Free agent forward Dean Wade agreed to a four-year, $39 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, said ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday.
The Sixers beat out several other contenders who had pursued the former Cavaliers forward, who has proved indispensable for Cleveland over the years.
Wade, 6-foot-9, 228 pounds, is a St. John High School graduate who played four years of college basketball at Kansas State University.
According to Brett Siegel at ClutchPoints, Wade has been a proven, consistent two-way forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers since he made his NBA debut on Nov. 18, 2019.
Charania said Wade, 29, is a valuable front court player and is a capable defender at the four spot who can also stretch the court with his 3-point shot.
For the Sixers, Wade should fill in what has been a hole at power forward since Tobias Harris departed two seasons ago — slotting in alongside superstar center Joel Embiid.
Wade averaged 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists during the 2025-26 season. He has played in 342 NBA games
He shot 36.2% from 3-point range this past year. Wade shot 43.9% from the field overall and 71.1% from the free throw line.
According to basketballreference.com, Wade played in 32 NBA playoff games for Cavaliers. Cleveland has won three playoff series and lost four during Wade’s seven seasons.
Wade, 29, played 126 games in four seasons (2015-19) at Kansas State and scored 1,510 points and grabbed 684 rebounds. Wade also had 260 assists, 118 steals and 79 blocked shots.
He averaged 9.9 points a game his freshman year, 9.3 as a sophomore, 16.2 his junior year and 12.9 his senior year. He averaged 12 points a game for his career.
According to his Wikipedia bio, Wade graduated from Kansas State with a bachelor’s degree in social science.
Wade played four years of varsity basketball at St. John High School in St. John. He earned All-State honors for multiple seasons and won three state championships.
As a senior, Wade was named Parade All-American was selected as Mr. Kansas Basketball by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Dean Wade is the son of Jay and Trish Wade. His mother is the volleyball at Nickerson High School. Prior to coaching at Nickerson, she was the volleyball coach at St. John where she won three state titles.
Dean Wade’s older sister Teresa Wade-Rush is an assistant coach for the Nickerson volleyball team.
She played two seasons of volleyball at Hutchinson Community College (2012 and 2013) and two at Fort Hays State University (2014 and 2015).
