Words by Jason Cordner
Self awareness is always the best awareness to have. Looks like Dwayne Wade agrees with that philosophy. Dwayne Wade’s first three games as a Cleveland Cavalier — he averaged 5.7 points on 28% shooting — were enough to move the future Hall of Famer from the starting lineup to the bench.
“I just decided, earlier than later, just to get to the unit where I’d be more comfortable in and can probably better with this team in that lineup,” Wade said, per cleveland.com. “Why wait? Three games in, why wait? Wanted to get in there with those guys.”
This is a huge and important step for the Cavaliers. Egos will have to be suppressed on a team with this much name recognition, and the fact that Wade approached coach Lue to suggest his own benching speaks well to his leadership. Even LeBron James had kind words to say on Wade’s choice.
LeBron James on where Dwyane Wade is at and how he'll operate as a part of the #Cavs second unit. pic.twitter.com/Qb5AWokI5W
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) October 23, 2017
Wade’s numbers won’t be still this bad, especially if he’s playing as a de facto point guard for second units. His game just isn’t really built to be a fourth or fifth option, and that’s okay. This new role should help him find his niche in Cleveland, even with his diminished athleticism.
Once Isaiah Thomas returns, the bench will need to find its identity quickly. Wade and Derrick Rose didn’t play well together with the starters, and it’s hard to imagine that adding Jeff Green or Tristan Thompson to any of those two-man pairings would be helpful.
