Miami Heat: 5 goals for guard Dion Waiters in 2017-18

3. Improve finishing close to the rim

Despite his ability to drive and get close to the rim, Waiters’ efficiency finishing around the basket was another area lacking last season. Overall, Waiters shot at a 49.2 percent clip on shots within five feet of the rim. Considering these made up 37.7 percent of his total field goal attempts, this is clearly a cause for concern.

Miami Heat

Furthermore, Waiters’ in-between game also left a lot to be desired over the course of last season. Although a far smaller sample size (8.7 percent of total field goal attempts), Waiters’ 24.1 percent shooting on shots taken between 5-14 feet from the rim is another area of his game that could benefit from some redefining.

On the other hand, his bread and butter was clearly in the mid-range, hitting at a terrific 48.4 percent from between 15-19 feet of the rim. In fact, Waiters ranked fourth over the season in shooting percentage among guards from this range of those who attempted at least 2.2 per game (behind only Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul and Bradley Beal).

But for Waiters, improving his efficiency closer to the basket needs to be the key focus this season. Somewhat encouragingly, his percentages improved as the season progressed. Over his first 28 games of the season, Waiters converted at a 45.5 percent clip within five feet of the rim. However, this increased to 53.4 percent over his final 18 performances.

In a simplistic sense, Waiters’ own self-belief is a likely contributor to his low percentages around the rim. Just this line alone from his piece for The Players’ Tribune can help explain Waiters’  overall mindset and self-confidence:

"“When I came back (from injury) in January, I was so locked in it was crazy. I kept telling everybody, ‘All we gotta do is win seven or eight in a row, and we’re right back in it.’”"

At the time the Heat were 11-30, so this naturally sounded extremely farfetched. But that’s what makes Waiters who he is, and why he was once the No. 4 overall pick.

So if Waiters could just harness some of this self-confidence when attacking the rim, and be more wise at times with his shot selection, there is no reason these shooting percentages can’t go through the roof this upcoming season.

After all, this is a player who referred to himself as “Kobe Wade” in college. Enough said.