Report: ‘Numerous contenders from each conference’ linked to Dean Wade

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade has heard his name involved in some trade rumors this offseason, and based on a new report, it sounds like his future with the Cavs remains a bit murky.

“It’s worth noting there was plenty of chatter in the desert about defense-first forward Dean Wade possibly being moved,” wrote Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “An unrestricted free agent following the season, the current belief is Wade likely wouldn’t return, with cap-strapped Cleveland being unable to afford him. So, do the Cavs try to get something of value now before he potentially departs? Sources say numerous contenders from each conference have expressed interest. The Dallas Mavericks have been fans for a few years, and a former Cleveland assistant is part of the coaching staff.

“One final layer to the Wade speculation: Two-way forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin continues to turn heads. The organization believes in Tomlin and he may get consideration for regular-season rotation minutes.”

Wade has spent his entire NBA career with the Cavs. He’s a nice success story for a player who went undrafted in 2019. In six seasons with Cleveland, he has shown that he certainly belongs at the NBA level.

But given the fact that his contract only has one year of club control remaining, it isn’t a huge surprise that the Cavs are exploring their options. The organization’s cap situation requires it to be cautious in scenarios like this one.

Across his time with Cleveland, Wade has appeared in 283 regular-season games and started 122 of them. He has maintained career averages of 5.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game while shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from beyond the arc.

In the 2024-25 regular season, he saw action in 59 games and got 30 starts. The Cavs, of course, won 64 games and enjoyed some absurdly dominant stretches. Wade finished the regular season with averages of 5.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest.

While he isn’t a star, the 28-year-old is more than capable of providing some quality minutes to contending teams. As such, it makes sense that some contenders from each conference have shown interest in his services.

But the Cavs are contenders themselves, and if they think that keeping Wade around would help their outlook going into the 2025-26 campaign, perhaps they should do just that, even if it means they may lose him in the 2026 offseason with nothing to show for it.

Cleveland is trying to get over the hump this coming season in an Eastern Conference that is going to be far weaker than normal. Whether Wade is part of the push or not, he’s certainly had a hand in the Cavs getting back to relevance in the NBA, as he suffered through some losing seasons before the team turned it around.