“The Flash” and “The Answer” in one backcourt? It almost happened, according to Dwyane Wade, who said Allen Iverson was nearly traded to the Miami Heat in 2006.
During Amazon’s broadcast of the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday, Wade said that Heat president Pat Riley called him to discuss the potential deal. Iverson requested a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers in December 2006, and the reigning champion Heat, who had defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the previous season’s NBA Finals, were among the teams rumored to be pursuing Iverson.
Wade was all in on the move at first.
“That’s one of my favorite players,” Wade said on Saturday’s broadcast. “And I love him. And I was like, ‘Bet, let’s do it.’”
But then Riley told Wade that forward Udonis Haslem would be included in the proposed swap. Wade said he quickly changed course.
“He was like, ‘You in?’” Wade recalled. “I said, ‘I’m in.’ He’s like, ‘We’re going to have to trade U.D.,’ and I said, ‘I’m out. I’m out.’ That was it.”
The @MiamiHEAT almost traded away @ThisIsUD for a chance to get Allen Iverson 👀 pic.twitter.com/oDpLYmuCb1
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) December 14, 2025
Wade said that although he loved Iverson’s game, the point guard was not “going to stick up for me (like Haslem did).” Haslem, who played 20 seasons for the Heat, earned a reputation as one of the best — and toughest — leaders in the NBA. He won three NBA championships with the Heat and is the organization’s all-time leading rebounder.
“That’s my boy,” Haslem said after Wade recounted his unwillingness to part with him. “That’s my boy. That’s why every time somebody knocked him down, who came right behind him and made sure I knocked them down.”
Haslem went on to have one of his best individual seasons for the 2006-07 Heat, averaging 10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in more than 31 minutes per game and finishing 18th in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
During Saturday’s broadcast, Haslem said he was aware of the discussions between Riley and the 76ers back in December 2006, and that he “didn’t sleep for a week” due to the uncertainty.
When NBA on Prime host Taylor Rooks asked Wade how close the Heat were to approving the deal, Wade replied, “Listen, whenever Pat Riley is involved in making a move, you’re always close.”
Philadelphia eventually sent a trade package headlined by Iverson to the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 19, 2006, receiving Joe Smith, Andre Miller and two first-round picks in return. Iverson played 50 regular-season games for the Carmelo Anthony-led Nuggets that season, averaging 24.8 points and making his eighth All-Star appearance for a Denver team that bowed out to the eventual-champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. Iverson’s scoring regressed in subsequent seasons, and he finished his NBA career in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Heat returned to title contention in the 2010 offseason, when Miami signed LeBron James in free agency and paired him with Wade and Chris Bosh to form a big three that delivered back-to-back NBA championships in 2012 and 2013.
While a trio of Wade, Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal might have sounded tantalizing in 2006, both Iverson and O’Neal were nearing the end of the their respective primes, and managing the stars’ personalities could have proved a challenge for Riley, who took over as the Heat’s head coach 21 games into the 2005-06 season and remained on the bench through the end of the 2007-08 season.
The organization hired Erik Spoelstra to take over as coach the following season, Riley moved back to the front office, and then James and Bosh arrived during the next offseason to form the core of one of the NBA’s defining teams of the 21st century.
