Wade Not Interested In Waiting For 2016

[Game6]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-b ... apaci.html

And Wade, who turns 33 on Jan. 17, cautions there are no assurances the Heat will land another star in 2016.

“As you get older, anytime you’re in a situation where you’re not in the team position you want to be in, the years get shorter every year,” Wade told me recently. “You’re not 21 when you have so many years in front of you where you say, ‘It don’t matter.’ It does matter.

“But you know me. I’ve always been confident in this organization. They’ve always done what they can. I understand every year it’s impossible to be in the Finals. Sometimes you have to build to get to that point.

But he also makes clear: "I want to win more than anything."

Even if Riley wanted to fast-track this rebuilding job, it’s not realistic. Miami already has $74 million in 2015-16 commitments, with the cap projected to fall at $66.3 million.

That commitment number would drop if Luol Deng opts out of his $10.1 salary for 2015-16, if the Heat parts with Norris Cole (who will be a restricted free agent if the Heat makes him a $3 million qualifying offer by July 1) and if Danny Granger ($2.2 million) opts out. But that still wouldn’t be enough to be a major player in free agency this summer unless Wade opts out of his $16.1 million salary next season, which he sounds disinclined to do.

Miami can use its $6 million mid-level exception this summer to add size (free agents include Amare Stoudemire, Luis Scola,
Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis) or a free agent point guard such as Aaron Brooks, Lou Williams, CJ Watson or Jeremy Lin.

Wade --- who will be a free agent himself in 2016 but has never shown any inclination to leave --- said Riley has not discussed that long-term master plan with him.

Wade helped the Heat last summer by taking a $11 million paycut to $31 million over this season and next, hoping it would help the Heat add talent around him if James left.

But this season so far has been a mess, and Wade said: “I’m not really focused on waiting until 2016. I don’t know what that means. That’s their organization. They do what they want from that standpoint. I’m not involved in that. I’m a player. Whatever decision they make from a 2016 standpoint is on them. The only thing I can control is the decisions I make and what I do.

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen in 2016; 2016, to me, is so far away and I hope people aren’t waiting on it thinking we’re going to land this quote, unquote Big Fish because it might not happen for you. No one knows if Riley is going to wait until 2016. It’s all speculation.”

To be clear, Riley is open to improving the team before 2016, and though he prefers not to take back contracts that extend beyond 2016, he would do it if he could somehow trade for a great player, according to an official in contact with him.

But that seems unlikely because he has limited assets to deal, with the Heat’s 2015 first-round pick (top-10 protected) already traded away to Philadelphia, via Cleveland and Minnesota.

[goodboy]

Well what else will he say? I will sit back and relax till 2016?

[Dmcdani6]

I saw someone speculate that Wade and Bron would meet Melo in NY. Seems crazy... But hey.

[DefenseWins]

wasn't this posted already as a thread?

we do have a future thread too

I can't blame Wade, he is not getting any younger. But we have to have a firesale to have space for next year though... and if we dont get anyone? Scrubs for one more year...

[DayofMourning]

Wade should have made it a point to tell Lebron to commit at least a week earlier than he did, and he might not have to suggest such a thing.

[RJM]

Oh, he's not interested in waiting? What's he going to do if Riley does? LEAVE?

[Prince Ali]

Dangerous game Riley is playing. Wade is a Heat legend and will always be, but I think some of you are extremely naive if you think Wade won't go for a last chance at a ring if the last half of this season and next year look like this first half and Riley strikes out in 2016. The man has sacrificed stats and money to bring championships here and would have every right to seek a better opportunity to win a championship in the twilight of his career.

[MettaWorldPanda]

Dangerous game Riley is playing. Wade is a Heat legend and will always be, but I think some of you are extremely naive if you think Wade won't go for a last chance at a ring if the last half of this season and next year look like this first half and Riley strikes out in 2016. The man has sacrificed stats and money to bring championships here and would have every right to seek a better opportunity to win a championship in the twilight of his career.

Riley is not playing any games with Wade. Riley wants to win more then anybody else. I think the whole 2016 thing has been over blown. Sure our contracts this off season reflected a 2016 plan but for what was out there in free agency post Lebron decision he did what he could. If Riley could flip Deng and Birdman for a viable PG who is on a deal past 2016 he will pull the trigger IMO.

[Prince Ali]

Dangerous game Riley is playing. Wade is a Heat legend and will always be, but I think some of you are extremely naive if you think Wade won't go for a last chance at a ring if the last half of this season and next year look like this first half and Riley strikes out in 2016. The man has sacrificed stats and money to bring championships here and would have every right to seek a better opportunity to win a championship in the twilight of his career.

Riley is not playing any games with Wade. Riley wants to win more then anybody else. I think the whole 2016 thing has been over blown. Sure our contracts this off season reflected a 2016 plan but for what was out there in free agency post Lebron decision he did what he could. If Riley could flip Deng and Birdman for a viable PG who is on a deal past 2016 he will pull the trigger IMO.

I am not talking about Wade I am talking about the franchise. I said from day one throwing all your eggs into this mythical 2016 basket is not a good idea. Especially if it tanks and Riley decides to call it quits.

[contract]

Dangerous game Riley is playing. Wade is a Heat legend and will always be, but I think some of you are extremely naive if you think Wade won't go for a last chance at a ring if the last half of this season and next year look like this first half and Riley strikes out in 2016. The man has sacrificed stats and money to bring championships here and would have every right to seek a better opportunity to win a championship in the twilight of his career.

Riley is not playing any games with Wade. Riley wants to win more then anybody else.

Pat does want to win ... but he's proven before that he'll put winning on hold for years in hopes of putting together a "Big 3" with the potential to dominate for years.

