Wilfredo Lee / AP

Dwyane Wade has started slowly this season, but that doesn't mean he is slacking off as he approaches free agency.

While Wade currently ranks in the teens in the NBA's complex efficiency formula, the notion of being a Top 15 player is not appealing to someone who considers himself top three or top five.

So he vows to get the shooting percentage back from its career-low depths. He has cut down on the 3-pointers and spends time working one-on-one with coach Erik Spoelstra on his mid-range jumper, the one element of his game that has gone decidedly south.

He accepts that he is not at what Spoelstra calls last season's "freakish" conditioning level, but vows to get there again, with Tim Grover now alongside for his workouts.

His coach warns not to doubt a return of '08-09 Wade.

"Those are the expectations of greatness," Spoelstra says. "Guys who reach that level have to live up to that standard of play. He went to a level last year where so very few players can even reach. He set the bar for himself and for the team, but he's up for the challenge."

That's why his initial NBA coach, the Magic's Stan Van Gundy, expects Chapter II of this season to feature a decidedly different Wade.

"I know what the percentages are," Van Gundy says. "But I just see a great player. Percentages twenty-something games into the year are a little deceptive.

"Same thing happens in baseball all the time. (Miguel) Cabrera went to Detroit, got off to the slow start, everybody's saying he can't handle the cold weather, he can't do this.

"At the end of the year, it's .300, 30 and 100, because that's what those guys do. You can count on the great players. Their numbers at the end of the year will even out. So the scary thing is when the percentages are down with those guys, you pretty well know you've got some unbelievable nights coming."

Perhaps that's why Wade smiles at the conjecture of his game falling off.

While he appreciates he won't be holding a championship trophy this season, he insists he still will be holding himself to the same demanding personal standards that led to last season's breakout.

"I haven't been as efficient this year as I've been in the past, so it's a good thing, to look at myself at 20-something games and not be as efficient as I want to be," he says. "That's good, because I've got a lot of season left."

Ira Winderman writes regularly for NBCSports.com and covers the Heat and the NBA for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

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