Miami Heat: The importance of a Dion Waiters re-emergence

Having drifted into the wilderness for the past two seasons, the Miami Heat are strongly anticipating a reemergence from Dion Waiters this season.

The Miami Heat‘s 2018-19 campaign was only just complete when the calls for a Dion Waiters career-resurgence commenced. At his annual end-of-season press conference, team president Pat Riley addressed Waiters’ outlook:

"“There is no doubt that Dion Waiters is a level away from his maximum potential….he was definitely impacted by his ankle… and so he’s got five months.“If he ever gets to world-class conditioning, then I think his performance will go to another level. … So I’m confident he’ll do it. His career is on the line.”"

Additionally, head coach Erik Spoelstra also weighed in:

"“This is a really important summer for Dion Waiters. … The next five months, he has to put in a body of work that changes his physique that gets him down to that optimal weight and body fat. …“Because he can move the needle in this game when he’s physically right and in world-class shape. … I have not forgotten about the player that he was two years ago. It’s time to get back to that.”"

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Unfortunately for the Heat, Waiters’ past two seasons have essentially been a write-off. Re-signed to a four-year, $52 million contract in the summer of 2017, Waiters carried the ankle injury he sustained over into the 2017-18 campaign.

However after just 30 games, Waiters succumbed to season-ending surgery, thus prematurely ending his season.

As a result of the serious effects of the surgery, Waiters wound up being sidelined for over 12 months, hence limiting him to just 44 games last season.

After suffering from some natural rust after such a lengthy delay, Waiters slowly began to show signs of his undoubted talent, particularly from the perimeter.

Over his final 30 games of the 2018-19 season, the 27-year-old Waiters converted at an elite 40.7 percent clip from 3-point range on 7.3 attempts per game.

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Moving forward, the Heat will be hoping that Waiters can certainly live up to Spoelstra’s expectations in repeating the play he displayed in his debut season with the team.

In the midst of the Heat’s 30-11 finish to the season, Waiters had a 21-game stretch in which he averaged 19.6 points, 5.2 assists and 2.8 triples on a 46.4 percent clip.

Among Riley’s comments, clearly the most pertinent as it pertains to Waiters was his final line: “his career is on the line.” It was no coincidence that Waiters’ 21-game stretch came in the midst of a contract season.

Now with Riley’s words likely ringing in his ears, it would come as no surprise if Waiters were to produce a legitimate comeback season in 2019-20, and ensure the past two seasons became a distant memory.

To get an idea of his mindset, here’s a segment of the piece Waiters wrote for The Players’ Tribune shortly after he sustained his serious ankle injury. When describing his approach to having the ball in is hands with the game tied against the Golden State Warriors, Waiters stated:

"“Fourth quarter, 10 seconds left. Tie game. I got the ball in my hands with the game on the line, and I already knew what was gonna happen. F*** an overtime, let’s get up outta here. What’s the analytics on that? That’s a W. Then I hit ’em with the pose.”"

Given they finished dead last in efficiency in the clutch last season, the swagger and approach that Waiters brings will be an invaluable tool for the Heat moving forward.

While he managed to appear in 44 games last season, Waiters wasn’t himself last season, evidenced by his 73.9 offensive rating in the clutch.

However with a full summer of health and the words of Riley and Spoelstra ringing in his ears, look for Waiters to rebound and live up to the faith shown in him by the front office and coaching staff of the Miami Heat.