Fansided

NBA Free Agency: Top 10 2014 free agents

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 6, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (center) stands between Miami Heat center Chris Bosh (left) and Miami Heat forward LeBron James (right) during the second half at American Airlines Arena. Miami won 102-91. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 6, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (center) stands between Miami Heat center Chris Bosh (left) and Miami Heat forward LeBron James (right) during the second half at American Airlines Arena. Miami won 102-91. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 11
Next
free agency
Jun 12, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) reacts prior to game four of the 2014 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

8. Dwyane Wade

In years past, it would have seemed blasphemous to put Dwyane Wade at the No. 8 spot on a list like this. One of the five greatest shooting guards of all time, a guy who’s won three championships in his career and been the face of his franchise since he was drafted in 2003, isn’t higher up? Unfortunately, after what we saw out of Flash this year, and this postseason in particular, is there any doubt Wade’s best days are behind him?

Coming off back-to-back championships, we all knew Wade’s minutes would need to be limited as the Heat went for the three-peat. But I don’t think anyone thought Wade would only play 54 games and average a career-low 32.9 minutes per game leading up to the postseason. Though he was efficient, shooting 54.5 percent from the field, his 19 points per game were his lowest scoring numbers since his rookie season and they got worse in the playoffs (17.8 PPG on 50 percent shooting).

To be fair, those aren’t terrible numbers by any stretch of the imagination. Lots of guys would be ecstatic to put up numbers like that. Hell, Kent Bazemore would throw a towel-waving extravaganza to put up numbers like that in a season. But even though Wade’s deterioration has been largely overstated, his time as a dynamic scoring threat is done, especially since he can’t shoot threes (28 percent last season) to make up for his diminishing athleticism. Wade likely isn’t going anywhere, but if Flash is still Miami’s second-best player next year, the Heat might have a hard time winning another championship.