Miami Heat: Grading The Dion Waiters Signing
By Vijay Vemu
The Miami Heat added another shooting guard in Dion Waiters. Did they make the right move?
After losing Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat still had to fill a void at the shooting guard position. This week, Miami found the guy who will be taking D-Wade’s spot on the roster: Dion Waiters.
According to reports from multiple outlets including The Vertical, Waiters has signed a two-year deal with the Miami Heat. The deal is estimated to be worth over $6 million dollars for two years.
Contract details also state that Waiters will earn a bonus if Miami moves him in those two years. Signing Waiters is certainly an interesting decision for the Heat, so now it’s time to grade the deal.
Waiters had a very up and down season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Coming off the bench, he averaged 9.8 points on nearly 40 percent shooting. Although he struggled in the regular season to find a comfortable role with the Thunder, he impressed against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
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Not known as a standout defender, Waiters was very solid defensively when matched up against the guards of the Warriors. He was able to help keep the Dubs off balance at the key and if they got past him, they would have to deal with the duo of Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams.
But Waiters struggled shooting the ball in that series. In Games 5-7, Waiters scored a combined total of eight points — all while playing 27, 36, and 32 minutes in those games, respectively. For a team like Oklahoma City that needed all of their engines firing on all cylinders, having a guy who can score like Waiters go ice cold when it counted didn’t help.
With that being said, Waiters likely won’t start for Miami. If he came to South Beach to fight for a starting job at the shooting guard spot, he likely won’t win it. That spot will be going to Josh Richardson, who really showed up for the Heat in the second half of the season.
Although Richardson averaged almost three fewer points per game than Waiters did, Richardson shot a much better percentage from the field (45.2 percent), three-point percentage (46.1 percent), and had an Effective Field Goal percentage of 55 percent.
He is also a much better defender than Waiters, using his long arms to stay in front of his man and help poke the ball out of their hands.
Coming off the bench, Waiters will be expected to create some offense of his own. Tyler Johnson, who came off the bench last year at shooting guard along with Richardson, is expected to play more point guard minutes this season.
Johnson isn’t that much of a creator, averaging only 2.2 assists in the regular season, so Waiters will have to do some work on his own. Waiters had 52.1 percent of his field goals unassisted last season, so he showed that he can make some shots on his own.
The problem is when he starts thinking that every time he touches the ball he is going to score. That can’t happen in Miami. Waiters has to buy into the Heat’s offense even if it means he might not get as many shots.
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Overall, the signing of Waiters is confusing. Yes, he can bring some scoring to your bench but he is a very streaky shooter and sometimes can get a little too carried away when it comes to isolations and taking bad shots. The arrival of Waiters also means that the Miami Heat have a very crowded backcourt, and it will be a challenge for Erik Spoelstra to balance out the minutes there.
Grade: C+