Whether it was injuries, taking a backseat in the tail-end of his prime, or any other reason, NBA and Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade has one of the more underrated peaks and primes in the history of the league. Wade overcame some injuries in the 2006-07 & 2007-08 seasons to reach his best level across his career in 2009 and 2010, but what was his journey like leading up to that point in time? In this article, I hope to look into Wade’s 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons in totality (his sophomore and third year in the NBA) while analyzing what made him as effective and impactful to Miami’s success as he was.
2004-05 Season:
This campaign really represented Wade’s breakout season. Directly off a trade with the Lakers, the Miami Heat acquired star center Shaquille O’Neal to pair with Wade in the 2004-05 season. This move ended up being a successful one for the Heat, as they won 59 games on this season – being led by top 6 team offenses and defenses, a 7.1 net-rating (third in the league that season), and a +4.1 relative to league average offensive rating.
Coming in as a hyper-athletic and bulkier player (in totality and relative to his position) with fearless finishing ability and bodily/shot adaptability, finishing was the bread and butter of Wade’s scoring game – with 44.1% of his shots coming at the rim. On shots near or at the rim, Wade shot 58.7% (with film indicating a decent amount of shots were lower quality/tougher finishes). With having decent control on the ball and with defenses closing Wade’s drives in anticipation, his second most source of scoring was long mid-range shots (24.1% of his shots while shooting 42.9% within that range). Wade still didn’t have a 3-point shot developed at that point in time which held his efficiency back ultimately. His scoring rate and efficiency was 25.7 adjusted points (per 75 possessions) on +3.2% relative-to-league average true shooting. Wade combined this scoring with a solid, but not all-time great, playmaking game – putting up 6.9 assists along with a 7.5 box creation and 5.9 passer rating. Furthermore, Wade was one of the better rebounders on both sides in league history at the guard position- with 1.5 of his 5.3 rebounds per 75 possessions coming on the offensive end.
Defensively, Wade shaped up to be one of the best at his position in history, leveraging phenomenal lateral quickness , explosiveness , and anticipation to become a decent man defender and even better off-ball defender. Wade added immense value blitzing “pick and rolls” , playing passing lanes, and rotating for blocks at the rim. As a man defender, Wade’s lateral quickness gave him great capability to stick a defender from the top of the key and trail them with the ball in their hands. His 2004-05 season represented a transition period where he was clearly a positive impact defender but not quite the caliber of defender he was at his better years (such as 2006 and 2009). In spite of his instincts and awareness still developing, Wade averaged 1.1 blocks and 1.7 steals per 75 possessions – .5 of those blocks coming from the rim and on mid-range shot attempts.
A recurring trend for his prime years when healthy, Wade took his game to another level in the playoffs – rising his production, his stats on a per 75 possession basis were:
- 28.6 Adjusted Points on 4% true shooting relative to league-average and opponent
- 6.5 Assists with an 8.8 Offensive Box Creation
- 5.6 Rebounds with 1.6 on the offensive end
- 1.1 Blocks and 1.6 Steals (with a similar block and steal frequency of 2.1%)
The Miami Heat finally brought near championship level success to their franchise, taking the defending champ Detroit Pistons to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals – a series they could have arguably won, had it not been for Wade’s injury in game 5 (somewhat deflating his stats). This injury somewhat gave a larger sample of Miami playing minutes without him on the floor. In that time span across the entire run, the Heat played at a -6.8 net rating with him off on a per 100 possession basis, as opposed to +7.4 with him on. Considering the Heat fared well against two elite defenses in the New Jersey Nets (7th in the league) and Detroit Pistons (3rd in the league), this was nearly as good as it gets for a sophomore season playoff run in NBA history – a big reason being Wade’s underrated playoff resiliency. Resiliency can be seen as how inelastic/elastic a players’ value and production is when playing in the postseason and facing tougher, more engaged opponents.
