Dwyane Wade has won a trio of titles in his 12-season NBA career, but at 32, its worth wondering if Flash has another in him.There are several significant hurdles Wade, and the Miami Heat, will have to navigate though to earn their star another ringchief among them his age, injury history and the trajectory of the franchise itself.Wades performance has declined in recent seasons. According to Basketball-Reference.com, the guards win shares per 48 minutes has declined in each of the last four seasons, from .227, to .192, to .149 and finally .145 in the eight games hes played in 2014-15.There isnt really a particular area of the game where Wade has slipped, either. The decline has been across the board.In 2013-14, for instance, per 100 possessions, Wade was below his career average in points, free-throw attempts, steals, blocks, assists and rebounds. This is suggestive of a decline in athleticism, which the eye-test confirms. The staggeringly athletic plays Wade once made with regularity are few and far between, and theyre becoming fewer and further.At Wades age, this sort of dip isnt unusual. According to research on player aging curves conducted by Dave Berri and others, NBA players tend to peak at 25 or 26, then plateau for a few seasons before beginning to decline as they approach 30. At 32, most of them fall off the proverbial cliff with respect to performance. In Berris words, "players age like milk."In Wades case, the decline is compounded by his troubling recent injury history. Wade sat 28 times in 2013-14partly due to injury, but also as a preventive measure. The Heat didnt play him in back-to-backs, and when he did suit up, he played what was then a career-low 32.9 minutes a night.Already this season, Wade has been slowed by bumps and bruises. Hes sat out the last seven games with a hamstring strain. Although, according to Ira Winderman,(h/tProBasketballTalk.com's Kurt Helin) he could return Sunday to face the Knicks.So theres ample reason to think that were nearing the end of the useful portion of Wades career. If hes going to be a major contributor to a contender, it needs to happen soon. And, at present, the Heat do not appear to be a team thats capable of contention.With LeBron James in Cleveland, Miami is 8-7 through 15 games. This is good for sixth place in the anemic Eastern Conference, but with a scoring differential of minus-0.5, Miami still figures to have difficulty making noise.A look at the roster makes the problem plain: The Heat simply dont have a lot of very good basketball players. Chris Bosh is miscast as a No. 1 offensive option, age appears to have finally caught up to Chris Andersen, Norris Cole is still missing too many shots and there isnt the superstar talent of past iterations of the Heat to make up for these problems.Miami is still No. 11 in offensive efficiency, according to ESPN.com, but it's down to 22nd on defense. Miami was ranked fifth, fourth, seventh and 11thin the previous four seasons.That said, there is an opening the Heat have to get the face of their franchise a fourth championship, and it comes next summer.At risk of hyperbole, the free-agency class of 2016 might be the best in NBA history. Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Joakim Noah, Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Brook Lopez, Mike Conley, Lance Stephenson, Kevin Love and even, gasp, LeBron James could all be available.Theres enough talent available there that a franchise like the Heat could immediately ascend to contender status with the right acquisitions. And Miami has already shown itself to be an attractive destination to young rich people, while the Heat as a franchise have demonstrated a knack for making such a sale. It could be the summer of 2010 all over again for Pat Riley and company.In an open letter to fans, Heat owner Mickey Arison has already insinuated Miami is looking ahead. Per the Miami HeraldsJoseph Goodman:We are laser-focused on the present and the task at hand of defending our Eastern Conference championship with the East being described as wide open, while also positioning ourselves for maximum flexibility and maneuverability in the future.Its possible that when this future comes, Flash will still be capable of contributing at a high level.While his decline has been precipitous in recent seasons, the baseline he started from was so high that hes still a helpfuleven All-Star levelplayer. And Miamis cautious treatment of Wade could also prolong his career. The way they deployed him in 2013-14sitting on back-to-backs and whenever any type of injury crops upappears to be the template theyll use going forward.In 2016-17, a then 34-year-old Wade could be leading a stacked Miami roster into a season where the Heat have legitimate title aspirations. Michael Jordan, another Hall of Famer with Chicago ties, won his final title in his age 34 season too. Wade could soon join him.Time, as always, will tell.
Click here to read full news..
