Miami Heat: Dion Waiters would benefit from having Dwyane Wade around

What could a final season for Dwyane Wade mean for Dion Waiters and the Miami Heat?

The definition of a dull NBA offseason can vary according to the organization one’s loyalty is invested in.

For Miami Heat fans, the summer has been two months of speculation and rumors that included everything from the team’s social media teasing nonexistent news, to Dwyane Wade shooting down the stories of his impending deal for his last season.

But what if the news Wade called fake is true? What would that mean to the team, besides the farewell tour he said he does not want?

Someone like Udonis Haslem would pride himself on being around to push Heat Culture on the next generation, the way Alonzo Mourning and Eddie Jones did with him and Wade. A noble gesture, except Wade’s influence would be better suited elsewhere.

Like taking Dion Waiters from being someone with the confidence to believe he can take over a game, to actually being a player who knows how to do so consistently.

It is an idea that Waiters floated out there seventeen months ago:

"“He’s one of my favorite players, one of the players I idolized my game after… Hopefully, one of these summers, we can get together and he can teach me some of the tricks of the trade of getting fouled more. I am definitely going to reach out to him to see if I can propel my game to a new level… It’s always been little brother, big brother from afar. I want to pick his brain.”"

An ankle injury to Waiters and the late addition of Wade prevented that knowledge from being passed.

However, if you put Wade in the locker room for a final season, a little more than hustle and grit can rub off. Starting with those lessons on how to get to a line where Wade averaged a career 7.4 attempts, compared to Waiters’ 2.7.

The mentoring would not have to stop there either. Waiters could use the time to soak up some game on how to finish at the rim.

In 30-games last season, Waiters finished 58.7 of his shots in the restricted area. Which sounds good—especially on a bad ankle—but it was a sample size. Rewind to the 2016-17 season when he put up over 600 shots, and you end up with a 49.2 percent output from less than five feet from the basket.

Wade, at 35, was able to manage a 53.7 percent average from the same distance, that same year.

Waiters once said that he was chasing the things Wade had: the rings, the Finals MVP and the top three shooting guard status. A third of that would suffice for him on Biscayne Bay.

But it may take some grooming from Wade to get there. After all, he already has the pose and game winners down.

Put Waiters Island in Wade county for a season, and he should absorb enough to save president Pat Riley from hearing complaints about giving $52 million to a man with a bad ankle.