With Dwyane Wade leaving in free agency to sign with the Chicago Bulls, his hometown team, the Miami Heat will have a void at shooting guard.
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According to the AP, Dion Waiters has agreed with the Heat on a two-year, $6 million deal (year two is a player option).
OKC then gave him a $6.8 million qualifying offer, which he chose not to accept, but the Thunder rescinded it before the July 18 deadline, making Waiters an unrestricted free agent.
It came down to more than just money for Dion Waiters.
Waiters had become a bit of a laughingstock around the league for his shameless chucking and ball-stopping, with his general style of play resembling a ball-dominant star of the ’90s and early 2000s, only without the production to back it up. He averaged 9.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
What is known: With Waiters moving on, the Thunder is in position to provide the financial means to talk long-term with Westbrook now, months before the free agent recruiting circus hits in the summer of 2017. The Heat used its room exception on Waiters, despite not planning on doing so in the offseason, waiting for a midseason pickup.
What looks like it hurt Waiters was his ineffectiveness in the final three games of the Conference Finals, with the Thunder up 3-1 in their seires against the Warriors, Waiters managed to only score eight points in the final three Warriors wins. “I’m just ready to play whatever role I need to, like I did previous year”. Richardson also can play small forward.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that the Heat used their $2.9 million salary cap exception to sign Waiters.
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Ironically, the 24-year-old was drafted by none other but the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2012, taking the No. 4 overall spot. Miami will enter the season with a backcourt of Waiters, Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson and Josh Richardson. However, Waiters has proven that he is not afraid to take big shots even with much more established teammates around.
