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The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without the services of Dwyane Wade for the last two games as he mourned the loss of long-time friend and agent Henry Thomas. Wade will make his return to the team Tuesday night as the Cavs look to sweep a home and home against the Detroit Pistons. He, though, will leave the team again at the end of the week for Thomas’ funeral.
As reported by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Wade has also been dealing with some shoulder pain:
Dwyane Wade rejoined the Cavs. Ty Lue said Wade is dealing with a shoulder issue (he had left shoulder surgery in 2007) but will play tonight vs. Detroit. Wade said he will be away from the team again at the end of the week for Henry Thomas' funeral.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 30, 2018
This is clearly an incredibly difficult time for Wade and a truly heartbreaking circumstance. Hopefully in his return to the team, he will find some of the support and comrade needed to get through this.
From a basketball standpoint, how Tyronn Lue uses Wade with a healthy squad will be interesting. Lue has staggered LeBron James and Isaiah Thomas recently, trying to get Thomas to play more with the second unit. If that continues, we may see more of Wade playing at point guard with the starting lineup.
Between Thomas, Wade and Derrick Rose, the Cavs have a lot of guards that expect to be handling the ball when on the court. Not to mention the fact that LeBron often serves as the primary initiator of the offense. With many mouths to feed and decisions to make, how Lue deploys his guards will undoubtedly be one of the main areas of focus moving forward.