Things are about to get interesting in South Beach. Miami Heat shooting guard Dwayne Wade, and forward LeBron James have decided to take a look around the rest of the league to see if the state of affairs of any other teams are more appealing than Miami’s.
Forward Chris Bosh has yet to make a decision, according to USAToday.com, and has until Monday at midnight to do so.
Reserve forward Udonis Haslem has also opted out of his current contract, and sources say that there is a sizable chance that all four players will return to the Heat next season.
After the flurry of announcements today relaying the news regarding Wade and Haslem (James announced earlier this week that he was going to become a free agent), Miami president released a statement expressing hope that Wade would remain with the only NBA franchise that he has ever played for, and had nothing but words of admiration and respect for the two current longest-tenured players in the organization.
"Dwayne has been the cornerstone of our organization for over a decade, and we hope he remains a part of the Heat family for life," Riley said. "Udonis has been the heartbeat of this team for 11 years. He has sacrificed countless times to make this organization successful, and he is the epitome of what this organization stands for.”
Wade, Bosh, and James were Miami’s three leading scorers last season, combining for an average of 60 out of the 97 points per game the team scored last season, per stats from ESPN.com.
That’s a ton of production that the Heat are surely going to miss if the “Big Three” decide to head elsewhere in the coming weeks. You can bet they’ll be hoping and praying that doesn’t come to fruition.
Image via Facebook from LeBron Jameshttps://www.facebook.com/MiamiHeat/photos_stream