What happens to Dion Waiters if the Miami Heat trade for Kyrie Irving?

A potential reunion of Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters will lead to an interesting situation in the Miami Heat backcourt.

Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters were supposed to be the dynamic duo that changed the league. Together, the two high draft picks would change the face of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the wake of LeBron James’ departure to the Miami Heat.

You could say Irving held up his end of the bargain, albeit with a massive helping hand from James, while Waiters was a casualty of James’ desire for more steady veterans on the team. His journey took him to Oklahoma City with Russell Westbrook and then

And yet, here we are. Irving wants out of Cleveland and listed Miami as a desired destination, lining up a potential reunion with his old teammate. But make no mistake—neither is the same player they were four years ago.

If Kyrie Irving arrives in Miami, the Heat will acquire a supercharged guard that plays with speed and precision with the ball in his hands.

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The reality is that much of the intrigue with this combo lies on the offensive end. Irving is an average defender at his very best and surely an arrival in Miami would force him to rebuild his defensive habits to fit within the team’s aggressive system. Waiters can attest, as he arrived as a better defender than Irving, but is quickly morphing into one of the most reliable perimeter defenders on the team.

Offensively, these two are a very compelling duo at this stage in their careers. Irving is leaving Cleveland to be “the man” away from the larger than life shadow of LeBron James, so it’s a safe assumption that he’ll want to be the primary ball-handler and initiator of the offense.

That taken at face value is a perfectly workable compromise for Waiters, who typically deferred to Goran Dragic to initiate the offense. But a closer look at Irving’s numbers suggest a hurdle the Heat will have to address with both players on the floor.

Not only did Waiters produce almost 22 percent of his shot attempts out of the isolation, good for fifth in the NBA, but Irving was right behind him at 21.4 percent. For comparison, Dragic came in all the way down at 7.8 percent. A swap of Irving for Dragic will triple the amount of isolation possessions and as the old adage goes—”there is only one basketball.”

Waiters and Irving are two players who thrive with the ball in their hands. But these isolation numbers aren’t sustainable to a successful offense, especially one that puts a premium on ball movement like Miami. Erik Spoelstra had to solve this puzzle when Dwyane Wade and James teamed up, and he’ll have to do it again if the Heat manage to acquire Irving.

Because Irving is the “star,” it’ll more than likely be Waiters that’ll be forced to take a backseat on the offensive end. Irving, who produced 35 percent of his shot attempts after seven or more dribbles and took the sixth-most pullup jumpers in the league last year, is going to dominate

So where does that leave Waiters? The reality is the Heat turned him into one of their best distributors last year (second on the team in assist rate to go along with best assist numbers of his career) so the concept of him playing Robin to Irving’s Batman isn’t farfetched. The two can coexist, but Waiters’ offensive output will undoubtedly take a hit. How big of a hit depends on what Irving is willing to give.

Next: Could the Heat trade Bam Adebayo for Kyrie Irving?

Looking back on James and Wade’s early days, it’s easy to see just how beneficial it was when both players decided to change their games to accommodate the other. The change is slight, but the benefit was immeasurable.

Irving and Waiters would be met with similar challenges but, if they find a way to thrive off of each other, the Heat can challenge their former teammate.

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