[Rock Hardy]

If you're gonna do it right, do it right. If you want to win it all, you need a proper plan. Riley has that plan. He had it early in Wade's career. He had it 5 years ago, and he has one for the very tail end of Wade's career. I think it's the best job any exec has done of helping his star contend, outside of San Antonio and the Lakers.

I want to win now, but I don't want to do it at the risk of compromising the 2016 plan. It's easy for us to say though, since we don't have to retire from being fans in 5 years, which Wade probably has to. Every down season is a big loss of time to athletes.

[contract]

If you're gonna do it right, do it right. If you want to win it all, you need a proper plan. Riley has that plan. He had it early in Wade's career. He had it 5 years ago, and he has one for the very tail end of Wade's career. I think it's the best job any exec has done of helping his star contend, outside of San Antonio and the Lakers.

I want to win now, but I don't want to do it at the risk of compromising the 2016 plan. It's easy for us to say though, since we don't have to retire from being fans in 5 years, which Wade probably has to. Every down season is a big loss of time to athletes.

I disagree. Pat basically burned ~ 6 years of Wade's prime for what turned out to be 2 championships. There's no reason to believe that taking a "win now" approach wouldn't have resulted in the same.

[Rock Hardy]

If you're gonna do it right, do it right. If you want to win it all, you need a proper plan. Riley has that plan. He had it early in Wade's career. He had it 5 years ago, and he has one for the very tail end of Wade's career. I think it's the best job any exec has done of helping his star contend, outside of San Antonio and the Lakers.

I want to win now, but I don't want to do it at the risk of compromising the 2016 plan. It's easy for us to say though, since we don't have to retire from being fans in 5 years, which Wade probably has to. Every down season is a big loss of time to athletes.

I disagree. Pat basically burned ~ 6 years of Wade's prime for what turned out to be 2 championships. There's no reason to believe that taking a "win now" approach wouldn't have resulted in the same.

6 years for 4 Finals runs and being the center of the basketball universe? That's a trade Wade is happy with, guaranteed.

We would not have gotten LeBron with a win now approach, so then what are our odds of getting out of the East, much less winning it all? Boston had a superteam, and the Lakers were looking menacing out West. I think you're discounting the landscape at the time, as well as the results of the plan.

[contract]

If you're gonna do it right, do it right. If you want to win it all, you need a proper plan. Riley has that plan. He had it early in Wade's career. He had it 5 years ago, and he has one for the very tail end of Wade's career. I think it's the best job any exec has done of helping his star contend, outside of San Antonio and the Lakers.

I want to win now, but I don't want to do it at the risk of compromising the 2016 plan. It's easy for us to say though, since we don't have to retire from being fans in 5 years, which Wade probably has to. Every down season is a big loss of time to athletes.

I disagree. Pat basically burned ~ 6 years of Wade's prime for what turned out to be 2 championships. There's no reason to believe that taking a "win now" approach wouldn't have resulted in the same.

6 years for 4 Finals runs and being the center of the basketball universe? That's a trade Wade is happy with, guaranteed.

We would not have gotten LeBron with a win now approach, so then what are our odds of getting out of the East, much less winning it all? Boston had a superteam, and the Lakers were looking menacing out West. I think you're discounting the landscape at the time, as well as the results of the plan.

I don't care about near misses. We won twice. That's it. 2 championships in 6 years.

And what woud've been our odds of making it out of the East without Lebron? Well, he had only made it out of the East once and only made it to the conference finals twice without us so I think he wasn't really a big hurdle.

[Rock Hardy]

I don't care about near misses. We won twice. That's it. 2 championships in 6 years.

And what woud've been our odds of making it out of the East without Lebron? Well, he had only made it out of the East once and only made it to the conference finals twice without us so I think he wasn't really a big hurdle.

Near misses? We were the best team in the league for 4 years. Winning championships is hard. You're not showing much respect for what it took to accomplish that run. If that's your attitude on it, then yeah, you probably think any other strategy would've been sufficient. I'm not sure there's much to discuss then.

[DayofMourning]

Burned six years of Wade's prime? I, as well as many others, was expecting to go for a repeat in 2007, but we had a list of problems that surfaced and stopped us from having a shot at that. So we jettisoned the underachieving talent we had and attempted to set the table for 2010. That's more like two years if we go by my math. Only 2008 and 2009 were down years (not having a championship clearly in view) and we even made the playoffs in one of those years.

[insfo]

lol at "just 2 championships in 6 years" ... haha, you can tell us fans are spoiled by that right there.

[contract]

I don't care about near misses. We won twice. That's it. 2 championships in 6 years.

And what woud've been our odds of making it out of the East without Lebron? Well, he had only made it out of the East once and only made it to the conference finals twice without us so I think he wasn't really a big hurdle.

Near misses? We were the best team in the league for 4 years. Winning championships is hard. You're not showing much respect for what it took to accomplish that run. If that's your attitude on it, then yeah, you probably think any other strategy would've been sufficient. I'm not sure there's much to discuss then.

Winning championships is hard ... but it doesn't require trading the chance to win today for cap space tomorrow in hopes of a big free agent haul. An organization has no right to demand full effort from its players if management isn't giving the same. What the Heat did wasn't much better than what the 76ers or Knicks are doing now. It's cheating the fans and cheating the players.

And no, we weren't the best team in the league for 4 years ... we were the best for 2.

[contract]

lol at "just 2 championships in 6 years" ... haha, you can tell us fans are spoiled by that right there.

I didn't say "just" anything.

[DWadeno3]

Oh, he's not interested in waiting? What's he going to do if Riley does? LEAVE?

He can opt out of his contract after this year, so yeah, he could if he wanted to.