I have always been a supporter of Dwyane Wade and always will be. He is absolutely one of the best players in the world. There's only one thing that has been questioned about him. That is his ability to play up to his full potential and win a title along side the best player in the world, LeBron James.
It sounds crazy but this was always part of the concern when the Big 3 first came together down in South Beach and after last night's game 3 performance against the Pacers where he only had 5 points along with 5 turnovers, the media world has been excercising the thought of whether or not he will be in a Heat uniform next year. Personally, I just can't picture breaking those two apart after the relationship they've built and the amount of greatness they provide us NBA fans to witness. I thoroughly enjoy the show these two put on during games. They might actually be the most talented duo we have ever seen in NBA history. But we all know that above all, the NBA is a business first. That part makes me nervous.
To me, just thinking about it seems completely insane. He still plays at a very high level and is definitely a major contributor night in and night out when healthy. On occasion he may even play better then LeBron. Some nights though he's just not up to par with him. Although not too many players can match LBJ's level, if any at all. Wade's getting up there in age at 30 and has been battling through leg and knee injuries all year. Both players play very similar styles of basketball. They are an absolute force on defense as well. The only concern is that both players need the ball in their hands in order to reach their highest level of play and the only problem with that is obviously there's only one ball to go around.
Listening to Mike and Mike in the morning made me think, if they could get a legit center to defend the paint, and/or a great shooter to have along side LeBron, then maybe it wouldn't seem so crazy to shop around. LBJ and Bosh gel just fine in my opinion and LeBron needs to touch the ball every single possession in order for his team to have as much success as possible. Plain and simple. The offense they have with him and Wade just doesn't look like it can work up to it's full potential against well rounded basketball teams because they're both mainly isolation players with LeBron being the MUCH better facilitator. I just think it makes it slightly diffcult for that offense to have any type of rhythm when you have to share the rock between two number one options. This was the main concern when they first joined and although it works for a while, it just isn't the recipe for team success. Now we are here two years later witnessing perhaps the realization that individual talent does not mean anything in terms of team success. Or maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation if Bosh never got hurt and the Heat walked to the finals and won. But right now it seems like they're headed to the boats and if you had to make a change for a better future, trading Wade and/or getting rid of Spoelstra might not be as farfetched as you think.
I would love more than anything as a Wade/LBJ supporter to see them work it out and get enough surrounding help to win atleast on title. But for whatever reasons that might not be possible. Hopefully I'm wrong. I'm not saying they should definitely trade Dwyane. But if the right package came back to team up with James and Bosh, if i'm Pat Riley, I strongly consider pulling the trigger.
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