Is Wade completely done as an impact player?

[celticsclay]

After looking very slow and mechanical in the preseason, Wade has continued his horrible start to the season averaging 7 points 3.5 assists and 2.3 turnovers on 37% shooting. This culminated with him missing the Cavs last game with a "sore knee." He turns 36 in a few months and does have a pretty lengthy list of mostly minor leg injuries over the years. Do people think he will return to being an impact player, or is he completely cooked?

My take is that he is actually completely done and may have been better served retiring. It is not so much about the stats, but the eye test with him for me. Furthermore, because he never developed a 3 point shot he really is aging less gracefully than a scorer like Pierce. When defenders don't have to respect the 3 point shot they can sag off him a lot more making his declining quickness and first step that much more critical. 

Further complicating matters for the Cavs is that he was brought on to play a significant role and is the best friend of Lebron. If he can't improve his game a bit and doesn't start getting DNPCD's that is going to really hurt the team and chemistry.

[CelticsElite]

Father time. His game was all athleticism. He is 35 now. He may be even worse in the playoffs as he will be a bit older but also have another season of mileage by then

[Moranis]

Think it depends on what you mean by impact player.  During the playoffs, I think he will have a couple of games where he plays very well and positively impacts the outcome of a game.  I mean his first game off the bench he played 19 minutes and scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting and adding 3 rebounds and 4 assists, along with a steal and a block with just 1 turnover and 1 foul.  I can absolutely see him doing things like that every few games, and occasionally having even better games.  He will also have the 1 of 10 games with limited other stats.  That is just what happens when you age.

[Monkhouse]

Father time. His game was all athleticism. He is 35 now. He may be even worse in the playoffs as he will be a bit older but also have another season of mileage by then

Father Time, yes, but Wade is resorting on using tough contested fadeaways whenever he posts, which is one of the worst and toughest shots to hit.

Wade is completely done, but it all leads back to his collegiate days.

With hindsight, Dwyane Wade says surgery to remove the meniscus from his left knee 11 years ago while he was at Marquette led to the ongoing knee problems he's had with the Miami Heat.

Wade has battled chronic knee issues over his career. He needed a second surgery on his left knee in 2012 and has also battled bone bruises and tendinitis.

Wade said that if more of a long-term approach was used when he had his meniscus surgery in 2002, following his sophomore season, he may not have as many issues today.


"My knee problems and the things I've dealt with started from that," Wade said. "That was [11] years ago and technology was different and the way you approach things was different.

Think it depends on what you mean by impact player.  During the playoffs, I think he will have a couple of games where he plays very well and positively impacts the outcome of a game.  I mean his first game off the bench he played 19 minutes and scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting and adding 3 rebounds and 4 assists, along with a steal and a block with just 1 turnover and 1 foul.  I can absolutely see him doing things like that every few games, and occasionally having even better games.  He will also have the 1 of 10 games with limited other stats.  That is just what happens when you age.

The problem with Wade is his shot selection. He still has this belief that he can be an impactful player, which is good in a player, you want someone with overbearing confidence, but when you're taking really tough shots on a consistent basis, you need a reality check and to change the overall aspect of your game.

[Birdman]

Can't beat father time.  He can't play every game like he use to

[celticsclay]

Think it depends on what you mean by impact player.  During the playoffs, I think he will have a couple of games where he plays very well and positively impacts the outcome of a game.  I mean his first game off the bench he played 19 minutes and scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting and adding 3 rebounds and 4 assists, along with a steal and a block with just 1 turnover and 1 foul.  I can absolutely see him doing things like that every few games, and occasionally having even better games.  He will also have the 1 of 10 games with limited other stats.  That is just what happens when you age.

Yea I don't think he should even be on the floor during the playoffs unless it is garbage time (barring some dramatic improvement after a knee cleaning or something). His shooting percentages the last 5 years go like this:

54%
47%
45%
43%
38% (4 games)

quite the trend for a guy that is not a great defender and can't shoot a 3. 

[PhoSita]

Wade has played 32,442 minutes in the regular season and 6,570 minutes in the playoffs.

By comparison, Manu Ginobili (who is 40 years old), has played 25,646 minutes in the regular season and 5,968 minutes in the playoffs.

Wade, unlike Manu, has no three point shot.


