Dwyane Wade to Cleveland?

Lynne Sladky/AP

In the wake of Kevin Durant making his decision to join the Golden State Warriors. The Cavaliers may have to find a way to upgrade their roster more. With that said Dwyane Wade is still on the free agent market after talks with Miami have stalled. Multiple teams are looking to sign Wade and the Bucks and Nuggets are offering Wade a max contract. The chances of Wade leaving Miami for Denver or Milwaukee are very slim.

Today rumors are have it that Dwyane Wade is in talks with the Cavaliers. By no means is it a guarantee that Wade will join the Cavs, but the fact he is even talking to them it's a start. The Cavaliers have one way of getting Wade in Cleveland and it would be very easy. Wade can join the team on a mini-mid level exception. That means Wade would make $3.5 million per year. That is $16.5 million less than what Miami is offering and a low offer for someone of his talent. The more realistic option would be to make some trades and free up cap room for Wade. Iman Shumpert and Kevin Love would probably be one of the pieces to trade. The problem then is that Cleveland would lose bench depth. The Warriors were able to sign Durant by only giving up Barnes and Bogut. Ezeli will also most likely be on his way out. The thing is that Durant is a huge upgrade that these pieces are worth losing for him.

With that said it is hard to imagine Wade in Cleveland, but the Cavs could probably free up about $9 million in cap space as well as offer Wade the best shot at winning an NBA title. LeBron could really use Wade right now in the wake of the Kevin Durant decision and Wade may feel the need to help. At the end of the day it is most likely that Wade stays in Miami, but do not be surprised if he is willing to take much less to compete. He is going to turn 35 next season so maybe he will realize he can still get a few more titles if he is willing to take less. Or he can opt stay in Miami and collect big pay checks at the risk of being bounced in the first and second round for the rest of his career. These are all the things Dwyane Wade is thinking about right now and will ultimately help him in his final decision.