Dwyane Wade had a public falling out with the Miami Heat during free agency and began to explore his options with other teams. The Heat offered Wade a two-year, $40 million deal but he believed he was worth more, especially because of the pay cuts he’d taken in previous years. One of the teams that held mutual interest was the New York Knicks, but Phil Jackson had meetings and agreements with other players before the availability of Wade was known. Carmelo Anthony revealed the Knicks were extremely close to getting Wade but the timing was off.
“There was a chance,” Anthony said on Wednesday via the New York Daily News. “There was definitely a chance. We would have had to pull a rabbit out of the hat in the 25th hour.
“But there was a chance. I think if it was maybe two days earlier we probably would have had D-Wade.”
Wade eventually agreed to a two-year, $47.5 million deal with the Chicago Bulls on July 7, five days after the Knicks had already reached agreements with Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee. The Knicks then signed Brandon Jennings and re-signed Lance Thomas
Wade and Anthony are apart of “The Brotherhood” that also includes LeBron James and Chris Paul. LeBron previously mentioned that he hoped they could all play together before their careers are over and that he would take a pay cut to make it happen.
“A Super team?” Anthony said following Wednesday’s U.S. practice. “I don’t know. You never know what can happen these days. Everything is different these days. I just want to get through this season first. I want to start this season and enjoy the new Knicks that are on the team. This is a new era for us. I think it’s going to be exciting for us.”
LeBron, Wade and Paul can all become free agents next July 1, thus paving the way for them to become teammates in Cleveland, Los Angeles or even New York, but that doesn’t mean they’ll come together anytime soon. LeBron mentioned that it would probably be towards the tail end of their careers.
