Hassan Whiteside: Dwyane Wade return to Miami Heat would be ‘great’

The Miami Heat would take Dwyane Wade back in a heartbeat.

The Miami Heat have never felt like the same team ever since Dwyane Wade left for his hometown of Chicago, and a lot of that is Pat Riley’s fault. He had a wounded ego over the departure of LeBron James, and that caused Riley to overthink Wade’s contract offer.

The Heat, though, would apparently welcome back their former franchise player, and that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

“It would be great,” Heat center Hassan Whiteside said Saturday night to the Miami Herald. “You’re talking about three-time NBA champion coming back, coming in and really helping the team out. It would be great. He’s a great basketball-IQ guy. He can find you on the lob. He can find you in a pick-and-roll situation, and he’s a great scorer.”

Wade and Whiteside showed nice chemistry during their time in Miami together, and it’s a shame the Heat didn’t find their star center while LeBron was still there. That dynasty could’ve lasted even longer.

Wade won three titles in Miami, and there is no doubt his jersey will hang from the rafters one day. If he were to bring one more championship to the Heat, then we could definitely talk about a statue as well. His time in Chicago didn’t work out as planned. The Bulls made the playoffs over the Heat last season, but they were never serious contenders. The good news for Miami is that Chicago plans to buy out Wade’s contract at some point next year, and so Riley could get him on a pretty cheap deal this time.

The main question mark would be how shooting guard Dion Waiters reacts to minutes disappearing, but it seems the other guards on the team are on board with adding Wade.

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“Obviously this is something that D-Wade helped build,” SG Wayne Ellington said. “Obviously the city and us as a team being able to have a guy like that on our team would be amazing.”

Ellington is right about that. Wade has already built a lasting legacy in Miami, and it would only be right for him to end his career there.