The Cleveland Cavaliers, like a few other teams, found themselves completely preoccupied this summer with courting LeBron James. In the process, they were unwilling or unable to give Dean Wade a financial commitment.
“I kind of thought I’d probably just come back,” Wade said after playing his first game in Cleveland this season. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”
Perhaps the Cavs would have elected to move on from Wade either way. He had run his course in Cleveland, and the Cavs clearly wanted to find
an upgrade at small forward. That’s certainly part of the equation.
But it also seems possible that Cleveland was holding out for LeBron — and Wade leaving was a product of that waiting game.
Regardless of how it happened, Wade says he’s happy with the end result.
“Philly’s awesome, this team is always great, high-character people,” said Wade. “It’s weird going to a new place with me, like 1,000 new faces and stuff. But after a couple of weeks, it gets a lot easier. So I’m pretty happy with my decision.”
Wade played seven seasons with the Cavaliers, going from an undrafted prospect in 2019 to a starter in the playoffs. This was his first time entering Rocket Arena as an enemy.
“It was weird; emotions were high, and it was pretty hard to stay focused,” said Wade. “But it was good. I was happy to see everybody.”
The Cavs leaned on Wade for his defense throughout the last seven seasons. But his progression from a fringe NBA player to a legitimate rotational piece is worth remembering. He’s a developmental success story that helped bolster the Cavs for nearly a decade.
“Above all, you loved the person, loved the family; they’re just incredible,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said of Wade. “Great for our culture, obviously the player, he’s a heck of a player, helped us a lot even before I got here, a major player for the team — happy he landed in a good spot.”
Wade is now playing a similar role in Philly, while the Cavs are hoping Peyton Watson will be everything they’ve needed at small forward. It’s a breakup that has zero hard feelings on either end.
