The Miami Heat recently traded Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors after failing to agree a contract extension over the summer. This is not the first time that the franchise have parted ways with a legend towards the end of his career, though.
Not many people will know that better than Dwyane Wade, who won three Championships with the Heat. Everyone in the organization’s history.
Wade would join the Chicago Bulls in 2016 after failing to agree on an extension with the Heat. Later, he would sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers to reunite with former teammate LeBron James before ultimately returning to Miami to end his legendary career where it needed to happen.
Wade clearly did not agree with some decisions that the Heat made towards the end of his career. One of them was handing Hassan Whiteside a mega contract over him.
As reported by HoopsHype, while speaking on The Underground Lounge, Wade said: “They wanted to go after Kevin Durant. We had Hassan Whiteside, a player that came out of the G League, had a great year, and was up for $100 million. I’m sitting here like, I want young fella to get his money… but y’all about to pay him over me? Take care of me first. Then, let’s take care of young fella. Because I’ve shown it. I’ve proven it. This is proven. And they didn’t do it. They didn’t get Kevin Durant, either.”
Of course, Whiteside enjoyed one of the most remarkable rises in NBA history. In the summer of 2016, he re-signed with the Heat on a four-year, $98 million contract.
In the process, Whiteside became the first player in NBA history to go from a league minimum salary to a max level contract.
Whiteside would go on to play three more seasons for the Heat before being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
In hindsight, it would have been great to see Wade spend his entire career with the Heat, but he did not do anything special after leaving Miami either.
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