Wade's Future Might Hinge on Game 7

Game 7 of the Heat-Hawks series on Sunday may determine more than just who advances to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

It could influence the even-more-important free agency thinking of Dwyane Wade.

There were times through the first six games of the series -- and times throughout this regular season -- when Wade must have wondered how much easier basketball could be if he had a co-star.

The issue is still out there. And don't discount how the outcome of Game 7 could affect him.

This One Man Show is getting a little old.

No other team in the league -- not even LeBron James in Cleveland -- was as dependent upon one player as the Heat were with Wade this season. And it has worn him down, making him more susceptible to injury, which has been obvious during the series.

He led the league in scoring, averaging 16 more points than anyone else on the Heat roster, and he is nowhere close to being a contender again.

Free agency next summer could change everything, convincing another big star to join him in Miami -- or being convinced to join another star in another city, like LeBron James in New York. He and James have joked about the scenario, but there is nothing funny about it.

It could change the NBA balance of power. For Wade, the load would be lighter, and the rewards greater.

Wade could end all speculation and sign an extension in Miami this summer, worried that the next collective bargaining agreement will depress all salaries. Or he could wait and exercise his option to become a free agent in 2010, when half the teams in the league will have salary cap space, all vying for the most attractive list of free agents in many, many years.

Wade has learned just how tough life is without a co-star like he had when he and Shaquille O'Neal carried the Heat to the 2006 championship. Since Shaq's demise and departure, Wade has been through two injury-marred seasons and this one when he played like an MVP candidate but put far too many miles on his tires.

As great as Wade is today, another season like this one, and he could shorten his career like Penny Hardaway, who went from a first-team All-NBA star guard in the Finals, to a broken down ex-star who collapsed in Orlando under the pressures and injuries of trying to carry a team without Shaq.

Miami is developing some nice young players. Michael Beasley, Daequan Cook and Mario Chalmers, will mature and improve, but Wade might not want to wait that long. Without a center -- Jermaine O'Neal is only a shell of the star he once was -- it's tough to see the Heat getting past the Celtics, Magic or Cavaliers in the next few years.

Wade was asked by FanHouse if the challenge of carrying a 43-win team all season had worn him down mentally.

"Coming off of last season (15-67) , I'll take this any day. It was a challenging season, in a good way, to lead a young team with two rookies and two second-year players, and to get to this point,'' he said before Game 6. "If you believe we can get better and better, you take that challenge.''

If the Heat get enough balance to win Game 7 and advance to play Cleveland and LeBron in the second round, it should convince him that help is arriving. If the Heat lose badly, like they did in three of the first six games, and Wade is left again on an island, then he might think otherwise.

For Miami, it's a big Game 7 in more ways than one.