After being activated for the first time this season on Sunday vs. Houston, Dion Waiters was back on the inactive list for the Heat on Tuesday, writes Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
As Winderman observes, the question of when Waiters will return appears to be turning into a question of if he’ll return. The veteran guard has yet to play in a game this season, and two-way player Chris Silva and little-used big man Udonis Haslem were among those active ahead of him in Denver on Tuesday.
“Dion will not be active. He will work out,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said before Tuesday’s game. “I met with him. He and I talked. Things are a little bit fluid right now, because we have everybody available right now, which is a good thing. And then we’ll continue to work it out.”
Waiters’ situation has been a “weird subplot” during an otherwise strong start to the season for the Heat, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, who tweets that the team hasn’t found “anything palatable” on the trade market for the 27-year-old.
In a separate story for the Sun Sentinel, Winderman wonders if the Heat simply don’t want to risk compromising the good chemistry the team has developed in the first two weeks of the season by re-inserting Waiters in the mix. Winderman also speculates that the negative comments Waiters made on social media in the wake of his one-game suspension to open the season may have represented a tipping point for the Heat.
As Winderman points out in another story, Heat president Pat Riley is treating the Waiters situation a little differently than he did when Hassan Whiteside complained about his playing time in recent years. With Whiteside, Riley nudged Spoelstra to make the situation work and find a role for the big man. In Waiters’ case, Riley appears content to leave the ball in Spoelstra’s court, per Winderman.
Waiters is a cancer and has to go
Trade him, he is a cancer and so is his salary
Read your post again. You literally noted the exact reason they are having trouble trading Him. Not a lot of teams are jumping at taking on a guy that has a rep of being a tough team guy and has a relatively high salary for what he offers. The Heat will likely have to take back some bad contracts and give up draft compensation if they want to move him.
Heat do things right not tolerating that crap.
Probably need to include a 1st round pick to trade him, unfortunately they have already traded away their 2021 and 2023 picks
Actually Waiters is very workable on this team. When his head is screwed on right and he’s in shape. Only half that is in play right now unfortunately.
Andy Elisburg found a trade for TJ by adding in Ellington and that was a Monster bad contract. Same will hold true with Waiters. Probably cost the Heat Jones or Robinson as the sweetner for a $7M-$8M expiring contract.
Where there’s a will there’s a way. Just a matter of when Riley gets the will to give up one of promising youngsters.
Sad, really sad.
The bench is a good teacher. Waiters is a malcontent. It’s a team game dude!