5 reasons why the Miami Heat will make the playoffs

Dion Waiters will continue his high-caliber play

Now one of the more handsomely paid shooting guards in the NBA, Waiters will be looking to build on what was his most explosive season.

Knocking down big shot after big shot, he’s earned the nickname of Waiters Island among the South Florida faithful.

While he appeared in just 46 games last year, he proved to be a difference maker as a starter, averaging 16 points per game while knocking down 40 percent of his 3-point attempts.

We all remember the exhilarating shots against Golden State, Brooklyn, Cleveland, and Charlotte.

Not since a certain no. 3 donned a Heat uniform had we seen shots of this caliber of difficulty. It was certainly something to witness, and I don’t see that slowing down anytime soon.

Boasting a renewed sense of confidence and self-esteem, Waiters will compliment off of Whiteside and Dragic perfectly, and will once again find himself with the ball in his hands down the stretch of close games.

For the Heat to make any noise i the postseason, they need a closer. Whiteside has not proven to be that yet, and Dragic appears to be more comfortable running the offense in crunch time.

While I completely expect Whiteside to step forward even more come October, jumpers aren’t exactly his specialty, and I highly doubt he’ll develop one any time soon.

In steps Waiters, known for his confidence, and we’ve all seen what he can do when he catches fire.

There is plenty of reason to doubt whether or not he’ll keep up this level of play, but at the end of the day, he’s playing under no pressure on a team that’s not expected to make much noise in a conference essentially run by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The opportunity is right there, we’ll just have to wait and see if he seizes it.