Money talks. So there were 50 million reasons why superstar Dwyane Wade and a Denver Nuggets contingent that included team president Josh Kroenke, general manager Tim Connelly and coach Michael Malone chatted Wednesday, exploring a basketball partnership that seemed unfathomable only a week ago.

After making their recruiting pitch and answering the 34-year-old Miami guard’s questions during a 2½-hour meeting in New York, the Nuggets believed they had a 50-50 shot at signing Wade as a free agent, according to a league source.

While the Nuggets’ optimism is admirable, my feeling is landing Wade might rank as the most-inspiring upset in team history since Dikembe Mutombo rolled on the court with joy after Denver beat top-seeded Seattle in the 1994 playoffs. Chicago and Miami also are working furiously to close a deal with Wade, whose roots are in the Midwest, while his heart belongs to South Florida.

The Nuggets’ hammer is money. They have it, socked away by Connelly’s careful management of the salary cap, waiting for an opportunity precisely like this one. Wade wants to get paid, and the Bulls and Heat are both scrambling to unload players from the roster to meet his salary demands.

As the Nuggets awaited word on a decision from Wade, which the team expected to come no later than Thursday evening, the Denver brass also gained confidence from fact that the 12-time all star seemed receptive to the team’s vision of a brighter future. By adding Wade, the Nuggets think they could do more than qualify for the playoffs in 2017. They think they could climb into the hierarchy of the Western Conference, where Golden State rules, but the list of challengers appears to be in flux after marquee free agent Kevin Durant disappointed Oklahoma City, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers by choosing to join the Warriors.

Denver management came away with the impression the biggest impediment to getting an agreement with Wade would be convincing his family to uproot from Miami and leave the only NBA team he has ever known to take on a brave new basketball frontier in the Rocky Mountains.

While the Nuggets grabbed Wade’s attention with a two-year offer worth more than $50 million, maybe what gave Denver hope of closing a deal was something else a long-suffering franchise and future Hall of Famer could give each other: respect.

After helping the Heat win three NBA championships, doing everything from hitting crucial jump shots to recruiting teammates such as LeBron James and re-upping at less than the market rate on contracts throughout his 13 seasons in Miami, Wade felt disrespected when the Heat recently low-balled him with a two-year, $40 million offer at a time when the salaries for much less-accomplished players were going through the roof due to a spike in the league’s salary cap.

Before the Nuggets, whose aggregate record during the past three seasons is 99-147, can have any hope of regaining respect throughout the league, they must cease to be invisible as an NBA city. Carmelo Anthony damaged the team’s reputation by forcing a trade five years ago, and although Denver won 57 games during the 2012-13 regular season, former coach George Karl’s notoriety for clashes with star players from Ray Allen to Anthony to Andre Iguodala turned off free agents on the prospect of playing for the Nuggets.

After more than 30,000 minutes of wear and tear on his body, the return on investment Wade can offer as a player makes signing him a considerable gamble for Denver. If Heat president Pat Riley, one of the sharpest minds in the sport, is reluctant to pay a star, pardon me for wondering if that’s the same kiss of death as Bill Belichick cutting ties with a longtime contributor to the New England Patriots.

When the legs on a shooting guard start to go, the shots begin to clank with more frequency. It happens to everyone, whether your name is Bernard King or Vince Carter or Kobe Bryant. Wade averaged 19 points per game for the Heat last season and still is dangerous operating out of the pick-and-roll. But his true shooting percentage — which takes into account efficiency on two-point shots, three-point shots and free throws – has declined in each of the past two seasons, according to stats compiled by Basketball Reference.com

The appeal of Wade for the Nuggets, however, is threefold.

He could serve as a mentor to young players such as Emmanuel and Nikola Jokic without ever having to break out a Mr. Rogers sweater, simply by showing what it takes to be a champion.

With Denver looking to upgrade its roster again next summer when it could again be flush with cash under the salary cap, Wade could speak in a powerful voice to potential free agents from Blake Griffin to Gordon Hayward.

By merely landing a meeting with Wade, the Nuggets attracted more attention than by anything they’ve achieved on the court in at least three years, and it gave team brass practice in articulating its vision for the future to the toughest audience of all: a player with genuine star power.

The Nuggets have needed a star to buy in ever since Anthony asked out.

By aggressively pursuing Wade, the Nuggets have announced to the league they are serious about getting back in the game.