Heat forward Udonis Haslem remains hopeful that Dwyane Wade will return to Miami so that they can finish out their careers together, Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post reports. Haslem, 37, re-signed with the Heat in July on a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal. He previously expressed his desire to reunite with Wade and reiterated those feelings to D’Angelo. “We talked about finishing our careers together,” Haslem said. “We really want it to be the case. Plans change. So if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t put any strain on our relationship but it’s still a goal of mine. Hopefully we can end it that way.” That won’t happen unless Wade eventually reaches a buyout agreement with the Bulls. Wade opted in for the upcoming season in June, unwilling to leave $23.8MM on the table even though Chicago is in a rebuild mode after trading away Jimmy Butler.
In other news regarding the Southeast Division:
- Josh Magette is hopeful he can make some kind of impact with the Hawks even though his two-way contract limits him to a maximum of 45 days with the parent team, he told David Yapokowitz of Basketball Insiders. Magette is the No. 4 point guard on the roster behind Dennis Schroder, Malcolm Delaney and Quinn Cook and will spend the majority of the season with the G-League’s Erie BayHawks. “I’m someone who controls the tempo, makes everyone around them better, makes the right play, plays with a high IQ,” Magette said to Yapkowtiz. “I’m just doing little things.” Magette was the Hawks’ final roster cut last fall and also played with their summer-league team in Las Vegas. He led the G League in assists last season (9.3 APG) as a member of the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
- The Hornets addressed a major need by drafting shooting guard Malik Monk but took a major gamble by acquiring center Dwight Howard, as Shaun Powell of NBA.com notes in his offseason outlook. Monk’s explosive scoring ability with Kentucky should translate to the NBA level, giving Charlotte another offensive dimension, Powell predicts. But acquiring Howard and his big contract from the Hawks was a head-scratcher, given that big men with limited offensive ability have become dinosaurs, Powell continues. However, Howard can still have a positive impact as a rebounder and rim protector and has little competition for the center spot, Powell adds.
UD is kind of insinuating D-wade won’t necessarily come home this year, after the buyout. Kind of seems like he might go to San Antonio or even Cleveland, despite Wade saying he wouldn’t go to Cleveland in the past.
…they just spent a lot of time together overseas, so they must have talked about it a lot. I would think UD would have a good idea of what Wade’s mindset is
Where you pulling spurs from
I feel like it makes the most sense this year, even though they were able to keep ginobli
“And [Howard’s] only true competition in Charlotte is Zeller, who in certain situations could slide to forward”.
“Also worth noting is that the Hornets were only 3-17 in games when Zeller was out with injury.”
I’m confused by Powell’s article. Or maybe by Char’s GM!
Elsewhere, I see 3 of the top 6 Hornet ratings on NBA2K18 are for centers, including Kaminsky, whose stats however do look like a forward’s.
You shouldn’t judge a GM’s decision making based off 2k ratings. The trade only gave up Belinelli, Plumlee and a pick. Even if the move fails it was still not much of a loss
Every time I see Belinelli, I think of David Stern on his draft day, squinting at a card and saying the next selection was “Marco. Belly-Nelly.” In retrospect I suppose Stern had heard him called by his nickname Beli. But it would be like him IMO.
Not sure how trading for Howard could be viewed as a questionable deal. They got rid of Plumlees contract for a player who actually possess value