Before the Philadelphia 76ers landed LeBron James in free agency over the offseason, they signed another former Cleveland Cavaliers forward to a sizeable contract. That was Dean Wade.

After he played the first seven seasons of his career in Cleveland, 76ers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey signed Wade to a four-year, $39 million deal to bring his talents to Philadelphia.

Wade has developed a reputation as a gritty, two-way player who can provide versatile defense on one end of the floor while contributing offensively on the other end, and that skill set was attractive to Gansey and the Sixers.

The problem for Philly is that, so far, they've only been getting output from Wade on one end of the floor.

Dean Wade struggling offensively early in 76ers tenure

Wade has played in nine games for the Sixers so far this season, including four starts, and his offensive numbers are concerning in terms of output and efficiency.

The former Kansas State product is averaging just 3.2 points per game for the Sixers, which represents his lowest total since his rookie season in 2019-2020, when he averaged just 5.9 minutes of action per game. This season, he's playing 24.7 minutes per game.

The Sixers didn't bring Wade to town to be a scorer; they have enough of those. But by default, a guy playing as many minutes as Wade has is usually expected to score a bit more than he has thus far, to keep opposing defenses honest. He's gone scoreless in two consecutive games for the Sixers, and in four out of nine contests he's appeared in. This lack of offensive output is giving some Philadelphia fans flashbacks to P.J. Tucker.

Playing alongside a ton of talent on the Sixers, Wade has been on the receiving end of open opportunities, but often it seems like he's not even looking to score. He's averaging just 2.8 field goal attempts per game and 1.8 3-point attempts, which again represent his lowest totals since his rookie year. And when he has looked to score, Wade hasn't been as efficient as he has been in the past.

Wade is shooting a career-low 31 percent from three-point range and a career-low 40 percent from the field. His true shooting percentage of 51 percent also represents a career low. One would think these numbers would be up as a result of the open opportunities generated by the players around him, but that hasn't been the case.

Again, it's important to stress that no one expected Wade to come to Philly and suddenly become a dominant scorer, especially playing alongside guys like LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Maxey. At the same time, though, it's fair to expect a bit more offensive output from the team's fifth-highest- paid player.

Wade has been solid, as advertised, defensively. His versatility and size on that end allow him to switch seamlessly from one perimeter player to another, and the Sixers have even experimented with him as a small-ball center due to a lack of options.

Ultimately, though, the Sixers will need Wade to become a bit more active on offense and at least try to look like a scoring threat, or it could be detrimental to the rest of the guys on the floor, as defenses will start to ignore him and apply additional pressure elsewhere.

It's only been nine games, and Wade is certainly allowed a grace period to continue to get acclimated to his new role on his new team. But he will need to pick it up offensively a bit in the near future, or it could become a bigger issue.