Dean the Dream Wade

[shoes22]

EDIT: wrong thread

 

[PIP]

@Comeback kid

 

[Josh Criiiiibbs]

 

[shoes22]

It's almost time.

 

[mds]

This has been JBB's plan all along.

 

[Kepler]

 

[Tlyons]

I'll believe it when I see it.

"I think" aint good enough for me.

 

[buzzdog]

Even if he does play what can we expect? Maybe 5 minutes? Can he move well enough to guard the perimeter? Can he sink a three pointer coming back from weeks off?

I'd set expectations really low, just hope he can take a few baby steps towards getting back to what he was.

 

[cliffdawg]

I was thinking the same thing 10 minutes at 75% is better then anything at 100% that Niang gives you, almost feel the same way with Allen minutes over off the juice Thompson ……

 

[kidduck]

Cavs’ Dean Wade opens up about concerning knee injury that kept him out two months​

Story by Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
•
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — There were various points over the last two months when forward Dean Wade wasn’t sure whether Saturday was going to happen.

During the Cavs’ 106-93 Game 3 loss against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Wade made his highly anticipated comeback. It was his first appearance since March 8 — an extended absence first caused by a personal matter and then a painful right knee injury.

Twenty-six straight missed games. Hours of rigorous rehab. Anger. Frustration. Pain.

“That was tough,” Wade said following the Cavs’ shootaround at Cleveland Clinic Courts ahead of Monday’s Game 4. “I’ve never physically pushed myself as hard as I did these two months to get back. Got to give all the credit to the training staff. They didn’t let me push it too hard, too fast. They did an amazing job with me.”

Wade didn’t reveal the specifics of his knee injury. It was initially characterized as “soreness” until more tests and further examination led to the sprain diagnosis. In his words, there’s just “some stuff going on in there, a couple tears here and there.” Wade also admitted that surgery hasn’t been ruled out. A source confirmed with cleveland.com that surgery is being discussed as one possibility — even though there’s been no official determination that it will be required.

“There’s still concern,” Wade said. “We’ll see what happens after the season. We had options and we took this option as the best path.”

Wade suffered the injury at some point during a Houston-based practice on March 15, right when he was prepared to rejoin the lineup.

That day at Rice University, Wade participated fully in practice, going through the team’s usual 5-on-5 session and then holding a post-practice 4-on-4 workout designed to get him and Tristan Thompson extra conditioning reps. The next morning, Wade felt soreness and popped up on the injury report, eventually getting ruled out for the matchup against the Rockets.

There was plenty of organizational uncertainty about when — or if — Wade would be back this season. He stayed in Cleveland for a majority of the rehab process and sources close to him had a level of pessimism because progress was slow, and the initial diagnosis was tricky. But about a week before the playoffs, Wade started to believe it was possible — provided the Cavs dispatched feisty Orlando in round one.

At that point, Wade’s sights were on the conference semifinals.

He increased his activity, hoping to play in Game 2 at TD Garden. But both sides determined another few days of conditioning, recovery and on-court work was better. They also wanted Wade to take part in at least one more practice session. Wade held a workout Friday afternoon at Cleveland Clinic Courts and then went through the team’s shootaround on Saturday morning. After the typical pregame shooting session about 90 minutes before tipoff without any setbacks, Wade was given the go-ahead for Game 3.

As he checked in at the 4:18 mark of the first quarter, eager fans rose to their feet and boisterously welcomed him back.

“I’ve never got a standing ovation before,” Wade said with a smile. “That was kind of cool. It was crazy.”

Twenty-four seconds later, on his first touch in more than two months, Wade drilled a 3-pointer that caused the fans to go berserk.

“When he threw it back to me, it was just basketball again,” Wade humbly said. “I just kind of stepped into it and shot it. I thought I’d left it short and luckily it went in. The place was going crazy.”

The plan going into Saturday was to use Wade sporadically, maybe a couple stretches, around 10 minutes or so. But Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff couldn’t help it. He put Wade back into the rotation, even experimented with him at center in hopes of loosening up the Boston defense — a small-ball look the Cavs could try again Monday night.

In all, Wade logged 17 minutes, tallying five points, three rebounds, three assists and one block. The Cavs were plus-12 with him on the floor.

“Felt great,” Wade said when asked what it was like to finally be back in the lineup. “A little winded. But other than that, I felt good. A little sore. But we were expecting it. My biggest thing was just to give space. I didn’t know how many times I was going to touch the ball or what was going to go on. But I knew if I was out there, I could at least be a semi threat.”

That feeling of being back in the playoffs on Saturday night is why Wade worked so hard to get back and why he’s held off surgery — for now.

“Just being here every day, being with the guys, I just don’t want to let those guys down,” Wade said. “I knew I could bring a lot of energy to the game and you see those guys out there just like Donovan (Mitchell), everyone, D.G. (Darius Garland), those guys are just burning themselves out. I just want to be the extra body out there, give ‘em a little break and really go out there and just play hard.

“That’s what kept me going.”

 

[2 For The Brew]

I know the injuries are frustrating for everyone - not least Dean himself - but what this guy gives us on the court in terms of helping the team play better vs his annual salary is a great value. I think the idea of getting rid of him is just nuts.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I know the injuries are frustrating for everyone - not least Dean himself - but what this guy gives us on the court in terms of helping the team play better vs his annual salary is a great value. I think the idea of getting rid of him is just nuts.

Isn't "Dean Wade is untradable" even more nuts?

 

[CavsFan07]

Dean is going to be monumental to how this series unfolds. We really need him for additional length + defense not to mention outside shooting.

He was rusty the other night, understandably so. But we desperately need him to knock down some of those open 3’s.

 

[macbdog]

Minors, I like minors.

Wait no, forget I ever said that.

Found Josh Giddy's burner. Or is that Wander Franco?

 

[2 For The Brew]

Isn't "Dean Wade is untradable" even more nuts?

Didnt say that. I’ve seen several posts arguing that because he’s had injury issues we need to get rid of him. That’s nuts.

I like defensive specialists and he qualifies. He’s cheap on the cap.

If we can get a much better player as part of a package I’m always in favor of that. I don’t think any player on this team is untradeable.