Amid China tour, Wade remains noncommittal about NBA future
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade again has declined to offer clarity or finality when it comes to his decision about returning to the NBA or Miami Heat.
In an interview with The Associated Press that focused on his Wednesday lifetime deal with Chinabased sporting-apparel manufacturer Li Ning, the Heat’s all-time leading scorer put aside the matter of his NBA future.
“When I get back from China, I’ll focus on that,” Wade told the Associated Press. “Right now, I’m focused on the game after basketball. Whatever happens in basketball, it happens. I’ve done everything that I can to this point to put myself that I’m in this position I am today, where I can do something that hasn’t been done globally yet.
“The basketball will take care of itself. I’ll sit down and figure that out once I get back from this tour at some point.”
Wade is a free agent, having returned to the Heat in February after a season and a half away from the team with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2018-19 would be Wade’s 16th NBA season after he was selected in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft by the Heat.
The Heat, whose biggest personnel moves this offseason have been re-signing free-agent guard Wayne Ellington and shifting forward Derrick Jones Jr. from a two-way contract to a guaranteed $1.5 million deal for the coming season, have committed to 12 guaranteed contracts for the coming season.
Two of the team’s remaining question marks are Wade and veteran forward Udonis Haslem, another unrestricted free agent, who is accompanying Wade on his annual marketing tour in China.
NBA teams are limited to 15 players during the regular season, but can carry up to 20 in the offseason.
The Heat open training camp in late September, with the regular season opening a month later.
The Heat, who are operating above both the 2018-19 NBA salary cap and luxury tax, have retained their $5.3 million taxpayer midlevel exception as a possible contract offer to Wade, who also is eligible for the $2.3 million veteran minimum for the coming season.
Asked about a potential return in the immediate wake of the Heat’s 4-1 ouster at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, Wade opted to stay in the moment.
“Coming into this year and not knowing how this year was going to play out at all, starting the season in Chicago then moving to Cleveland and ending in Miami. I couldn’t ask for a better ending to it,” he said. “I was like a kid my whole time back, just happy and thrilled to be back and be around these individuals on my team and getting the chance to be in the trenches with them.
“To be here, to be back, to be a part of that, to be a part of leading not only by voice but leading by example, laying it all out on the line with these guys, I felt good about that. I felt good about the Miami Heat whole organization and its future and the kind of players and the kind of people that are in that locker room and in the organization. I was thankful that I could come back and be a part of that.”
Wade who turns 37 on Jan. 17, announced the lifetime deal with Li Ning in a posting on his Instagram account.
Wade appeared in 67 games last season in his combined time with the Cavaliers and Heat, averaging 11.4 points on .438 shooting, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.91 steals in an average of 22.9 minutes.
He came off the bench in all 21 of his regular-season appearances for the Heat, averaging 12.0 points on .409 shooting, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in an average of 22.3 minutes in those appearances, leading the Heat in scoring three times, in steals four times, in assists and blocks three times each, in plus/minus on two occasions and in rebounds once.