Think about the Miami Heat organization and Dwyane Wade is probably the first name that comes to mind. You could claim Shaquille O’Neal as the second, but most Heat fans will argue it’s Udonis Haslem. The elite role player spent 20 seasons with the Heat, so it feels impossible to imagine him in another team’s jersey. However, the chances of that happening was more real than it seemed.
Advertisement
While he was still on the roster, Haslem‘s input was highly considered. Heat’s President of basketball operations at the time, Pat Riley respected Haslem’s opinion on potential team moves. But that doesn’t mean he knew the details for every trade the Heat were in negotiations for.
This trade in particular involved Haslem in exchange for Allen Iverson. The finer details for this potential trade package were probably never meant to see the light of day, but Haslem provided the world with a sneak peak in 2024.
“My name was in the hat one time, we was talking about making a move for Iverson,” Haslem said on The OGs Podcast.
“I was all shook up and s***, but Dwyane Wade was like, ‘Man, that’s Allen Iverson.’ Whatever reason that didn’t work, I don’t know if the dynamics with him and Dwyane would have worked at that time, so dynamically it didn’t work. But my a** was almost out of there. How can I argue if you bring in Iverson? I gotta go,” he added.
To think that the NBA could’ve witnessed a backcourt consisting of Wade and Iverson is quite a thought. The negotiations took place in 2006, while the Heat were fresh off an NBA championship.
Of course, the Heat decided against pulling the trigger. However, their pursuit was extremely real. It was at the very least, real enough that Riley had to address the media throughout the team’s hunt for Iverson.
“We are out of the Allen Iverson conversation,” Riley said in 2006. “This isn’t going to move forward. We have discussed every scenario, [but] it never became formal offers. It’s time for us to move on.”
At the time, the Heat weren’t the only team interested in Iverson. The competition across the league to acquire the star was enough for Riley to remove the Heat from the equation.
“When you have 28 teams talking, it can get complicated,” Riley added. “And then, you start trying to match up the dollars. We just decided to move out.”
In hindsight, Haslem understands that’s just the business side of the NBA. Once it was made clear he wouldn’t be going anywhere, that entire situation just became water under the bridge. However, nearly 20 years later, the topic remains on the three-time NBA champion’s mind.
Haslem took part in the NBA on Prime’s Lounge Topics segment, which featured a few surprise questions for each member. The former 6-foot-8 forward received a card title truth serum, which would give him the ability to ask one NBA player a question that they would have to answer honestly. Haslem went straight to that Iverson trade package, but the question was for Dwyane Wade.
“One question to Dwyane Wade. I would ask him, ‘Did the Miami Heat talk to you when they were about to trade me to Philadelphia for Allen Iverson? Did you know about that? They say the star players usually know about the trades,” Haslem said.
That sure is an excellent question. Wade hasn’t quite spoken on the situation publicly. It would be great to hear the insight the NBA legend has regarding that matter and how close a deal was to happening.
