Dean Wade thought his next stop might never come.
After seven years in Cleveland, the veteran forward said he expected to re-sign with the Cavaliers this summer, but the team’s “craziness” during the offseason changed that path, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Wade arrived on a two-way deal in 2019 and grew into a useful part of the rotation, giving Cleveland defense, floor spacing and steady minutes whether he was starting or coming off the bench.
He said the fit felt natural and the move away from it caught him off guard.
“I was super comfortable with it here. I thought I’d probably just come back to Cleveland,” Wade said.
“Had a house and relationships with everyone, so it would have been easy. But it just didn’t happen.
It’s unfortunate.”
The Cavaliers spent much of the summer swinging big. After reaching the Eastern Conference finals, they were linked to trade talks involving Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown, and they were also hoping to bring back LeBron James, who didn’t announce that he was signing with Philadelphia until late July. That uncertainty left Cleveland unable to lock in the money needed to keep Wade.
Wade’s first trip back to Rocket Arena as an opposing player came Friday, and he called it “weird.” He and his former teammates also got into some verbal back-and-forth during the game. Still, he said the transition to Philadelphia has gone smoothly, with the Sixers giving him a strong landing spot.
“For my options that I had, made a great decision and I’m building relationships here,” Wade said. “Philly is awesome.
This team is great. High-character people.
Weird going to a new place and meeting like a thousand new people. But after a couple weeks, it gets a lot easier.
Pretty happy with my decision.”
Elsewhere in the Central Division, Jalen Duren remains out with a hamstring strain that has sidelined him since October 23. Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press notes that Detroit is feeling the loss of his interior presence.
The Pistons are leaning more heavily on perimeter scoring, and they rank 28th in offensive rebounding percentage after finishing second in that category last season. Duren is approaching his two-week reevaluation.
T.J. McConnell also returned to action Saturday, playing his first game of the season for Indiana.
Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star reports that the Pacers guard logged six points, two rebounds and an assist in nine minutes while working under a minutes restriction. McConnell, who had been dealing with a strained right hamstring, did not play in the second half.
And on The Bill Simmons Podcast, former Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Damian Lillard “was really never welcomed in the way he should’ve been” after Milwaukee acquired him from Portland in a 2023 trade, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Rivers said Lillard was dealing with multiple off-court issues at the time, including divorce proceedings, and added, “He had a lot going on in Portland.
You couldn’t have traded for him at a worse time,” Rivers said. “The biggest thing with that trade is like, you just can’t trade Jrue (Holiday).
I always thought once I got there, I said, man, if Jrue had been there with Dame and Giannis, that team would’ve been so much better.” Rivers also declined to comment on Milwaukee’s decision to waive Lillard last summer and stretch his contract through the 2029/30 season.
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What makes the situation more delicate is how little wiggle room the roster appears to have if the slump continues. Cleveland built this around a core that is supposed to contend now, not after a long adjustment period, so the pressure is already building for Harden to find his footing before the Cavaliers are forced into tougher decisions they would rather avoid. [Read more 🡒]
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The problem is made sharper by the teams financial constraints, which leave little room to go shopping for a cleaner backup answer. With a difficult schedule ahead, coach Kenny Atkinson may have to get creative with the rotation, and the very fact that unconventional options are part of the conversation says plenty about how quickly this could become a real roster concern. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Have A Guard Problem Nobody In Cleveland Can Ignore
The Cavaliers backcourt has become one of the more crowded parts of the roster, and not necessarily in a good way. With veterans James Harden and Donovan Mitchell handling the top of the rotation, Cleveland has also had to lean more heavily on its guard depth because injuries elsewhere have pushed more minutes into the backcourt mix.
For coach Kenny Atkinson and executive Koby Altman, the real challenge is figuring out how to keep everyone involved without stunting the development of the younger guards. Craig Porter Jr., Tyrese Proctor and Meleek Thomas are all trying to carve out space behind the established names, and if the teams play does not pick up, the logjam could eventually force some uncomfortable decisions about who stays in the long-term picture. [Read more 🡒]