Miami Heat president Pat Riley said during Wednesday’s exit interview he thinks Dwyane Wade’s season “was better than any season he had with the Big 3.”
Do you agree?
The Heat won back-to-back championships with Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Wade averaged 25.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists in his best season with the Big 3 in 2010. This season, Wade averaged 19 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
On paper, Wade had the better season when he was playing with James and Bosh, but let’s take a look at what he did in the postseason. He averaged 21.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists on a team that didn’t have James or Bosh. The Heat were short-handed all throughout the postseason because of injuries, but they were able to win seven games.
Wade, who is supposedly washed up, looked far from it, scoring 28, 25 and 23 points in a seven-game series against the Charlotte Hornets. He followed that up with 38, 30, 24, 22 and 20 points against the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 23.9 points in the series against the Raptors. Not bad for a 34-year-old has been, right?
Under the circumstances, yes. Dwyane did have one of his best seasons. He had flashes during the postseason where he was dominant. Now an unrestricted free agent, Wade and the Heat have some thinking to do. Riley also said during his press conference that Wade is a “lifer” and “we want to do the right thing”, so we’ll see if that means another one-year deal for the perennial All-Star.
