Dean Wade Says He Thought He Would Return to Cavaliers Before 76ers Move

Dean Wade went scoreless in his first game back at Rocket Arena on Friday night, and afterward he said he had expected to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers before free agency took him elsewhere.

Cleveland beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-95 in an Emirates NBA Cup group-play game. Wade missed all four of his shots, three of them from 3-point range, and finished with 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 fouls.

Philadelphia was the best of the options Wade had this summer. He is happy with how the move has gone.

“I wanted to. But the way things happened, it was just craziness,” Wade said. “But yeah, I wanted to come back. But that just didn’t happen, and so, yeah, it’s unfortunate. But I think for my options that I had, it was a great decision.”

“Building relationships here in Philly is awesome,” Wade continued. “This team is great, high-character people. It’s weird going to a new place and meeting thousands of faces and stuff. But after a couple weeks, you get to know people, you get to know a lot easier. So I’m pretty happy with my decision. But yeah, I kind of thought I’d probably just come back to Cleveland. Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen.”

Wade agreed to a four-year, $39 million contract with Philadelphia on June 30, the first night of free agency.

It was the first free-agent move for 76ers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey. Gansey was in Cleveland’s front office in 2019, when the Cavaliers gave Wade a two-way contract after he went undrafted out of Kansas State. Wade played 342 games over seven seasons in Cleveland.

Last season, he averaged 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. He shot 43.9% from the field and 36.2% from 3-point range.

Before tip-off, Wade said he expected an electric atmosphere for LeBron James’ return. He spent part of Friday checking in with people from his years in the organization and asking about their families.

“So good. I’ve seen a lot of familiar faces, and we’ve made a lot of great relationships here in Cleveland,” Wade explained. “And it’s nice to see those people again, and check in and talk to them, see how the families are, and so it’s good.”

Specific games are not what Wade remembers most. Jarrett Allen is.

“Not a lot of, like, certain games or anything, but just moments with the teammates and relationships you build, especially — I was with Jarrett Allen for I don’t even know how many years, five years, and he became one of my best friends,” Wade said. “Having those relationships with those people is what sticks out to me.”

“When I think back on it, it’s like, man, those were the best times,” Wade added. “It’s all the relationships, all the friendships I made with my teammates, the training staff over there, everybody. There’s a couple games, like playoff games and things of that nature as well. But when I really think about it, look back on it, that’s what I go to.”

Allen did not play. Cleveland ruled him out with a right knee contusion two days after he collided knee-to-knee with Jared McCain late in the first quarter of Wednesday’s loss in Oklahoma City. It was the first game Allen has missed this season.

Jaylon Tyson sat out his fourth straight game with a right ankle sprain. Once the ball went up, Tyson was the only Cavalier Wade heard from.

“No, no. Not too much. Not too much,” Wade said. “I talked to Sam a little bit, Jarrett, Don, and then during the game, just Jaylon. Every time I was on that end, I just heard Jaylon yelling at me. So not too much trash talking. It was good to talk to these guys. They talked a little s--- or trash, but it was all friendly stuff like that. So it was a good day.”

Sam Merrill made his first start of the season and did not return after halftime because of an elbow injury. Rookie Meleek Thomas started the second half in his place.

Staying locked in was the hard part for Wade.

“It was weird. It was weird. Emotions were high, though,” Wade said. “It was pretty hard to stay focused on what was in front of me. But it was good, man. I was happy to see everybody. And unfortunately, we didn’t play our best basketball, [but] outside of the basketball, it was great. Emotion, energy was high. Emotions were high. It was good.”

Every game feels like Broadway to Tyrese Maxey this season, and Friday was no different.

“I feel like that every game now, honestly,” Maxey said. “It’s like [a] show every game. It’s like Broadway every game. It’s kind of cool, but it was cool to see Dean and LeBron get the flowers they deserved.”

Without Allen, Evan Mobley moved to center and Peyton Watson started at power forward. Mobley scored 22 points. Donovan Mitchell had 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists, and James Harden added 17 points.

James finished with 8 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Cleveland’s biggest lead was 25 points, in the fourth quarter.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and moved the Cavaliers to 5-4. Philadelphia fell to 8-2.

The Cavaliers host the New York Knicks on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The 76ers play in Chicago on Sunday.