Wade: I’ll finish here

MIAMI — If nothing else, at least with this Dwyane Wade reunion the what’s-next portion of the equation no longer will be in question with the Miami Heat’s all-time leading scorer.

After leaving the Heat for his hometown Chicago Bulls in 2016 free agency and then opting to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers prior to this season, Wade made it clear in the wake of Friday’s emotional return to AmericanAirlines Arena that there will be no further need for moving vans.

“This is it for me guys,” Wade told NBA TV after the Heat’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. “I’m [going to] stay here until I decide to hang it up. This is home and I’m so happy to be back.”

After uneven locker-room experiences in Chicago and Cleveland, Wade said he felt the embrace was immediate.

“I feel like I’m already,” he said.

Beyond the six players on the roster from when he last played with the Heat in 2015-16, Wade, 36, said his goal is to mentor the Heat newcomers, just as he was mentored in the Heat locker room over his first 13 NBA seasons by Eddie Jones, Brian part of the group Grant, Steve Smith, and Gary Payton.

Wade joked in his NBA TV interview of finally being able to sleep in his own bed. He reiterated how he always viewed South Florida as his true home.

“My family, they’re happy,” he said. “They’re not only happy for themselves, they’re happy for me, Miami’s my family. I think as you’ve seen with the crowd, they’re happy. All is good in the Wade household and all is good in Wade County.”

Wade is completing the one-year, $2.3 million contract he signed with the Cavaliers after he received his buyout from the Bulls, to become a free agent on July 1. He has yet to address playing beyond this 15th NBA season.

Because of the Heat’s impending position against the luxury tax, the most likely avenue to a return would be another contract at the NBA minimum, which for a player with Wade’s tenure, would be $2.4 million in 2018-19. The NBA subsidizes such minimum-scale deals, further reducing the salary-cap hits to teams, as is the case this season, when Wade’s contract counts only $1.5 million against the salary cap.

The Heat also will have mid-level and bi-annual exceptions that could be put in play for a potential Wade return next season, but utilization of such exemptions could work adversely against the luxury tax, with the Heat already facing such challenges with Wayne Ellington’s impending Shaquille O’Neal free agency.

Wade has earned in excess of $180 million in salary over his NBA career.