates to the future of team legend Dwyane Wade. After returning to the franchise in the middle of the 2017-18 season, Wade showed glimpses in his brief time back that he was more than worthy of returning for a 16th season.

Recently, team president Pat Riley expressed in no uncertain terms his views on Wade’s place on the roster for the upcoming season:

"“I want him back as a player. I want him back as a competitor. I want him back as a guy who wants to have the greatest year he ever had as a player. I read more articles about ‘Dwyane being done, he’s lost a step, he’s not the same player, he might not have the same motivation.’ But I still see a player who can contribute heavily if he really wants to.”"

Following the Heat’s most recent signing, Kentucky forward Malcolm Lee, the Heat presently have 17 players under contract, with two of those players signed to two-way deals. Furthermore, this doesn’t count franchise stalwart Udonis Haslem, who according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, is strongly favored to return for a 16th season.

Despite recent rumors that an agreement between the Heat and Wade had been reached, the man himself was quick to downplay the validity of these reports:

In 21 regular season games with the Heat, Wade averaged 11.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 22.3 minutes per game.

Without doubt, his most memorable performance came on Feb. 27 against the Philadelphia 76ers, where the 36-year-old scored 15 of his game-high 27 points in the final 4:57 of the final quarter. Notably, it was his go-ahead jumper with five seconds remaining that gave the Heat the 103-102 win.

While Wade clearly demonstrated that he can still contribute at a high level, the current composition of the Heat roster means there is an overabundance of shooting guards. In addition to the returning Dion Waiters from an ankle injury, the Heat also have Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder and Ellington, who are more than comfortable performing at the 2-spot.

When taking into account Riley’s statement and Wade’s consistent postings on social media regarding his offseason training regime, the likelihood of a return to the Heat appears more likely than not. In all likelihood, it’s extremely likely that the Heat are attempting to swing a deal in order to free up the already crowded backcourt, thus allowing Wade to return for yet another season in South Beach.