CLEVELAND -- Dean Wade spent seven successful seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers after going undrafted out of Kansas State. He only averaged 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds across his time with the Cavs, but just like now with the Philadelphia 76ers, his impact goes beyond the numbers as he does the dirty work to help a team succeed.
As Wade played in his first game back in Cleveland, he was introduced with a loud welcome. PA announcer Sean Peebles hit him with a "Welcome back to Rocket Arena, Dean Wade!" The veteran was able to see some familiar faces and reconnect with the people he saw every day as a member of the Cavs.
"It was weird," Wade admitted. "It was weird. Emotions were high, though. It was pretty hard to stay focused on what was in
front of me, but it was good, man. I was happy to see everybody. And unfortunately we didn't play our best basketball, but outside of the basketball, it was great. Emotion, energy was high, emotions were high. It was good."
The Sixers certainly didn't play their best basketball as they fell to the Cavs 119-95 to fall to 1-1 in the NBA Cup, but Philadelphia moves forward. The Sixers are still sitting at 8-2 and atop the Eastern Conference through the first 10 games of the season.
As far as free agency is concerned, Wade made his decision to join the Sixers, but it wasn't easy.
"I wanted to come back," he stated. "I was super comfortable. I had a house, and relationships, everyone so it would’ve been easy, but it just didn't happen. And so yeah, it's unfortunate. I think for my options that I had, I made a great decision."
Naturally, when a person builds relationships with people on an every day basis, that person will want to stay there and continue to build and grow. The Cavaliers were a special group for Wade. He had a home there. Now, he moves on to the Sixers and look to help them get the job done.
"Building relationships here in Philly is awesome," Wade finished. "This team is great, high-character people. And so it's weird going to a new place and meeting like a thousand new faces and stuff, but after a couple weeks you get to know people, it gets a lot easier. So I'm pretty happy with my decision. But yeah, I kind of thought I'd probably just come back to Cleveland. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen."
The Sixers will finish their road trip on Sunday when they take on the Chicago Bulls.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Dean Wade reflects on return to Cleveland, making free agency decision
