How nixing the Denver Nuggets tarnished Dwyane Wade’s career

Choosing the Chicago Bulls over the Denver Nuggets effectively kicked off the downward arc of Dwyane Wade’s career.

The wrong decision:

Observe the following stat-line averages…14.7 points, 3.6 assists, 30.1% 3P. This is Dwyane Wade’s production since he chose Chicago over the Denver Nuggets in the 2016 off-season (ESPN). Do these sound like numbers posted by an all-time great?

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Gone are Wade’s Finals MVP days. In fact, this seems so long ago…it resembles a distant childhood memory. Today’s metrics portray an average NBA starting guard with a subpar three-point shot. Which is exactly what Dwyane Wade has evolved to…average. At best.

The crossroads occurred in the 2016 off-season, when Wade took less money from the Bulls to play in Chi-town instead of Denver. Reportedly, the Nuggets impressed D-Wade. Apparently he wasn’t impressed enough.

In a free-agent game where second-place means nothing, Denver finished a close-follower to the now-putrid Bulls. If it’s any consolation to Nuggets fans, D-Wade wasn’t pleased with his choice. After one season in Chicago, Wade demanded a buyout. Now Wade has bounced around three teams in two years, and today considers retirement.

What if he had chosen Denver instead?

If Wade had inked with the Nuggets:

For starters…Wade would complete his two-year deal in the Mile High. Denver hasn’t considered blowing things up recently. No buyout would be demanded, and the Nuggets would have qualified for last-year’s playoffs.

Because Dwyane Wade was Denver’s missing piece. Right?

Wade doesn’t allow the Nuggets to drop 15 games by seven points or less last year (ESPN). Dwyane possesses the tenacity of a tiger, heart of a champion…all that jazz.

Know what else Wade owns? Two bad knees, tight hamstrings, and an aging-grandfather persona. And an extreme case of indecisiveness.

Dwyane would have started every game he played in Denver. His numbers would stay at a holier place…opposed to dipping below league starter standards. After the expensive two-year rental, Wade would have followed his heart back to Miami after last season, ending the two-year contract with a clean break.

And Denver would be far worse for it. Because if Wade had signed with the Nuggets, five major tragedies occur as a direct result:

Paul Millsap doesn’t sign with the Nuggets…the necessary cap space is buried in Wade’s pocket
Either Murray or Harris gets booted to the bench, stunting core development
Barton fails to break out as the stellar sixth man/small forward that he is
Michael Porter Jr isn’t available…because Denver earns a low playoff seed and sacrifices several spots in the draft
Isaiah Thomas doesn’t sign with Denver either…because the story line Wade leaving Wade’s team is an effective free agent repellent

Because that’s what Denver would have been. Not Jokic’s team…not the next great big three…but Wade’s team. Wade’s temporary team, at that. Denver attains a low playoff seed for one or two years. Then Wade leaves, and the Nuggets are back at square one. Mile High was fortunate that Dwyane stayed away.

The only real loser of the Dwyane Wade sweepstakes was…Dwyane Wade himself.

Shuffling around a deserted Miami sidewalk somewhere, Wade is currently pondering his next decision. Should he return? Or retire before life gets too ugly? Gone are prospects of starting. Dwyane would play a bench role next year…the exact minutes to be determined. He would receive a farewell tour in watered-down Kobe fashion. But even that would prove bittersweet.

Wade’s career-ending left a bad taste in the mouth of greatness. He made the wrong decision in 2016…his play hasn’t been the same since.

Denver is best served by its current roster. Dwyane, meanwhile, shot himself square in his oft-injured knee.