MIAMI (AP) -Dwyane Wade now has his own county.
The Miami Heat will soon learn if they remain the center of Wade’s world.
While hundreds of people yelled for him at a rally in Miami on Wednesday, Wade was in Chicago, going through final preparations for a free agent period like no other in NBA history. He’ll begin hearing from teams in Thursday’s early hours, with the first wave of meetings expected later that day.
And when Wade spoke Wednesday to former teammate Alonzo Mourning, the 2006 NBA finals MVP said he’s anxious for both the process to begin – and the process to end, too.
“Very much so,” said Mourning, now a Heat executive. “Very, very much so.”
y, even with the colors redone to match the Heat red and black scheme.
Mourning egged on the crowd, imploring them to chant and scream.
“The best,” Mourning promised, “is yet to come.”
That’s the same thought going through the mind of Heat president Pat Riley, who has waited and planned for years for this day.
Riley planned to make the ceremonial 12:01 a.m. recruiting call to Wade, who will automatically become a free agent without having to declare his intention. Riley and other members of the Heat organization departed Wednesday for California, where the Heat were expected to try to see Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer and others once the free-agent window officially opened.
And on Thursday, Riley’s private jet will almost certainly leave California for Ohio, where LeBron James – the headliner of headliners in this free agent class – is likely to accept Miami’s offer to meet.
It’s unknown when Riley will meet with Chris Bosh, who over the weekend told The Associated Press that he has high interest in Miami.
“You have some individuals who have increased their chances of getting there and winning it all,” Mourning said. “It’s a great opportunity for them to really dissect what’s important in their lives.”
Meanwhile, Wade is expected to meet with the Knicks and Nets on Friday, either in New York or Chicago. Either way, Wade will return to South Florida next week.
This is a rarity,” Mourning said. “This doesn’t happen, man, when you have this level of free agents available. There’s a frenzy. … So none of this surprises me at all.”
Miami only has two players under contract for next season at this point, guard Mario Chalmers and forward Michael Beasley. They’ve been working out together at the Heat facility, neither having any idea who will be in the locker room with them when camp starts in about three months.
It’s an odd situation, for sure.
“You don’t know who’s going to be here,” Chalmers said. “So we just have to step our games up. For now, it’s just me, Mike and D-Wade.”
That is, if D-Wade stays put.
Mourning told the people at the Wade rally that the team expects the former NBA scoring champion to stay and is increasingly confident it will happen. That would mean Riley believes he can make the roster upgrades Wade wants, because without them, Wade said he would look elsewhere.
“Pat Riley is a company guy,” Mourning said. “He’s going to do what he can to make sure the organization is successful. I can’t read Pat’s mind, but in my 16 years of being around this man, I do know he’s going to do everything remotely possible to bring a world championship back to this organization.”
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