The Philadelphia 76ers may be built around a star-heavy starting group, but their most important swing piece for a championship run might be the newest name on the roster: Dean Wade.
Wade signed with the 76ers this offseason on a four-year, $38.7 million deal, and for a moment he was projected to start before Philadelphia won the LeBron James bidding war. With James now in the picture, Wade is far more likely to come off the bench. Even so, his value to the team could wind up being enormous.
The reason is simple: the 76ers’ stars are already proven in big moments. Opponents are going to load up on them, throw extra bodies at them, and try to wear them down by making them handle all the little things as well as the scoring. That’s where Wade fits.
He’s there to lighten that burden. Philadelphia brought him in for defensive versatility, spot-up shooting, and connective passing, and the front office did not pay him just to have him float around as a minor piece. He is the kind of player coaches can plug into different lineups without changing the whole feel of the group.
That flexibility matters even more in the playoffs, where lineups get squeezed and every mistake gets magnified. If Wade can keep delivering despite his low usage in recent years, he can make the game easier for the 76ers’ bigger names by handling the dirty work and avoiding mistakes.
Championship teams usually have one of those guys who doesn’t dominate the headlines but still comes through with a key shot or a timely defensive play. For Philadelphia, that player is Dean Wade.
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