Wallace: Dwyane Wade 'Knew' LeBron Was Leaving Miami
Considering Dwyane Wade has been a close friend of LeBron James since both were drafted in 2003, is it likely Wade knew about LeBron leaving before the news broke on Sports Illustrated's website?
"Dwyane knew," ESPN's Mike Wallace said on the Freeman and Fox Show. "He had an inclination. He wasn't going to snitch on his boy to Riley. He was uncertain. If LeBron was at least uncertain, then Dwyane knew about the uncertainty. He may not have known that he was definitely going to be leaving but he definitely knew about the uncertainty.
"You have to be naive to suggest that Dwyane didn't know. So the question isn't about, did he know? It's about, why would he still [opt out]? The reason why he would do it is because he felt like, 'okay, I'll give you some money back here so you can rebuild this thing around us now that LeBron is gone, but I expect this money to be back to me when I opt out of the next contract that I'm going to have.' Which is what he's doing right now. The only way Dwyane acts like this is if he has a strong indication that he was going to be taken care of on the backend."
Where will the Wade-Heat saga end? In Miami, predicts Wallace.
"Three years -- $45 million to $50 million," he said. "Watch it and watch what happens in that situation. Now he may get there by taking a big lump some this year and then smaller deals over the next two, but they're going to get to that $15-17 million a year price that we talked about from Day 1. Watch what happens and bank on it."
