Did he expect anything less?
With his offseason still in its infancy, with his team's five-game series loss to the Celtics still sinking in, Wade wasn't saying much. He was still stewing in defeat, too depressed to give the media anything substantial. But he did drop one subtle hint.
"This will be my last first-round exit for a while," he said. "I can tell you that."
Simple statement. Unclear meaning.
Wade is just finishing up the final year of a three-year contract extension with the Miami Heat, signed just after he won NBA Finals MVP honors in the summer of 2006. He's got a player option to stick around Miami for another season, and speculation has been rampant this season about Wade's decision.
Will he stay? Will he go?
It's not just Wade. It's nearly the entire Heat roster. Udonis Haslem, Dorell Wright, Jermaine O'Neal, Quentin Richardson, Carlos Arroyo, Rafer Alston and Jamaal Magloire are just a few of the franchise cornerstones set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer. The Heat are basically starting over from scratch — and that means Wade's got a big decision to make. Either he starts over in Miami, or he looks elsewhere for another team that can build around him and instantly assemble a title contender.
This is a crossroads for Wade, Haslem and Wright. For the three guys that have been here all along throughout the Heat's ups and downs, their first-round exit against the Celtics could have been the end of their road together.
"It’s tough," Wade said. "Anytime you lose, right after it’s tough. It’s quiet. You never expect for your season to end. Whether you’re swept, whether you lose in the championship, no matter what, you never expect the end. It’s just quiet. We’ll have more time to talk on the plane, and then tomorrow at our exit meeting, we’ll have more time to reflect and look back and talk.
"Myself, U-D and D-Wright — who have been here for at least six years with D-Wright, and seven years with U-D — it’s tough, not knowing the possibilities, if you guys are gonna be together again. You just thank those guys, as we say every year, you know, 'I love you guys.' We’ll talk in the summer. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re family no matter what the circumstances."
Make of that what you will.
Wade sure isn't giving any definite answers. But he does come off as a guy that genuinely cares about his teammates, his fans and the franchise he's spent seven years nurturing in Miami. South Florida is where his heart is. There's definitely a part of him that wants to stay — and if he does leave, it won't be out of bitterness or disrespect, but only because he wants a better opportunity to win.
Wade has been to the top of the mountain before. Alongside Haslem and Wright, he achieved Finals glory four years ago, and it's left him hungry for more. That — not money, not fame, probably not even personal friendships — will be the biggest factor. Wade is a competitor, and he wants to win.
So much depends on who else lands where. Wade is only one small part of a huge 2010 jigsaw puzzle — LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer are just a few of the marquee names that could shift the tide of this summer's realignment.
Wade wants to be part of a winner going forward, and it'll all hinge on who he can find to embark on that journey with him. That's why so much of this is still unclear.
"I can’t predict the future," Wade said. "It’s going to be a very important summer, it’s going to be a busy summer. But right now, I've still got to get this out of my system first. I’m a good sportsman, but I don’t take losing well. So it’s going to take a while to get over this, and then I'll start pondering my future."
We'll be waiting.
