Miami Heat: What in the world are they to do with Dion Waiters?

Two seasons ago, Dion Waiters put up near career numbers in route to a new and lucrative deal with the Miami Heat. Severely failing to deliver, what should the Heat hope for now?

When the Miami Heat signed Dion Waiters to a 4-year, $52 million dollar contract two seasons ago, they thought they were getting a young scorer with his best seasons before him. Two years into that deal, Waiters hasn’t managed to live up to those expectations.

Not only has he failed to live up to the expectations that the Miami Heat front office must have had for him and that the fan base definitely had of him, but he has also failed to live up to the expectations that he set for himself. In the season before he signed his latest deal, the season he earned that deal, he averaged near career highs in scoring and field goal percentage, while he did set a career high for 3 point field goal percentage.

Where he averaged 15.8 points per game that season on 42 percent shooting from the field, and right at 40 percent from distance, he has been down in both categories over the past two seasons. What amplifies the negative feelings about his performance over the past two seasons is the fact that over the course of his three seasons with the Miami Heat, Waiters is yet to play in all 82 games. Out of a possible 246 games he could have played for the Miami Heat, he has only played in 120.

While the main hope for this season would be that he play more than 60 percent of the possible 82 games before him, there is just a bit more that should be expected of him. With his history in mind though, there are really only three positive things that can arise from his current scenario with the Miami Heat.

The first of these scenarios would involve him returning to the form that earned him the deal. This form was one in which Dion had become a sniper from the outside.

As mentioned earlier, he shot 40 percent from the three-point line, which pretty much meant he hit one for every two he took. This would be the first and most ideal scenario for Waiters next season.

The second most ideal scenario for Waiters would be for him to return to the guy he was coming out of Syracuse. Coming out of college, Waiters was a guy who feasted on the mid-range, but was also very adept and springy off the dribble.

He had quite a few highlights in his college days that help propel him into being a lottery pick off the bench. He was a sixth man extraordinaire at Syracuse, and that is the second most ideal scenario for him with the Miami Heat on next season. If he could re-claim that mentality even, it would be better than what he offered this past season.

The last scenario or possibility for Waiters would be for the Miami Heat to trade him. If they could somehow find a taker for his contract, which would be hard given the figures and his performance since signing the deal, that would be the third most ideal scenario here.

Waiters up until this point has been a failed signing. He hasn’t played all that much, and when he has, he hasn’t performed in the same top-flight manner that convinced the Miami Heat to make him such a lucrative offer in the first place. These are the three possibilities that immediately come to mind when thinking about what to do with Dion.