2005-06 Season:
While Dwyane Wade became a star-level player in 2005 and certainly built off this in the playoffs, 2006 was the season where he ascended to best player in the league conversations. With Shaquille O’Neal regressing and hitting the true end of his respective prime, Wade shouldered more of a responsibility within the Heat’s team. As a team, Miami still posted a 50 win season with the 7th best (108.7 rated) offense and 9th best (104.5 rated) defense. It is worth noting that Shaquille O’Neal sat out for 24 games and Wade sat out for 7, whereas the Heat played at nearly a 60 win pace with the roster at full health.
How impactful Wade was for the Heat’s team can’t be overstated: Wade’s net-rating swing all in all was 15.85 – with 14.6 of these points coming on the offensive end. The Heat played at roughly an 8.4 net-rating with Wade on and a -7.4 rating with Wade off. Looking at impact metrics that standardize player value more-so, Wade was the gold standard in the 2005-06 NBA regular season in the following:
- Augmented Plus-Minus / Game: 5.5 (1st)
- Adjusted Plus-Minus: / Game: 5.9 (1st)
- BackPicks Box Plus-Minus: 6.1 (2nd)
Wade’s combination of scoring volume and efficiency was arguably at its best this season amongst his whole career – posting a rate of 28.7 adjusted points “per 75” on +4.2 true-shooting above league average. With most of the similar scoring arsenal and athletic abilities as 2004-05, Wade ramped up his efficiency near the basket by shooting 66.1% at that range in this season. With more volume and autonomy, Wade’s playmaking took another step forward as well. His assists stayed the same at face value, but his Box Creation and Passer Rating increased to marks of 8.8 and 6.7 respectively. The 2006 playoff run ended on a very high note for the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade, giving him another chance for reinforcement of his elite resiliency and redemption at a championship.
Looking statistically, Wade averaged the following in the 2006 iteration of the NBA playoffs:
- 28.9 Adjusted Points on 7.1% true shooting relative to league-average and opponent
- 5.5 Assists with a 9.1 Offensive Box Creation and 5.5 Passer Rating
- 5.6 Rebounds with 1.2 on the offensive end
- 2.1 Steals and 1.1 Blocks
Against tough defensive competition, the Miami Heat had a +2.7 relative team offensive rating, but were anchored by a stellar -5.8 team defensive-rating (the lower the better) with Wade demonstrating his aforementioned skills to clearly impact team success at his position. Looking specifically, the Heat were able to make quick work of the Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets (two top 7 team defenses) in 6 and 5 games respectively. This led them to an ECF rematch against the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion and defensive powerhouse Detroit Pistons. Wade’s scoring (with volume and efficiency considered), overall offensive prowess, and guard defense proved to be a difference maker this time around – as the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals in six games. In this series, Wade averaged an adjusted 26.7-5.2-5.5-1.8-1.5 stat-line per game on a remarkable 62.8% true-shooting.
The finals was where Wade proved once and for all that his playoff run belongs up there with any superstar (let alone young superstar) in league history. Facing a very well-rounded Mavericks squad, the Heat found themselves down 2-0 in the finals with their backs essentially against the wall. With that being said, Dwyane Wade rose to the occasion (that arguably being an understatement) and rattled off one of the greatest 4 game stretches in league history – winning three of those games by margins of 1, 2, and 3 points respectively. Wade’s lightning-quickness, tough shot making, and overall demeanor with the ball in his hands was on full display in the finals, with him averaging an astounding 34.7 points per game (and 39.3 points per game after being down 2-0). This fantastic season from Wade ultimately ended with the Heat winning their franchise’s first ever championship.
Like the 2005 playoffs and 2006 regular season before it, Wade’s impact was on full display. His net-swing in the 2006 playoffs was an astounding +22.2 per 100 possessions with the heat playing at a 7.3 net-rating in the minutes Wade played. On top of that, Wade’s augmented plus- minus per game of 6.0 led the entire league and his BackPicks BPM of 7.0 ranked second – both rises from his regular season values.
All in all, Dwyane Wade’s career may be remembered in various ways. Regardless however, nothing can take away the level of all-time great playoff performance and value on both sides of the floor Dwyane Wade held at his peak and at the early stages of his career. To see a superstar fare this well in the playoffs with such little NBA experience is remarkable – on a modern day and a historical scale without a single doubt.
TheDyspatch 