During his prime, Dwyane Wade was one of the most dominant players in the NBA, and one overlooked trait could be utilized by Tyrese Haliburton to be the league’s best guard.
For the vast majority of his 16-season career, Dwyane Wade was one of the most exciting, athletic players in the NBA.
His bursts of speed earned him his “Flash” nickname, and his posterizing dunks were a staple of SportsCenter. During his nine-season prime, he averaged 25.6 points, seemingly scoring most of them at the rim.
While he relied on his sturdy frame and unmatched vertical to stuff the stat sheet, a longtime opponent and brief teammate thinks one part of his game goes overlooked.
Wade is most remembered for his ability to get downhill, but he was able to create separation on the perimeter with a variety of moves that got him just enough space for a full head of steam.
Not a true point guard, Wade often shared the floor with a more traditional floor general, although he could create for himself with the best of them. Iman Shumpert, who teamed up with Wade for one season on the Cleveland Cavaliers, recalled how he could navigate the perimeter with the same ease he got to the basket.
“Dealing with D-Wade’s handle was, it doesn’t get talked about a lot, but having to guard somebody that can go east-west and take up ground,” Shumpert reflected.
“There are a lot of guys who go north-south that they’re difficult to guard. But that east-west, and somebody that can elude you to go into a ball screen without using a ball screen, D-Wade was always dangerous. And somebody that, when you’re guarding him, you give him a little respect because you don’t want to get embarrassed.”
Alongside Derrick Rose and Jamal Crawford, Shumpert listed Wade as one of the hardest players to guard, and his ability to do a little bit of everything was seemingly unmatched.
Haliburton and Wade are incredibly different players. Unlike Wade, Tyrese Haliburton can hit 3s with ease, seemingly from anywhere, but he is not as physically strong and can’t slash like Wade could.
Haliburton, unlike Wade, is a true pass-first guard who doesn’t always look to score. While their playstyles differ, both have ice in their veins and an impressive portfolio of clutch moments.
While Haliburton can dance on the perimeter, he does so to create space to shoot or buy time for his teammates to get open, but at 6-foot-5, he could try to use those moves to get to the rim, which was one of his only weaknesses last season.
“That’s what we were begging Tyrese Haliburton to do,” added ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “He had so much north-south in the Finals, getting a little bit more east-west.”
In the 2023-24 season, Haliburton shot an elite 69.3% at the rim and 58.2% within ten feet of the basket. Last season, he remained effective, although his volume close to the hoop dropped off considerably.
As Haliburton spends next season recovering from an Achilles tear, re-doing his offensive attack style could add another dimension to his scoring, taking his stardom to the next level.
