MIAMI (AP) -- Dwyane Wade will try to come back this season.
The Miami Heat guard said Monday he has decided to delay surgery and rehabilitate his dislocated left shoulder with the goal of returning for the playoffs.
"My decision for the next two to three weeks is to rehab with the possibility of coming back, but with no guarantee," Wade said. "I'll find out after therapy and rehab how my body responds to things."
Wade was hurt Feb. 21 at Houston. He underwent extensive tests and received a second opinion Friday from specialist Dr. James Andrews before deciding he would try to return.
"The fact there's a possibility would give us hope," coach Pat Riley said. "He's a pretty good player. He probably would be a pretty good player one-armed."
The defending NBA champion Heat, plagued by injuries all season, enter Monday night's game against Atlanta at 29-29 and are in danger of missing the playoffs.
The Heat are 3-2 since Wade was hurt when he collided with Houston's Shane Battier. The All-Star guard tore his labrum, dislocated his shoulder and left the court in a wheelchair.
At the time, his was the league's third-leading scorer, averaging 28.8 points.
Wade said the decision to return was difficult, even though Andrews and team physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick supported the idea.
"It could have been easy for me just to shut it down," Wade said. "You don't know if you're going to be able to attack the same way and dive on the floor the same way. I'll find out after therapy and rehab how my body responds to things."
The playoffs start April 21. Even if Wade returns this season, he is still expected to have surgery after the season.
Updated on Monday, Mar 5, 2007 11:41 am EST
He obviously thinks with the rejuvinized play from Shaq that they will repeat. Personally I think its a bad decision. There is a line where injury cant be completely fixed with surgery, but hey, it's his decision and I really dont care. Just thought I would bring the news.
Last edited by kale2006 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
His goal is returning for the NBA playoffs.......not the fantasy basketball playoffs. They are going to be as careful as they can with him coming back, so I would not expect him to come back during the regular season (fantasy playoffs) and even if he did he will not put up D-Wade numbers and he is not worth the roster spot.
The story reports that Wade will rehab for the next 2 or 3 weeks. THen he will see how it is. If it is good, why would he just sit out the last 4 weeks of the season and ONLY come back for the playoffs?
From what i read, i think there is a decent chance he can return for the last 3 or 4 weeks of the season. Perhaps not at the same level as before, but possibly yes. Its his left shoulder, not his right, so he should ahve no problem shooting if his left shoulder is fine. He will just have to be more careful when he drives to the hoop and be more of a perimeter player.
either way, this is POTENTIALLY good news for wade owners.
Its his left shoulder, not his right, so he should ahve no problem shooting if his left shoulder is fine. He will just have to be more careful when he drives to the hoop and be more of a perimeter player.
It does take both arms to shoot and a perimeter player DWade is not.
primetime21 wrote:The story reports that Wade will rehab for the next 2 or 3 weeks. THen he will see how it is. If it is good, why would he just sit out the last 4 weeks of the season and ONLY come back for the playoffs?
From what i read, i think there is a decent chance he can return for the last 3 or 4 weeks of the season. Perhaps not at the same level as before, but possibly yes. Its his left shoulder, not his right, so he should ahve no problem shooting if his left shoulder is fine. He will just have to be more careful when he drives to the hoop and be more of a perimeter player.
either way, this is POTENTIALLY good news for wade owners.
Starting today there are basically 6 full weeks left. (Then the really short half-week at the end).
Today starts week 19.
For many leagues there are only 5 weeks left as a lot of leagues wrap up in week 23. So the playoffs start in either 21 or 22, depending on. Let's say Wade rehabs for 3 weeks from today - then is ready to be on the court the day after (which is not at all realistic). That puts him "Questionable" for week 22. You simply don't go into a playoff week with a Questionable guy coming off of a pretty major injury.
So from where I see it - absolute best case scenario is you might put Wade into your week 23 lineup as a risky play. Which at that point is the championship or one week before it - at which point your team was probably good enough to hang without Wade in the lineup anyway. That's best case.
Worst case is he re-injures himself and costs you a playoff game - possibly the championship.
Most realistic case is he is a wasted roster spot as his only real goal is to get back for the real NBA playoffs. Even if he comes back a little earlier he's going to probably take it lightly.
In the end everyone's situation varies. If you have a crazy deep roster then knock yourself out and hope for the best.
primetime21 wrote:He will just have to be more careful when he drives to the hoop and be more of a perimeter player.
I don't think you can put together the words careful and drive when you're talking about Wade. He's relentless when he drives.
Even if he were to take it down a few notches when driving, the biggest concern would still be the other players defending. All it would take is a player to grab his arm as he's running and its over.
You could also factor in how much body contact he takes when he gets fouled in the lane and how he falls down.
His fantasy playoff value I think will depend on where the Heat are at standings-wise going into the playoffs. If they push toward the top he might be useless, but if they fall (possibly even out of the top 8) I could see him playing harder that last week.
In weekly lineup leagues I agree he's just about useless no matter what. In keeper leagues it shouldn't really matter since he and his Dr's have stated that he can't hurt himself anymore, just cause more pain by dislocating his shoulder again.
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Just to remind some of you guys, not everyone plays headsup, so there are no "Playoffs" to worry about.
And even if wade just plays the last 5 games of the season, the difference between what wade contributes and a guy like jameer nelson (my last starter) could be enough to ensure first place for my team.
I am not planning on wade coming back, but i like some chance over no chance.
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by kale2006 » Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:55 pm 
