Haslem jokes he's got 'a flagrant for Wade' when Cavs face Heat

If Dwyane Wade sees former teammate Udonis Haslem across from him when the Cleveland Cavaliers battle the Miami Heat this upcoming season, he'd be best served to stay clear.

"I will put my special request in with (Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra) for minutes in that game," Haslem, who averaged 8.1 minutes per game last season, joked Tuesday morning, according to the Miami Herald's Manny Navarro.

"I definitely got six fouls - probably three on each (Wade and LeBron James) and a flagrant for Wade."

A return to South Beach to rejoin the Heat was one of the options on the table for Wade following his recent buyout with the Chicago Bulls. However, the 35-year-old veteran decided to take his talents to the reigning Eastern Conference champions for the veteran's minimum of $2.3 million for one year.

Miami had the best offer in the form of their $4.3-million exception, but to no avail. Haslem - a close friend of Wade who had hoped he'd come back to his old stomping grounds - admits it would've been nice to team up with him once again, but the makeup of the current roster would have made things complicated.

"He's not chasing rings. He's got three rings," Haslem said. "For him, this situation, it comes down to a lot of things. We have a lot of depth here. I don't know if there's as many minutes as he would like. There's a lot of things that come into play. It's not that he doesn't want to be here. ... We got a lot of young guys. We got guys that got to play. (Josh Richardson) has got to play. Justise (Winslow) has got to play. Dion (Waiters) got to play. There's a lot of bodies at that spot.

"At the end of the day, nothing changes for what we have in mind for our plans and what our goals are as an organization. That doesn't change anything and I don't take it personal at all. Dwyane has to do what he feels is best for Dwyane. Would I love to have him here? Would I love to play with him here? Yes. But nothing changes with (his) and my relationship. He's always going to be my brother and our goals here are just the same."

The Cavaliers visit AmericanAirlines Arena on March 27.