National Basketball Association

Cleveland Cavaliers: Dwyane Wade Woud've Made Cavs Title Favorites

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Dwyane Wade would have made the Cleveland Cavaliers title favorites. It’s little more than a pipe dream for Cavs fans now but imagine what could have been.

Recently, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both discussed the mutual desire to play together in Cleveland. According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, James said that the Cavs didn’t have enough money to sign Wade and it was as simple as that. However, in an interview with Leo Sepkowitz of SLAM, Wade said he would have taken a pay cut but he would have regretted not playing for the Chicago Bulls.

Regardless, of the reason, the #WadeWatch era of the NBA summer was intriguing. Wade, who played his whole career for the Miami Heat, was more or less cast aside by the team who prioritized Hassan Whiteside over him. He scheduled meetings, unscheduled meetings, was on a plane with James, and his wife Gabrielle Union was tweeting for him passive-aggressively. After entertaining the Denver Nuggets, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wade signed with the Bulls.

The Bulls had the hometown appeal for Wade. However, the on-court basketball fit is questionable. The Bulls have no shooters who are starters on the perimeter and, frankly, aren’t talented enough in the frontcourt for the team to provide a mismatch there either. On the other hand, with the way both the starting lineup and the second unit look for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wade would have been the perfect fit for the defending NBA champions.

As a starter, Wade would have been a reliable veteran at shooting guard. Though the Cavs like Iman Shumpert, he’s not J.R. Smith when it comes to scoring. Smith was one of the best catch-and-shoot players in the league last season. He also made a fair share of contested threes after creating space with a quick dribble move.

Those moments where Smith created space with a quick dribble move would have belonged to Wade. Wade isn’t traditionally a three-point shooter but seems determined to shoot his open threes this season.

Through three preseason games, Wade is 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from three-point range. This isn’t the first time Wade has gotten hot from behind the line either. In the 14 games the Miami Heat played in last season’s playoffs, Wade converted 12-for-23 threes. He was 10-for-20 from three-point range against the Toronto Raptors in the second round. By the time the Miami Heat were eliminated, Wade was converting his deep looks at a career-high rate of 52.2 percent.

While Wade seems to have added a reliable three-point stroke to his game, Wade has one of the best pull-up jumpers from the mid-range area in the league.

He’s also one of the craftiest finishers in the game and will use an acrobatic or circus finish just as well as a floater. Over the course of his career, Wade has converted 66.1 percent of his looks from in close and 46.1 percent of his shots in the lane.

Shooting Table

	% of FGA by Distance	FG% by Distance
Season	Lg	FG%	2P	0-2	3-9	10-15	16 <3	3P	2P	0-2	3-9	10-15	16 <3	3P
Career	NBA	.488	.910	.359	.155	.134	.261	.090	.508	.661	.461	.385	.389	.284

However, where Wade would have been deadly for the Cavs is in the post. With the Miami Heat, he and James befuddled the league as teams tried to deal with two perimeter players who thrived in the post. Their smaller players would get bullied on the block. The bigger players would have to guard Wade or James on the perimeter.

Wade and James’ play from the post make the game easier on Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Love and Irving would simply have to read the mismatch and play accordingly.

Love could find himself being guarded by a guard and simply shoot over-the-top of the guard or post him up. Irving could find himself guarded by a big man on the perimeter. Needless to say, guarding Uncle Drew on the perimeter isn’t an enviable position for any frontcourt player.

Wade is also one of the better passers in the league and averaged 5.8 assists per game for his career. He’s able to make the correct read and deliver the pass accurately whether he’s running in transition, playing on the perimeter, driving to the lane, or posting-up.

Through the first two preseason games, when the Cavs played at least the majority of their regular rotation players, the Cavs averaged 29.5 assists per game. Wade would only have aided the Cavs in their quest to be a team that thrives off of ball movement with his court vision and passing ability. His career assist numbers, combined with Irving‘s (5.5) and James‘ (6.9), would have given the Cavs a perimeter unit that may have been the best facilitating group out of all three-man units.

Defensively, Wade isn’t the athletic player that Smith is on the wing.

On-ball, Wade is now more likely to be blown by than to steal the ball. However, he still remains one of the smarter defenders. As he ages, Wade stays in front of his man with the use of angles rather than elite athleticism. As a result, he still gets a fair share of blocks and steals.

Off-the-ball, Wade still has enough burst to jump the passing lanes but doesn’t gamble as much as he used to. Wade’s team defense is better than Smith’s, as well. Experienced and savvy, Wade is much more alert and has better anticipation on defensive rotations.

While that may not be good enough for Wade to be a starter, Wade would even thrive coming off-the-bench as a secondary ball-handler. Rookie Kay Felder has the reins now and looks capable. It’s still nice for the Cavs to have a vet to rely on in do-or-die situations should Irving be unavailable.

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Nonetheless, the Miami Heat’s starting lineup last year was stylistically similar to that of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Outside of the shooting guard position, the teams mirror each other well enough for Wade to have fit in quickly.

Irving, James and Love would have had to make an additional three every game to compensate for Smith’s 2.6 three-point makes a game. However, because of Wade’s abilities as a facilitator that wouldn’t be difficult.

This isn’t to say that Smith wouldn’t be on the team if Wade was. The addition of Wade, on top of the re-signing of Smith, would be ideal for the Cavs as they defend their NBA throne.

The Cleveland Cavaliers would have four All-Stars in the starting lineup and two surefire Hall of Famers. Surrounding them would be a plethora of elite shooters and a solid mix of excited young players and experienced veterans.

After coming to terms with those facts, teams then have to consider that they’re playing the best player in the world. James, for his part, has formed the most feared duo in the league right now. With Wade, James reunites with the player who was one half most feared duo in the league in the first half of this decade.

With the addition of Wade, the Cavs would have been title favorites. Or should have been. For now, it’s a pipe dream. Wade is a player for the Chicago Bulls and trading for him would be all but impossible.

Do you think Dwyane Wade would have made the Cleveland Cavaliers favorites to win the NBA title in 2017? Let us know in the comments section or tweet @KJG_NBA.

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