Miami Heat

Dion Waiters Showing Off Talent For Miami Heat

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:59 p.m. ET

Fansided, Justin Rowan/FanSided via Hoops Habit

The Miami Heat took a low-risk gamble when signing Dion Waiters this past summer. Now the team has won seven straight games and Waiters has been the catalyst for that winning.

Quietly there may not be a better quote in the NBA than Dion Waiters. There’s his classic philosophical statement of “men lie, women lie, buckets dnt.”

The issue with Waiters early in his career has been that he’s often been more entertaining off the court than on it and his moments on the court have been must-see for the wrong reasons.

Those moments included demanding the ball from LeBron James, of all people, while he was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He still has the quote game down, to be sure. After following up his game-winning three against the Warriors with a dagger three against the Nets, Waiters had the following exchange (via Sun Sentinel):

Sun Sentinel: “You always hear about guys in the zone. What’s it like to be in that zone and have that moment two games in a row?”

Waiters: “I love that moment. You can never shy away from that. I just feel though, like … one of my favorite quotes is, uh … I forgot it already. One of my favorite quotes. But yeah, man, you just can’t be afraid to take them shots.”

But with the Miami Heat winning seven straight games, Waiters is proving he can be just as entertaining on-court as he is off it.

Over the last seven games Waiters has averaged 22.1 points and 4.1 assists per game. He’s done it in an efficient way as well, shooting 50 percent from the floor and 48.7 percent from deep. This isn’t the first time Waiters has achieved individual and team success.

After the All-Star break in 2013-14, Waiters averaged 19.3 points and 3.7 assists per game. He did that while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 37.9 percent from three. The Cavaliers went 10-12 over that stretch, despite Kyrie Irving missing eight games.

There’s some similarities between that season’s success and the success Waiters is experiencing now. The most obviously similarity is that injuries have brought on an increase in touches for Waiters. He is a player that is far more comfortable when the ball is in his hands.

When he is decisive and either attacks the rim or shoots upon receiving the ball, Waiters can be an effective scorer. When he decides to dance around with the ball, that effectiveness drops in a hurry. For the year, Waiters is only in the 45th percentile as an isolation scorer.

Not exactly what you’d like to see from a player that loves to attack in isolation.

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With that comes the Dion Waiters paradox. He has the body type to be a very effective defender and has shown that ability in the past. Waiters was a big part in the Oklahoma City Thunder going up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals last season. However, that focus isn’t consistently there.

As a spot-up three-point shooter, Waiters is shooting 39.8 percent from three this season. Yet his shot selection has caused his efficiency to fluctuate over his career.

It’s possible that this is simply just another hot streak for Waiters in a streaky career. But even if that’s true, there’s a possibility for coach Erik Spoelstra to capitalize on his play.

With Waiters finding success, Spoelstra can show him a way to try and consistently maximize his abilities as a player. To go to the tape and show him what works for him and what he needs to eliminate from his game.

Spoelstra has done a phenomenal job over his career helping players maximize their abilities, and making it work within a system. This hot streak could potentially be a turning point in his career.

If Spoelstra can harness the talent and potential of Waiters and iron out his flaws, there’s a potential for Waiters to be a significant part of the rebuilding of the Miami Heat.