Dion Waiters will be a free agent after this season, but he doesn’t want to deal with the drama. He just wants to stay with the Miami Heat.
Dion Waiters doesn’t want to deal with free agency this upcoming summer, and wants to re-sign with the Miami Heat long term. From the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson:
"“I want to get it done as quick as possible,” he said, hoping Heat longterm interest is mutual. “Let’s keep this thing rolling by any means. I don’t want to go into free agency with a couple days and make a decision. I don’t want that. I know where I want to be. Let’s just get it done. My mom loves it here. Would be mad at me [if I left]. My son loves it. My family loves it.”"
Waiters had a rocky off-season last summer. He was a restricted free agent and was expected to re-sign with the Thunder. However, as Oklahoma City rebuild in the wake of Kevin Durant leaving for the Warriors, Waiters was let go. The Heat, with an opening at shooting guard after Dwyane Wade signed with the Bulls, signed Waiters for a minimum, one-year deal.
Waiters has been key to Miami’s recent success and playoff push. He’s averaging more than 19 points since the Heat began it’s stretch of winning 21 of the last 25 games, as Jackson points out. Waiters, 25, is playing the best basketball of his career, and is key to Miami’s drive and kick game.
Here’s the only problem: With a strong season, Waiters has played himself into a pay raise. The Heat will have some money to spend, especially when Chris Bosh’s contract comes off the books, as expected, but Rilesburg will still need to make a decision:
Do they give Waiters the money, spending against the cap and sacrificing max cap space that could potentially be used to chase free agents like Blake Griffin, Gordon Hayward and Paul Millsap?
Or do they get a deal done soon in order to avoid the risk of the market driving up the price on Waiters?
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It all depends on Pat Riley’s outlook of this team, and what he thinks Waiters’ ceiling might be. Waiters, as Jackson reports, believes he hasn’t yet reached his potential.
“Every day I’m in the locker room, I always look at the pictures, always look at the champagne showers. I have visions about that every day. I ain’t going to stop working until I get to that point”