Wade: 2010 Recruiter or 2009 Troublemaker?

Despite his best recruiting efforts, Heat guard Dwyane Wade said Wednesday he wouldn't be surprised to see most, if not all, of the high-profile 2010 free agents return to their respective teams next summer.

Make no mistake. Wade will continue to put the full-court press on buddies LeBron James, Chris Bosh and perhaps even Joe Johnson to leave their current teams and join him in the "paradise" that is Miami.

But loyalty - and more lucrative contracts from the home teams, barring sign-and-trade scenarios - simply might be too much from which to walk away. After all, it's loyalty that has Wade talking as a recruiter for Miami instead of a potential target of other teams sure to come his way this summer.

So even with Wade, Bosh and Bron all secretly fantasizing about what it would be like to spend a season or three on an NBA championship jewelry heist, even Wade realizes that all the 2010 hype could eventually turn into superstars staying home when the signing period opens in July.

"I wouldn't be surprised at all. Not at all," Wade said after Wednesday's practice at AmericanAirlines arena as the Heat prepares to welcome Dallas and fellow 2010 free agent Dirk Nowitzki to Miami on Friday. "I know everyone has something special in their hearts for their organizations. You've been here for seven years. You can't have nothing but love for the city that you're in, nothing but love for the organizations."

Wade, who is particularly close with Bosh and James, said that although all three have gone through NBA coaching changes and a disappointing season or two (Wade is the only one from the high end of the 2003 draft class to win a title), none has particularly been at odds with their respective teams.

"None of those guys have been in trouble with their organizations or back and forth," Wade said. "So at the end of the day, it's just about guys deciding what they want to do with the future of their careers."

With the Heat in better position than any team in the league to re-sign its own star and add as many as two others from the 2010 class, Wade said it's practically his obligation to frequently remind a few of his buddies of the perks that would come with suiting up in Miami.

But Wade's free-speech approach to recruiting (which could border on NBA tampering rules to some degree), has put a bit of heat on his buddies. The more Wade talks, the less LeBron and Bosh have to say about their futures of potential freedom.

So is Wade getting his pals in trouble with their respective hometown media, fans and front-offices?

"Am I getting them in trouble? Nah. I'm not," Wade said with a sly smile. "Them guys like Chris and LeBron, who decided not to talk about it, it's no secret they have to sit down and think. If they didn't have to think about their futures, they would already have committed back (to their teams). I'm not going to say anything about those guys not being happy with their organizations, because they might be."

Still, Wade is playing with house money at this point, considering Miami's position. And he remains committed to doing his part to break up a couple of other happy NBA homes by getting a couple of friends to leave their mansions to help build a Dade County empire.

"We're all boys," Wade said. "It's no secret that we're all going to sit down again and talk about it."

Bosh and Bron might be silent for now. But when - or if - the time comes again to open up with Wade, that'll be one case when talk certainly won't be cheap.

(For live news, notes and updates on the Heat, follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/wallacesports. To post a question or join our live Heat chat each Thursday from 1-2 p.m., click here.)

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Comments

[pugtv]

Ideally,

1. Re-sign Wade.
2. Sign / trade for Bosh.
3. Trade for Gortat.
4. Keep Beasley.
5. Sign / trade for decent point guard.
6. Get rid of Dead Weight Spo.
7. Sign Byron Scott.
8. Win Championship and party in Miami.

[Mroberts]

Good point

[SATANLOVES]

FIRE SPO.

[rockstarjc]

CHECK THIS OUT THERE IS A RUMOR THAT THERE IS A POSSIBLE TO HAVE NATE JAMES TO OUR TEAM VIA TRADE!!!

I SAID... HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!
IT'S NONSENSE!!!!!

link: miami message boards & espn...

I SAY! BAYLESS IS OUT THERE!!!

thoughts???

[rockstarjc]

this could be good to our team if we trade...

COOK,JONES,QUINN TO...

(portland) *BAYLESS & *WEBSTER

its a good deal rather than to NATE JAMES...
I THINK ITS A GOOD DEAL TO BOTH TEAMS... SINCE BAYLESS WANTED A TRADE...

thoughts???

