Dwyane Wade has been absolutely sick throughout the 2006 NBA playoffs.

The fifth-overall pick in the 2003 draft, a draft that will go down as one of the greatest NBA drafts — scratch that — one of the greatest drafts in professional sports history. Wade is doing his best M.J. impersonation this postseason and is trying to become the first member of that heralded group to lead his team to a ring.

Forgot who was in that draft?

LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Wade, Chris Kaman, Chris Bosh, Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, Kyle Korver, Josh Howard and Luke Walton.

A few names left off were Darko Milicic, Michael Sweetney, Jarvis Hayes, Marcus Banks and Troy Bell... Troy Bell? The guy hasn’t logged real NBA minutes since his rookie season and can be seen on the side of a milk carton with the caption, “last spotted with the Oklahoma City Hornets in preseason – help with jump shot if found.”

All right, the 2003 NBA draft may not be one of the greatest drafts in sports history, but it is a pretty darn good one and will have plenty of rings to boast when all is said and done.

Back to Wade, who continues to punish the Mavericks, and I don’t know if punish is a strong enough word; brutalize, destroy, maim, kill, torture seem as though they fit nicely, because that’s exactly what Wade has done to the Mavs and the rest of the NBA during his third playoff run.

Through five games of the NBA finals, Wade averaged a smidge under 35 points per game and shot 45 percent from the field. Not bad considering he put up 121 shots in those five games.

Now the Mavs, who have their own gem from that 2003 draft class, Josh Howard, taken with the last pick of the first round, have tried just about everything to slow Wade down.

Zone defenses have failed, second-year man Devin Harris, while quick enough, is just not strong enough. Adrian Griffin, a Wichita native, is big enough physically at 6’5”, 230 lbs. to match up with the 6’4”, 212 lb. Wade, but just doesn’t have the quicks to keep up. The aforementioned Howard has taken his turn, but came away with only hurt feelings.

So who can stop Dwyane Wade? Or at least slow him down?

You’ll have to leave the Mavericks roster, skip the Pistons, bypass the Nets and find another member of that 2003 draft class, #12 on the Chicago Bulls.

That’s right, KU’s very own, the floppy-haired one, Kirk Hinrich.

Perhaps a steady paycheck has allowed Hinrich to ditch the lazy locks, but the 6’3”, 190 lb. former third-team All-American from Iowa is as good as it gets when it comes to defending Wade.

During the regular season, Wade averaged 27.2 points per game. In three contests against the Bulls, he averaged just more than 12.

Through 22 playoff games, (last night’s game not included), Wade averaged 28 points per contest. Hinrich and the Bulls limited him to 24.6 a game, his lowest of the four series he has played in. The Bulls also held Wade to his lowest field goal percentage of the playoffs, holding the former Marquette star to 42 percent shooting.

That number looks even better when compared to the “could-somebody-please-put-a-hand-in-his-face-defense” employed by the allegedly defense-minded Pistons; Wade shot 64 percent against Mo Town.

Defensively, Hinrich is one of the best in the NBA. Not surprising, really when you consider he was a defensive stud while at KU. Just ask Kareem Rush.

While Hinrich’s profile in the league was already on the rise, his defensive efforts on Wade should boost his stature even more. And the timing couldn’t be any better. Hinrich is heading into a contract year as he enters his fourth professional season in 2006-2007.

The Bulls have boatloads of cash under the salary cap and would be wise to invest in one of the better all-around players in the NBA in Hinrich. If not, well, there’s always Dallas.