PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a $39 million, four-year deal with veteran forward Dean Wade, a person with knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday night.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal cannot be signed yet.
Wade is the first big offseason deal made by new 76ers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey. Gansey joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011 and worked as their general manager since 2022 before he left for Philadelphia and long championed Wade, who went undrafted in 2019 out of Kansas State.
The 6-foot-9 Wade spent his entire seven-year NBA career with the Cavaliers. He's never averaged more than 6.0 points in a season and is expected to become a key rotation player in Philadelphia.
The 29-year-old Wade has played 32 career playoff games.
He could slot in at forward and join a starting rotation that includes aging Joel Embiid and Paul George while the Sixers try to build around Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
The Sixers went 45-37 last season and were swept in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs by the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks. Daryl Morey was fired in the aftermath of the sweep and replaced by Gansey - who now made his stamp on the Sixers by bringing in a familiar face from Cleveland.
