Dwyane Wade hasn't played in more than 70 NBA games in the past four years and he is now 33 years old. Wade is entering his 13th NBA season and he has played a lot of minutes in his career (more than 28,000) so you could understand if Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra wanted to limit Wade a little bit this year especially when you consider how deep the Heat are this season. Spoelstra though reportedly has no plans to limit Wade this season, according to Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post.
For his career Wade has averaged more than 36 minutes per game. Last season that number was down to less than 32 minutes per game and it wouldn't be a surprise to see that number continue to decrease. With that said Spoelstra made it seem like he won't be hesitant to push him in a close game if that's what the game dictates.
"Dwyane is coming into this season ready for whatever challenges it brings. I'm not coaching him with restrictions," said Spoelstra.
Spoelstra understands that the Heat have extremely high expectations this season so it will be a balancing act with Wade. Not only do you want him on the floor a lot because he is one of your best players but you also need to keep him healthy so it will be interesting how many minutes he plays Wade on a nightly basis. The best assumption might be that Wade rests a lot of fourth quarters in blowout games to even out the games where he has to play a little extra, like overtime games or games that go down to the wire.
Despite the injuries Wade has dealt with throughout his career, especially recently, he is still an incredibly efficient scorer and one of the very best players in the league. Last season Wade played in 62 games and his defense was a bit lackluster but on offense he averaged 21.5 points per game and made 47 percent of his field goals. Wade's career field goal percentage is 49 percent but 47 percent for a guard is a tremendous field goal percentage and he certainly has not lost it yet. Wade might have a little extra motivation going into this season too as he is playing on a one year deal and is due for a new contract next summer so he likely won't mind the idea of not having restrictions.
