Five Things Dwyane Wade Immediately Brings to the Cleveland Cavaliers

3. Ability to Play Off the Ball

Throughout his career, Wade’s ability to cut to the basket for easy buckets has been outstanding. His and James’ on-court connection is second to none, and James will likely be able to once again take advantage of Wade’s innate ability to get free from his defender and cut to the basket.

Wade saw a dip in his cuts to the basket last year, scoring 42 points on just 38 cuts. While that could be attributed to his declining explosion, it could also be because of who he was playing with. With James serving as one of the team’s primary ball-handlers, Wade will likely once again be the benefactor of James’ incredible passing and ability to find the open man as he cuts to the hoop.

As FiveThirtyEight’s Chris Herring explained, playing with James may move Wade’s playing style back in time:

“James makes life easier for everyone he plays with (well, Mario Chalmers might disagree), and Wade was no exception while the two were in Miami. Wade logged career bests in effective field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage during that four-year run, from his age-29 to age-32 seasons. His stark improvement as an off-ball threat — specifically as a cutter who would make his break toward the basket while defenses were preoccupied with James — helped take the Heat’s offense to another level.

“The percentage of Wade’s offense that came from cuts to the basket basically doubled during the years he teamed with LeBron and then dropped back to its original level as soon as James went back to Cleveland.

“So depending on how quickly the duo jells (or re-jells), Wade may get far easier shots than he got last season in Chicago, when he generated just 3 percent of his offense from cuts to the basket and took his average shot attempt from more than 12 feet away, tied for the longest average shot distance of his 14-year career.”

Next: Added Depth