Now that Udonis Haslem has officially signed his one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Miami Heat, the veteran big man is taking care of some other important business.
Haslem is busily recruiting his pal Dwyane Wade to play another season in the NBA. Wade is an unrestricted free agent and will only sign with the Heat if he decides to suit up for his 16th season in the league.
“My mindset has always been for us to finish it together,” Haslem told the Associated Press. “I want us to do a whole season together. Experience the road, dinner on the road, go through that whole process. I want us to experience that together.”
Wade averaged 12.0 points in 21 games with the Heat last season. He began the year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was traded to Miami at the 2018 February trade deadline. The Chicago native posted 16.6 points and 3.6 assists during the postseason and shot 44.3 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three.
The future Hall of Famer turned back the clock a few times during the Heat’s first-round playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Wade scored 28 points in the Game 2 win and 25 in the Game 4 loss.
If Wade returns to the Heat, he will most likely sign the team’s $5.3 million exception.
One person who has spoken to Dwyane Wade, as well as a Heat person, has the impression that Wade seems inclined to play this season, but neither believes it’s definite and nobody outside Wade’s inner circle definitively knows his intentions — according to a report from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
