Let’s bump that efficiency
It would be a lie if anyone would say that Waiters is efficient. In the seven seasons, he has shot under 40 percent from the field three times and the other four times were low 40s. This doesn’t get better from downtown. That has slightly improved in his time with the Miami Heat, particularly from distance.
In his three years with Miami, he has averaged 41 percent on 12.9 attempts, 36 percent from beyond the arc on 36 percent, and 64 percent on 2.0 attempts. His true shooting doesn’t improve his case as he is a career 49 percent.
But let’s dive in more into the stats.
One of his main strengths is being a catch-and-shoot player mostly from deep. Over the three years, he has attempted 3.8 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and is making them on 38.9 percent.
Another surprising fact is his ability to make shots when there is a defender near his proximity. Per NBA stats, they classify being guarded tightly anything under 4 feet. He attempts a shocking 6.0 tightly guarded field goals per game but what’s more shocking he makes 45.7 percent of them.
The only downside to his game that drops his efficiency is his pull-up game, volume and his ability to hit open shots (yes he struggles more with open shots). He shoots 34.2 percent on pull-ups and 30.1 percent when he is left wide open.
How can this be improved by next season though? That answer is very simple.
More shooters and Butler. With Butler on the team, Waiters won’t have to attempt to carry the offense and take so many shots, so his volume will decrease. Another positive is defenders won’t be able to focus on every player as they will have an All-star to defend.
With the focus on Butler and other more reliable shooters like Tyler Herro, this will allow the defense to back off from Waiters and allow him to have more open shots though that may not exactly be a good thing if the trend continues.
Finally, Butler, Winslow, and Dragic will be the primary ball handles and with that, this can help turn Waiters into a more catch-and-shoot player.
Taking all of this into consideration, it isn’t much of a stretch to try to increase these numbers to high 40s from the field and 40 percent from downtown.
If everything goes according to plan and Waiters managed to achieve all of these goals, then it is fair to say that he might be able to make his case for the sixth man of the year.