The Heat now find themselves in a place where they are asking too much of the eight guys that Coach Spoelstra usually deploys. While Justise Winslow has had awful luck with injury this season, James Johnson and the subject at hand, Dion Waiters, have routinely been “scratched” or DNP’d this season.
With the Miami Heat seemingly dealing with the fatigue factor on every second night of a back to back set and on every third night of a three games in four nights sequence, they simply need bodies to soak up some of the minutes. It doesn’t hurt that in these moments, the Miami Heat struggle to create shots, which is something that Dion Waiters can do.
The main thesis here is this. While you don’t want to do him any favors, using Dion at this juncture may actually be in the best interest of the team. Besides, the smart money would lean towards the killing two birds with one stone notion.
While you would be getting minutes out of him and thus giving other players moments to rest, you would also subtlely be showcasing Waiters for other teams to potentially begin to become interested in his services again. You probably won’t ever get back a king’s ransom for Waiters, but you could at least potentially get something while also ridding yourselves of him. This is why we are wondering if the Miami Heat can continue to capitalize on regret.