Thus, it's not at all surprising that he looks pretty much done.

[Monkhouse]

Think it depends on what you mean by impact player.  During the playoffs, I think he will have a couple of games where he plays very well and positively impacts the outcome of a game.  I mean his first game off the bench he played 19 minutes and scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting and adding 3 rebounds and 4 assists, along with a steal and a block with just 1 turnover and 1 foul.  I can absolutely see him doing things like that every few games, and occasionally having even better games.  He will also have the 1 of 10 games with limited other stats.  That is just what happens when you age.

Yea I don't think he should even be on the floor during the playoffs unless it is garbage time (barring some dramatic improvement after a knee cleaning or something). His shooting percentages the last 5 years go like this:

54%
47%
45%
43%
38% (4 games)

quite the trend for a guy that is not a great defender and can't shoot a 3.

His ego is getting in the way. He doesn't realize if he plays to his strengths in mismatches when he posts up, and passes more, then he would be a key contributor. Jacking up ill-advised shots isn't the way to go about it, especially if its low percentage both ways.

[ChillyWilly]

Think it depends on what you mean by impact player.  During the playoffs, I think he will have a couple of games where he plays very well and positively impacts the outcome of a game.  I mean his first game off the bench he played 19 minutes and scored 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting and adding 3 rebounds and 4 assists, along with a steal and a block with just 1 turnover and 1 foul.  I can absolutely see him doing things like that every few games, and occasionally having even better games.  He will also have the 1 of 10 games with limited other stats.  That is just what happens when you age.

Yea I don't think he should even be on the floor during the playoffs unless it is garbage time (barring some dramatic improvement after a knee cleaning or something). His shooting percentages the last 5 years go like this:

54%
47%
45%
43%
38% (4 games)

quite the trend for a guy that is not a great defender and can't shoot a 3.

His ego is getting in the way. He doesn't realize if he plays to his strengths in mismatches when he posts up, and passes more, then he would be a key contributor. Jacking up ill-advised shots isn't the way to go about it, especially if its low percentage both ways.

I beg to differ. I encourage D-wade to keep doing his thing. 

[johnnygreen]

When the Cavs signed Wade, I thought it was a mistake and would only hurt their team chemistry. The guy was a shell of himself last season on a mediocre team. He simply can't be relied upon as a key contributor to a championship caliber team on a consistent basis.

[liam]

YES.

[BudweiserCeltic]

They said the same about Pierce until he called GAME.

[Moranis]

When the Cavs signed Wade, I thought it was a mistake and would only hurt their team chemistry. The guy was a shell of himself last season on a mediocre team. He simply can't be relied upon as a key contributor to a championship caliber team on a consistent basis.

The thing is, Wade is so far down the totem poll in Cleveland he doesn't have to consistently perform.  If he just gives them 1 in 3 games, that will be good enough.  If he is playing awful, you just keep him on the bench or at least significantly cut back minutes, and then you just ride him on the nights he is playing well.  That is what you do with 4th, 5th, 6th options and that is what Wade is.

[Monkhouse]

When the Cavs signed Wade, I thought it was a mistake and would only hurt their team chemistry. The guy was a shell of himself last season on a mediocre team. He simply can't be relied upon as a key contributor to a championship caliber team on a consistent basis.

The thing is, Wade is so far down the totem poll in Cleveland he doesn't have to consistently perform.  If he just gives them 1 in 3 games, that will be good enough.  If he is playing awful, you just keep him on the bench or at least significantly cut back minutes, and then you just ride him on the nights he is playing well. That is what you do with 4th, 5th, 6th options and that is what Wade is.

Problem is I don't think Wade sees himself as that.

[Moranis]

When the Cavs signed Wade, I thought it was a mistake and would only hurt their team chemistry. The guy was a shell of himself last season on a mediocre team. He simply can't be relied upon as a key contributor to a championship caliber team on a consistent basis.

The thing is, Wade is so far down the totem poll in Cleveland he doesn't have to consistently perform.  If he just gives them 1 in 3 games, that will be good enough.  If he is playing awful, you just keep him on the bench or at least significantly cut back minutes, and then you just ride him on the nights he is playing well. That is what you do with 4th, 5th, 6th options and that is what Wade is.

Problem is I don't think Wade sees himself as that.

Of course he does.