Ex-Heats Wade, LeBron to reunite in Cleveland
Together again: LeBron and D-Wade. Just like old times.
Dwyane Wade has decided to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers and reunite with LeBron James, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press on Tuesday night.
Wade, a 12-time All-Star, is expected to clear waivers on Wednesday and then join the Cavs, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal cannot be completed until Wade goes through the waiver process.
In Cleveland, Wade will be reunited with James, his close friend, former Miami teammate and a player he confided in before signing with his hometown Chicago Bulls last year.
Wade and James won two NBA titles together during four seasons with the Heat and will now chase another one with the Cavs, who have been revamped after losing to Golden State in last season’s Finals.
On Monday, James said he would “love” to play again with Wade.
“He brings another championship pedigree, championship DNA,” James said at Cleveland’s media day. “He brings another player to the team who can get guys involved, can make plays and also has a great basketball mind. ... I hope we can bring him here. I would love to have him.”
Once Wade completes the waiver formality, he’ll be the latest new, high-profile player to join the Cavs, who traded for AllStar point guard Isaiah Thomas, signed former league MVP Derrick Rose and added two strong wing defenders in Jae Crowder and Jeff Green, wing players who may help them defend the Warriors if those teams get back to a fourth straight Finals matchup.
Thomas isn’t expected to play until January because of a hip injury, but until he returns the Cavs have plenty of firepower in James, Wade, Rose and All-Star Kevin Love, who could thrive as Cleveland’s No. 2 scoring threat now that Kyrie Irving is in Boston.
Wade agreed to a contract buyout earlier this week with the Bulls, who signed him before last season as a free agent.
The Cavaliers emerged Tuesday as front-runners over the Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder to land the 35-year-old Wade, who many feel say has plenty of game left.
He’ll now have a shot at another championship — his fourth — while playing alongside James, whom he has been friends with since they broke into the league together in 2003. When James left Cleveland as a free agent in 2010 and signed with Miami, much of his reason for leaving his home state was a chance to play with Wade and Chris Both.
Wade played his first 13 seasons in Miami, leaving in the summer of 2016 to sign a twoyear deal with the Bulls. But the Bulls are in a rebuilding mode after trading Jimmy Butler this summer, and instead of paying Wade $23.8 million to play for what will likely be a struggling team they agreed this weekend to buy him out and let him find a better situation.