[rob]

all yall high lets just wait for july pat know what to do

[dmt]

I wouldn't be surprised if everyone stays put either.

Lebron -- he's got his own kingdom there. The chalk, the dance moves, everything there is a reflection of him. Unless they have a dissapointing finish (don't even make the conference finals), its hard to see him leaving.

Bosh might be most likely to leave, especially if the Raptors don't make the playoffs again, or maybe even with playoffs but a first round exit. He's gotta think he's never going to win a championship there, nor get major US media attention whilst toiling away in the far north. But why Miami? He has never stated any particular affection for Miami. Houston needs a big. Lebron needs another running mate (esp. after Shaq leaves and Big Z retires).

Joe Johnson -- frankly, the Hawks are in a better position to contend than the Heat.

Nowitzki -- the team is built around him.

And so on.

[pmartin]

FINALLY; The truth is setting in, NONE of the A-list stars are moving to another team;
That is why NOW is the time to try to get young players like Blayless from Portland,
The only player who will TRY to come to Miami is Boozer. Give Beasley 40 Minutes a game, and he will produce BETTER than Boozer.

[sardi214]

Great point PUGTV. Specially firing Spo'. The guy is not a good coach. I think that Riley should begin coversations with Scott's agent to get something done. Spo needs to coach at the collegiate level and move up the college ranks before having another shot at a coaching pos. in the NBA. He just needs experience and good credentials. BTW, I agree with you in the following:

1. Keep Wade
2. Definetely keep Beasely
3. Sing/Trade for Bosh
4. And I like the Gortat trade; I think we should do it now.

[jpejeff]

You slipping PUGTV. You left the S off of championship.

[ebag]

ok, how about the best lineup with the team we have now? how does this sound for a fourth quarter lineup:

pg - wade
sg - q-rich
sf - beazy
pf - udonis
c - jermaine

wade is already playing point guard. and what are we really getting from mario at crunch time? this way, we get beazy on the floor without loosing the intangibles we get from udonis. and despite all the haters, we really need both of these players to be a good team. thoughts?

[jgeorgew]

wade is the best sg in the east. he aint a pg. udonis is done man. its time for him to retire. he wants more ships but that aint gonna happen with him starting. he is great off the bench. o'neal PEACE OUT. beazy could get us bosh. u guys are idealists. gotta realize how beasley and chalmers could get us valuable humans. we need howard (making me an idealist too). if we had howard we would win 4 titles.

[ahull]

who's nate james?

[dfranco]

go heat

[rockstarjc]

if only KING JAMES would sign and play for WADE we could be in the finals again...

by the way how could we get GORTAT?
I HERE GORTAT WANTS TO BE TRADED... COULD THE MAGIC WOULD BITE FOR THIS TRADE IDEA...

MIAMI HEAT SEND: MAGLOIRE + 2ND ROUND PICK 2010 &draft rights of DOZIER...

I THINK IF THIS HAPPEN... GORTAT WOULD BE A GREAT BACK-UP OF O'NEAL @ CENTER...

thoughts???

[cp12]

Ideally...

Miami Heat will develop Anthony into a good starting calibre center.

2 good players will emerge out of the SF position.

Wade develops his game to include shooting over his opponents in a post up situation if necessary.

Wade takes a year off to play baseball after winning another title or 2.

A solid backup guard that can be a consistent threat...

Then sprinkle some free agents on it next year and should be good.

[cp12]

Oh. Can't sleep on 'ONeal. He is giving the team good production. At a reduced salary he can fit nicely next year. Continuity is underrated.

Bayless is a good pickup to compete with Chalmers. That will probably set the PG position for a while.

Still gotta sprinkle some talent to solidify and improve the needs next year.

[Justin]

It only makes sense.

[Iphonefreak]

What would you do if you were in this position? It's a tough call.

[Mroberts]

Miami's looking pretty appealing now...

[ebag]

scoop kirk hinrich off the crumbling bulls to play pg next to wade