Cavaliers forward Dean Wade intends to return to action on Saturday when Cleveland hosts the Bucks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wade hasn’t suited up for the Cavaliers since December 2, when he aggravated a prior left shoulder injury and was diagnosed with an AC joint sprain. The 26-year-old was expected to return earlier this month, but suffered a setback in his rehab process when he stepped on another player’s foot and injured his ankle. In total, he has missed Cleveland’s last 24 games.
Wade’s counting stats in a regular rotation role this season are modest — he has averaged 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per night across 17 appearances.
However, the Cavs like Wade’s two-way skill set and there are reportedly people in the organization who believe he’s the right player to fill out a starting five that features two backcourt stars (Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland) and two impact big men (Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley). Wade was part of J.B. Bickerstaff‘s starting lineup in the five games leading up to his injury and could reclaim that spot now that he’s healthy, though perhaps not in his first game back.
As Wojnarowski notes, Wade has made 41.1% of his three-point attempts so far this season and has ranked in the top 10 in shot quality allowed on defense, according to Second Spectrum’s data.
The Cavs will be looking to bounce back on Saturday after falling on Friday to a shorthanded Warriors team that was without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Draymond Green.
Which big wing would you rather have as your 5th starter if you could have them at the age they were when they played in Cleveland… Danny Ferry, Cedric Henderson, Anthony Parker, Dean Wade or Sasha Pavlovic? Rank a top3 if possible…
Wade as a 3 for number 1. He is so under rated and is secretly one of the most sound wing defenders. As a 4 he is a stretch but is of less value in my opinion. He has good feet and length on 3s but doesn’t on 4s and is out rebounded against 4s. Guys like Portis do everything better than Wade as a 4 but as a 3 Wade can guard the perimeter and hold his own. Him playing 20+ minutes and not hurt helps the Cavs so much than they realize. Cavs with Wade in line up last season .600 and with him this season .700.
Anthony Parker at peak Parker overseas or Toronto Parker is better than Wade but but Cavs Parker is okay and still on the list. Then Ferry.
Ferry would have been a lot better in today’s stretch 4 free flowing game. He’s was surly and a pick amd pop threat. Idk what happened to where he lost his handle amd passing but Duke Ferry with touch passes was something to behold.
Sasha was a fun player but really was a airhead as a basketball player. Like no BBIQ nut could have developed in an offensive weapon.
Cedric Henderson could have been replaced by Chris Mills and it would change up the order some.
Completely agree about Sasha being a fun player to watch with lacking bb iq. I agree AParker was better in the Euroleague too. The rest I disagree with tho lol. When Dean is knocking down 3s he’s a serviceable guy but I see him getting taken advantage of defensively every time I see him play. Cedric Henderson was a much, much better defender than him in my opinion & Henderson was a big reason Cavs made playoffs in Kemp’s 1st yr in Cleveland. Ferry was just so bad defensively & as you said he sorta lost a lot of his versatility when he came to the league. Trading Ron Harper for him gotta be the worst trade they ever made… link to m.youtube.com
Your sleeping on Dean Wade and his defense. He guards the best wing including the elite wings.
People would think he may be decent off ball for whatever reasons but on ball and moving his feet is his best attribute. Last year and this year he’s been playing excellent defense.
Last year the starting 4 with Wade were 22 net and 11 net with Lauri.
RAPTOR, LEBRON, DARKO and other defense rating have him in the 90th percentile this year and last. Every game he plays I watch him beat driving wings to the spot at the elbows and cut off drives before they become a problem. I’m quite sure all the expected %s against him are in his favor on the perimeter and at the rim. He fouls a lot but that’s the only knock.
link to google.com
link to google.com
Someone actually needs to do those YouTube videos detailing the subtle “greatness”.
I’m kidding but while he isn’t a Caruso or Delon Wright or Deanthiny Melton but the work he puts in is somewhere in that DFS to Dillion Brooks range.