While the Miami Heat welcome his scoring abilities, Dion Waiters’ playmaking abilities are enhancing his value as his career develops.
First and foremost, Dion Waiters has primarily been recognized for his ability, and willingness, to put the ball in the hole. But as the Miami Heat have discovered since his arrival last season, Waiters has displayed that he can help the team win by doing more than just scoring.
Last season, Waiters averaged a career high 4.3 assists per game, a significant upgrade from his career 2.4 assists per game mark prior to that point.
Therefore, it’s taken both time, and a maturation process, for Waiters to exhibit his abilities as both a scorer and a distributor.
Prior to entering the 2012 NBA Draft, the following scouting report appeared on the highly reputable Draft Express in regards to Waiters’ abilities as a playmaker:
"“The other area Waiters could expand his game is as a floor general and shot creator for teammates, but this is something he hasn’t shown much with in his two years on campus outside of his expanded pick-and-roll game. Waiters is a good passer and plays pretty well within his team’s offense, but he doesn’t show much penchant for breaking the defense down off the dribble.:"
Over the first four seasons of his NBA career, Waiters dished out seven or more assists in 12 of his 289 games played. Last season, his first with the Heat, Waiters dished out seven or more assists on eight occasions, despite playing just 46 games due to a season-ending ankle injury. Notably, the Heat posted a 7-1 record during this stretch of games.
That ankle injury hampered Waiters’ start to this season due to the lengthy rehabilitation process, of which the process would’ve been substantially longer had he gone ahead with offseason surgery. But with the chance to sign a four-year, $50 million deal this past summer, both Waiters and the Heat decided to throw caution to the wind, and decide against surgery, in order to start the current season on time.
Encouragingly, Waiters’ last two performances indicate that he has now seemingly turned a corner in his recovery. First, Waiters produced a 33-point, four-assist performance in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which featured an outstanding 26 drives that accounted for 13 points and three assists.
He followed this up with 13 points, seven rebounds, and a season-high seven assists in a vital home win over the Chicago Bulls. Following this performance, Waiters raised his assists average to 3.6 per game, while also posting 16.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 32.7 minutes per game.
Recently, head coach Erik Spoelstra painted a very accurate picture of where Waiters currently finds himself with his overall game:
"“You have to make the right decisions when you’re in traffic, then you have to make the right decisions on when to finish and when to set up a teammate for a better shot. You can see the potential with it. He’s getting better at those reads. And you have to keep in mind the overall picture with Dion. He’s still a young player in terms of having to make live decisions and reads with that kind of responsibility. So I think he’s come a long way and he still has a long way to go.”"
Waiters’ importance to the Heat was never more prevalent than during their 30-11 run to the finish last season. Having posted a 23-4 record to kick off the second half of the year, the Heat stumbled to a 7-6 record down the stretch as Waiters missed the final 13 games with the aforementioned ankle injury. That stretch saw Waiters’ importance as a second playmaker alongside point guard Goran Dragic, enabling the Heat to become a much more dynamic team on the offensive end of the floor.
Next: NBA Halloween - Playing trick-or-treat with early season trends
However, with Waiters having now put together consecutive productive games, the Heat will be hoping that the 25-year-old Syracuse product can lead them in the ensuing fortnight as the team embarks on a hectic five-game, West Coast road trip that could easily shape their season moving forward.