A conundrum continues to linger around the Miami Heat regarding what to do about Dion Waiters and his expensive contract.
The Miami Heat are currently an afterthought for major free agents entering the summer. Not because of the lack of playing time or Miami simply being an unattractive place to live, but the fact remains that after this mediocre season they had, (as a Heat fan, they did make substantial progress as a unit, but to the average fan they were the definition of mediocre) they simply don’t have anything to offer.
The chaotic rotation switches are going to resurface, and especially after Wade’s retirement. It isn’t a major issue moving forward, but there is something that needs to be addressed. The fact of the matter is that this Heat team simply doesn’t have enough assets or pieces of the puzzle in place to compete.
Not by a long shot. After trading for a second-round pick though, it seems the Heat organization might still have other plans in their playbook.
The wild cards here are the ludicrous contracts in place, especially Hassan Whiteside, who is yet another conundrum on their hands. There is another sheer question mark that is neither good nor bad, that’s what in the world can the Miami Heat do about Dion Waiters?
At one point in the season, Waiters led the Heat in 3-point shooting at 37 percent, but even that didn’t hold enough ground to give the Heat a stronger push for the playoffs. In fact, that percentage led the entire team, even though he only played in 44 games due to injuries.
When an injury prone player that has only played a max 46 games during his three seasons with the Heat leads the team in 3-point percentage, there is definitely something drastically wrong with the unit. Despite that, his numbers weren’t exactly stellar, averaging 12 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game this past year.
He is in the middle of a 4-year, $52 million dollar contract with $12 million coming in next year, while he is on a downfall in terms of production. The Miami Heat need to prepare to part ways with the Philadelphia native.
His Syracuse glory days, where he once demanded to be called Kobe Wade due to mirroring his game after them, are coming to an end. He can definitely redeem himself but that shouldn’t be Miami’s concern. With the Heat aiming for a younger core with Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, and Bam Adebayo being their leading group, they need to be aggressive with trade talks and start looking future homes for Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside, and even Goran Dragic.
True Dion Waiters story from his Cuse days: he considered his game a combo of Kobe and Dwayne Wade so he had teammates call him Kobe Wade.
— Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) May 31, 2016
The Golden State Warriors seem to apparently be looking to acquire a player due to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant‘s injuries. Waiters could be an option there.
As far as the Heat, they still need a lot of moving pieces to fall into place including picks and possible cash considerations for this to come into fruition, but the reality is that they need to start switching their gears that way. A change is imminent and if the Miami Heat want to compete, they can’t continue to do so with a hobbled Waiters leading the way.