Dion Waiters should be a top-100 player in the NBA

Dion Waiters was one of the most compelling two-way players in the NBA last season, but somehow not worthy of preseason top-100 rankings.

When will Dion Waiters get any respect?

A year ago, the young guard sought refuge in Miami, committed to the team’s rigorous system and, in his words, bet on himself and doubled down. The reward? A four-year, $52 million contract to stay with the Heat.

While Waiters may be earning the money he wants, it appears he’s still a long way from earning the respect he’s worked tirelessly for.

As the season approaches, both Sports Illustrated and ESPN have rolled out their top-100 players for the upcoming year. Among those Heat players to make the lists: James Johnson (91, 93), Goran Dragic (43 on SI, 47 on ESPN) and Hassan Whiteside (34 on SI, 41 on ESPN).

One name that is noticeably absent from the Sports Illustrated list, surprisingly, is Dion Waiters (Waiters comes in at 98 on the ESPN list). Although Waiters is listed amongst the biggest snubs (next to equally puzzling omissions like Marcus Smart, Rajon Rondo, Jabari Parker, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili) he doesn’t make the cut, while more unproven players like D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Robert Covington found a comfortable slot alongside aging journeymen Robin Lopez, Wilson Chandler, Marvin Williams and Taj Gibson.

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This isn’t so much about those players as much as it is about the reasoning why Waiters, one of the most exciting and clutch guards in the league last season, was omitted. The rationale given by SI attributed much of the reasoning to his reputation as a wildly inconsistent player, very little of which was put on film during his time in Miami.

Waiters’ reputation is something that’ll follow him, it seems, for the rest of his career. He’ll always be the infinitely confident bull in a china shop, firing inefficient jumpers at will and not particularly concerning himself with fitting in a system, rather opting to have the system fit around him.

But that wasn’t the Dion Waiters that showed up in Miami last season, especially in the second half of the year where he was paramount to the Heat’s 30-11 run. To hold up his prior work as a better indictor of the type of player he is today is a disservice to the work he’s put in over the last year, even despite his injury problems of last season.

Not only did Waiters shoot a career-high from 3, he also expanded his game, averaging career highs in both rebounds and assists. With him on the floor, the Heat posted a nearly three-point net rating, defending and scoring better than their averages.

To call Waiters a “one trick pony” is to not fully understand what he offers on the defensive end. Yes, only the brash late game shots will make it to the highlight reel, but Waiters quietly had the very best defensive season of his career and proved he can be that two-way guard everyone predicted coming out of Syracuse.

Waiters held defenders to 4.3 percent below their shooting average, which shattered his previous career high in that category, ranking among the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, teammate James Johnson, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert.

It’s abundantly clear that volume, particularly scoring volume, weighed heavier than most. Devin Booker, a bulky, inefficient shooter and abysmal defender, comes in comfortably at 64, ahead of more well-rounded players like Danny Green, Eric Gordon and Rodney Hood. Booker is a pure scorer while those other three are not (despite all being capable shooters) and has that terribly odd 70-point game on his highlight reel as well. Waiters grades out statistically far more balanced.

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The overall concept that there are 100 (maybe more) players in the NBA better than Dion Waiters feels like yet another slight to one of the league’s most unique personalities on the quest to find consistency in his career. Yes, these rankings are hardly scientific and are purely for internet fodder, but its evident that the players are paying attention.

Surely, Waiters will make a mental note of this as October approaches.