The Cavaliers and free agent Dwyane Wade are expected to talk soon, multiple league sources confirmed to the Beacon Journal, although the path to a deal remains blocked by a number of financial obstacles.
Wade had been vacationing in Spain with LeBron James, but was expected to fly back Tuesday morning. It’s unclear when the two sides will talk, but the Miami Herald reported Wade and the Miami Heat remain at an impasse regarding a new contract and multiple sources believe the relationship between the two sides is eroding.
The Cavs are happy to talk to Wade, but they don’t have a lot of options without dramatically overhauling the roster. As of now, they can only offer Wade the taxpayer’s midlevel exception worth $3.47 million. He can command more than $20 million annually from other teams in free agency.
The Cavs can’t offer Wade that much without a dramatic move, such as trading Kevin Love. Not even dumping Iman Shumpert and his $9.7 million will free up the necessary cap space to pursue Wade with anything other than the taxpayer’s midlevel.
James is also a free agent and has made it clear he is re-signing with the Cavs. Whether he can or will use his leverage to try to coax the two sides into a deal remains to be seen. James and Wade, of course, spent four years together as teammates with the Heat and James openly talked to Bleacher Report last season about the possibility of someday playing with all three of his closest friends — Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony — on the same NBA team.
ESPN reported Tuesday that Wade canceled a meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Herald reported the relationship between Wade and the Heat is “ugly.” Whether it’s ugly enough for him to spurn Pat Riley and Micky Arison and join James in Cleveland remains to be seen.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.