he Miami Heat recruiting team has landed back in South Florida. The concern remains whether the team's All-Star shooting guard will take flight. After a whirlwind recruiting trip that featured NBA free-agency presentations to Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Mike Miller, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, Brendan Haywood and Carlos Boozer, as well as contact made with numerous others, Pat Riley and the Heat's traveling party are back on their home turf. Soon, that's where Dwyane Wade will be, too, at least temporarily, with the team's prized free agent scheduled for a promotional appearance Tuesday in Davie at Nova Southeastern University. For now, the Heat, as well as the rest of the league, is somewhat in a holding pattern, as prime free agents such as Wade, James, the Cleveland Cavaliers forward, and Bosh, the Toronto Raptors forward, mull their futures. Few involved in the process expect any major decisions to be made before James determines his future, a decision that might not come until midweek. While free-agent negotiations began July 1, binding agreements cannot be reached until Thursday, when the 2010-11 NBA salary cap will be announced. For now, Wade remains in Chicago, where he has deep family roots. He met twice at the start of the free-agent negotiating period with his hometown Chicago Bulls and has spoken of being torn over his decision. Wade has yet to receive a complete presentation from the Heat, according to a party familiar with the Heat's approach. As his 2009-10 team, the Heat holds a considerable advantage from a contract perspective, able to offer Wade $125 million over six years, compared to $96 million over five years from outside teams. A player agent who has counseled clients in similar situations said it would not be unprecedented for Wade, as his family's primary wage earner, to be allowed to take his two young sons out of Illinois during the NBA season should Wade's July 19 custody hearing result in a ruling in his favor. Bosh, who spent extended time with Wade during the early stages of the free-agent process and has been linked to package deals with Wade, has returned to his Dallas home. He and Wade are both represented by Chicago-based agent Henry Thomas. "Finally back in my environment," Bosh offered on his Twitter feed. "Free agency has been a whirlwind. This decision is not going to be easy." And that has made the process that much more difficult for the more than 150 other free agents on the market. "I don't know how they're handling things and what the variables are for them as to how they're making decisions," said noted NBA agent Andy Miller. "I don't know if they all are trying to congregate or it that just media-driven? I have no idea." As ambiguous as the marketplace has proven, Riley forecast some of the uncertainty as he braced for the process. "It's a business," he said. "I think what makes it scary and terrifying, it isn't to me, but to everybody else, is the media, and the internet, and the blogs. And everybody's assuming and placing people here and there, and all these other places." In the current vacuum, it is the background chatter that has drawn the focus, with one member of Riley's staff insisting, "The media has no idea what's going on." Newsday, for example, is reporting that during his interview session with the New York Knicks, Wade told the Knicks, "Just get me one player and I'll get you a ring." The New York Daily News is reporting that the Cavaliers' Saturday presentation featured a cartoon that included a segment mocking Riley's trademark slicked-back hair. In addition to meeting with the Heat, Bulls and Knicks, Wade also has met with the New Jersey Nets. While Wade has moved into idle, others continue the interview process, with Stoudemire, the Phoenix Suns free-agent power forward, meeting with the Knicks, possibly to then move on to sessions later in the week with the Nets and Bulls. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...heat-free-agency-live-s070410,0,6015560.story
