Dean Wade's comments about his new team are far from bulletin board material for his old one

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Oct 2, 2026 - 20:00

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Dean Wade's comments about his new team are far from bulletin board material for his old one originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a blow of sorts when former starting small forward Dean Wade left the club that developed him for the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason. His departure happened early in the offseason, which allowed the Cavaliers to pivot into trading for young prospect Peyton Watson.

Wade didn't leave ugly, and he didn't disrespect his team on the way out the door. Yet, some are claiming that Wade's recent comments were a shot at his old team. When speaking to the Brace and Dunne radio show on 97.5 FM out of Philadelphia, Wade explained signing with the 76ers.

"I wanted to compete for a championship," Wade said to 97.5 FM The Fanatic. "I've never been a stats-driven player personally. I just wanted to play when I was younger, when I was a rookie or a second year, I had to do all the small things; the dirty work. I just kind of embraced it....When those guys- Jaylen (Brown) got traded, when Anfernee (Simons) signed, when LeBron (James) picked here...I knew I was going to play. I'm a piece of this team."

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Did Dean Wade take a shot at the Cleveland Cavaliers?

This has caused some Cavs fans to think this was somehow a slight at the Cavaliers. Except the question had nothing to do with why he left Cleveland or even why he picked Philadelphia. The question was actually with regard to how he felt about coming to Philadelphia as the first big acquisition of the offseason, presumably to have a starting spot, only to then watch guys like Brown and James also join the team, sending Wade to the bench.

It's not unheard of for a guy like Wade, who was a starter on a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals, to be agitated that he lost a spot he thought was his. So the interviewers asked him if he felt any sort of way about not having that starter's spot anymore. It wasn't about Cleveland, nor can one assume it was a dig at Cleveland, since he wasn't asked about the Cavs.

It remains unclear how much the Cavs actually wanted to retain Wade in the first place, as the team was over the cap's second apron at the time, making it hard to know how much, if anything, the Cavs were willing to spend on Wade. There was a belief that if the Cavs wanted Wade back, the Cavs could've matched the amount. Who knows?

What is known is that of all the free agent offers Wade got, he clearly thought Philadelphia, before the arrivals of Brown, Simmons, or James, was the best fit for him as a pro. That's not a dig at the Cavs, nor should it logically be construed as one.