Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade was drafted 5th in the 2003 draft class and was better than LeBron James through 3 seasons. His best scoring in the playoffs is 29-31 pts/75 on about +4-5% aTS, similar to Kobe Bryant. He’s the best shot blocking guard of all time and has the quickest first step ever outside of maybe MJ. He had an iconic finals performance in 2006 and excelled as a lone star in 09 and 10. In 2009 he led the league in points, free throws made and field goals made as well as an all defensive nod. In 2010 he was drastically outmanned but put up a sizzling 34 on +12 efficiency against the Celtics who came one win from the title that year. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were much more muted in their performance against the Celtics that same post season. He was also the best player in the 2011 Finals. Dirk’s team won, but Wade was the best player on the floor.

Why the ranking sits in the mid 20s

With all of that, how the hell is this guy ranked in the mid 20s? Well, unfortunately, those are about all of his career highlights. He had about 5 awesome years and a few years of being a very good shell of himself. Due to coming into the league at an older age (21 as a rookie), and a career riddled with injuries, we didn’t get to see that many prime years of Flash. His knees just started fading only one year after the squad teamed up in South Beach. In 2012, he was still an All NBA caliber player, but 2013 he was not the same player save his 6 steal game 5 performance in the finals against San Antonio. 2014 he was totally washed, managed to have a brilliant series against Indy but that’s it.

The rim

Despite the limited amount of elite years - he certainly capitalized on the time he did have. Wade had 1098 career dunks in 1054 games. Just over one per game on average. The next highest of all players 6 foot 4 and under (Wade’s height) is Russell Westbrook with 677 dunks in 1301 games. Essentially half the rate. Wade’s rim pressure with his incredible first step and his ferocity going to the cup was unrivaled (Just ask Anderson Varejao whose ankles flew over his ears after being posterized into the shadow realm in 2009). What makes this even more impressive is that defenses knew he was going there. Wade was never a good shooter. He never even really had a sweet spot shot or pullup a la Chris Paul at the right elbow or LaMarcus Aldridge turnaround. His game was mostly penetrate and finish at a high rate around, over, or through the defense. This was, if the defense was even there to contest. A young Dwyane Wade might be the fastest player in transition the NBA has ever seen, giving him the appropriate nickname: Flash.

The passing

Dunks, speed and injuries are always discussed when talking about Wade’s career. But what doesn’t get talked about enough is his passing and overall feel for the game. Wade was an exceptional lay down passer to his superstar teammate in O’Neal, but also to his island of misfit toys teammates he had from ‘07-’10 (Falling out of bounds pass to Cook in ‘09). Some of his most famous passes came in the second half of his career when he was scoring less. See the “baseball pass to LeBron” against the Pacers, and the iconic no-look oop shot that is forever ingrained in the annals of NBA history. His scoring ability that maintained in the playoffs, along with his passing game made him an offensive dynamo.

The defense

On the defensive side of the ball, he was consistently an all league level defensive player. Although he wasn’t the most fundamentally sound and didn’t have the biggest motor, especially in his lone star years, his instincts, athleticism and timing made him an elite defender. He has the top 4 spots in 3 year per 75 blocks in the post season. He provided rim protection even against dominant big men. See his block and ¾ court buzzer beater against Amar’e Stoudemire in 2005, or his pin block from behind on Dwight Howard in 2012. While he wasn’t the ball hawk in terms of steals from one on one pressure like someone like Chris Paul was, Wade was an elite pick 6 artist and interceptor of passes. Check out his Game 4 of the 2013 Finals to see his understanding of positioning and timing, even after his athletic peak. This understanding of timing which manifested in his shot blocking, steals, and lay down passes at the rim, also made him a fantastic cutter, something that won’t show up in the box score but was something he put to great use as a number 2 option behind LeBron James when fewer plays were called for him and he didn’t have the ball in his hands.

The fit and the supporting cast

Despite the full court alley-oops and the jaw dropping transition attack of the dynamic Wade/James duo, his offensive game was not without its warts. Wade was not a great, or even good shooter. His lack of a 3 point shot limited his offensive output as a complementary player, and it was more often than not that Miami’s offensive rating was better with LeBron and shooters than LeBron and Wade. This combined with underwhelming free throw percentages and a general lack of off ball movement made the Heat an awesome team that went to four finals, but not the bone crushing, soul shattering level teams of the Curry Warriors or the Jordan Bulls. In some ways, his passing and defense make him a good partner to other high level stars, but his lack of shooting and ball dominance limit the team building optionality. I feel his best partners would be in the vein of Shaq, Anthony Davis, Kevin Garnett or David Robinson. Whereas a fit with LeBron, Tracy McGrady or Luka Doncic might have some more friction to navigate. Despite his good luck with teammates in 05/06 and 11-14, he did have a middle section of his career that came with a crap casserole of supporting cast members where he still managed to put up MVP level numbers and string together some playoff brilliancies. Being that he succeeded as a primary star and a secondary star on championship teams with a big and another perimeter player, AND his ability to carry a slew of defensively minded offensively limited journeymen, there’s a high degree of confidence that nothing about Wade’s elite level play was based on a system or a lucky happenstance. He was that dude, if only for a short time.

The verdict

All this is to say, we get a strong MVP level peak. Both in 2006 when he not only torched the Mavericks but also the all time Pistons defense, but also in ‘09-’11. His offensive output is similar to peak Kobe with, in my opinion, better defense. But outside of these four or five MVP level years, he had a sprinkling of All NBA and All Star seasons and so instead of being in the top 10-15 club, he’s outside the top 25. We saw flash dominate next to an all time big, an all time perimeter player, and on a bad team fighting for a playoff spot. This gives high conviction on who he was as a player, we just didn’t get enough of him to place him any higher.