Dion Waiters Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Batum, Magic, Wade

November 12th, 2017 at 8:58pm CST by Austin Kent

With a full scrimmage under his belt, Hornets swingman Nicolas Batum is expected to make his 2017/18 debut on Wednesday, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes. Batum tore a ligament in his left elbow back on October 4.

One of the biggest impacts that Batum will have on the team is with his ball movement, as he posted 5.9 assists in addition to his 15.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for the Hornets last season.

“I bet he got an assist to everybody he played with today. There were a couple of times when he hit me wide-open and I wasn’t expecting the ball,” Hornets forward Marvin Williams said after the practice.

The club will get an even better idea of how ready Batum is to return to in-game action when they ramp things up at the Hornets’ practice on Monday.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

While he’s sure to clarify that the Magic don’t boast the same caliber of elite level talent that the Warriors have, John Denton of the team’s official site writes that Orlando has played rather Golden State-ish so far this season. The Magic have benefited from the same pace-and-space tactics that the historically dominant reigning champion Warriors have for the past several seasons.
The recent Eric Bledsoe trade has Heat beat writer Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel reexamining how the Goran Dragic deal holds up two years later. Like Bledsoe, Dragic was a quality Suns point guard that didn’t fit the team’s timeline at the time of the trade. Phoenix has yet to cash in on their spoils from that deal, Winderman writes. The Suns will collect Miami’s first-round pick in June (with some protections) and an unprotected first in 2021.
If Dion Waiters plays in 70 games for the Heat this season, he’ll earn an additional $1.1MM, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. That doesn’t mean the veteran will risk his health, however. “At the end of the day,” Waiters said, “If it’s something serious, I’m not going to put myself in harm’s way. I’m going to sit out. My body is more important.“

Heat Notes: Culture, Whiteside, Waiters

October 29th, 2017 at 6:59pm CST by Austin Kent

A lack of communication may be behind Miami’s sub-par start this season. As Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes, the Heat hashed things out in real, raw terms Sunday morning and seem to be in better spirits as a result of it.

“We had our discussions this morning,” forward James Johnson said. “We aired it out this morning. A lot of people took heat. I think it was the best thing for us to do, even more important than film. That’s what this culture is about, that’s what we’re about — staring guys in the eyes, telling guys the truth and that’s how you show you really love somebody.”

The Heat started famously bad last season before rallying from an 11-30 start to compete for an Eastern Conference playoff berth. That comeback was built largely on the culture that Johnson refers to.

There’s more out of Miami this weekend:

Dion Waiters will still get an opportunity to be a closer for the Heat, despite the fact that he struggled mightily against the Celtics this weekend. Head coach Erik Spoesltra told the Sun Sentinel that, despite a lingering ankle issue that occasionally appears to impede him, Waiters will continue to be fully in the mix heading forward.
The Heat have been without Hassan Whiteside since their season opener. Point guard Goran Dragic considers the 28-year-old center to be the heart of the team, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel reports. The big man has missed four games with a bone bruise on his knee.
The Heat haven’t started their campaign how they would have liked to and emotions are starting to ramp up. “I love all the emotions that players go through,” head coach Erik Spoelstra told the media, including the Sun Sentinel. “I don’t even care if it boils over. It means you care.”

Heat Notes: Olynyk, Richardson, Mickey

October 24th, 2017 at 7:36pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Heat handed Kelly Olynyk a four-year, $46MM contract this offseason and one rival Eastern Conference GM is not impressed with the transaction, as he tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

“Not a huge fan of Olynyk and think they overpaid by about 20 percent. I have no idea why he got a player option. But basketball wise he’s a good fit,” the anonymous GM told Jackson.

Olynyk’s contract contains a player option worth slightly over $12.2MM for the 2020/21 season. That same GM also offered his opinion on Jordan Mickey, whom the team signed to a two-year contract in August. “End of the bench NBA player [that] can play for 8-10 years in the right system as a shotblocker, rebounder, energy guy,” he said.

Here’s more from Miami:

Josh Richardson, who inked a four-year, $42MM extension with the Heat this offseason, may have been able to land a larger contract had he held off on signing until he reached the free agent market. However, the 2015 No. 40 overall pick is happy with the deal he signed, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel relays. “Let’s be real, $42 million is a lot of money,” Richardson said. “So I can live on that forever. I don’t really worry about what everybody else is doing. I don’t like comparing myself to other people. So when they came to it, it was kind of like a no-brainer.”
Hassan Whiteside injured his knee on opening night and the big man’s absence has forced Mickey to take on a starting role. The 6’8″ big man has mostly played the four during his time in the league, but he has no issue playing center when needed for the Heat, as Winderman passes along in a separate piece. “I feel comfortable at whatever position he puts me at, whether he needs me to guard the bigs on the court or guard one of the smaller guys on the court,” Mickey said. “That’s where the NBA is going now, bigger guys guarding small guys. So you’ve got to continue to grow with the game.”
The Heat don’t have many scoring options on the wing, making Dion Waiters‘ recovery from an ankle injury even more crucial, Winderman contends in a recent mailbag. Waiters suffered the injury last season and hasn’t been able to suit up yet as a result of it.

Heat Rumors: Hammons, Liggins, Olynyk, Waiters

October 13th, 2017 at 11:02am CST by Dana Gauruder

Rodney McGruder‘s injury could force the Heat to address the imbalanced roster, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald details. McGruder is out 3-6 months with a stress fracture in his leg, swinging the door open for Miami to keep or add another wing player, Jackson continues. The bottom of the roster is filled with power forwards and centers — Bam Adebayo, Udonis Haslem, Jordan Mickey and A.J. Hammons — and the Heat may have to waive Hammons and his guaranteed two-year contract to fortify the wing positions. Miami could keep either DeAndre Liggins or Matt Williams Jr. from its training-camp roster to fill the void, Jackson adds.

In other developments concerning the Heat:

Kelly Olynyk has made a strong case to be the starting power forward, even though James Johnson came into camp as the favorite to win the job, Jackson reports in another story. Olynyk has meshed well with center Hassan Whiteside in preseason action, which is making the decision tougher for coach Erik Spoelstra, Jackson continues. “Their skill sets really complement each other,” Spoelstra told Jackson and other media members. “Kelly does a lot of things very similar to JJ in his own personality, in his own way. We think it fits. We think it works whether he comes off the bench or not, I like the dynamic.”
Dion Waiters had to wait out the Gordon Hayward free agent saga before the Heat committed to him with a four-year, $52MM contract, Sports Illustrated’s Rohan Nadkarni notes during an in-depth feature on Waiters. A confident Waiters opted out of his deal this summer and the gamble ultimately paid off when Miami lost the Hayward sweepstakes and instead spent a chunk of their free-agent money on Waiters. “He likes to say he bet on himself, but he also bet on the organization,” Spoelstra told Nadkarni. “We bet on him as well. We’re not only about reclamation projects. We wanted to develop a relationship that would last longer than a year.”

Southeast Notes: Waiters, Hawks, Meeks

September 28th, 2017 at 4:02pm CST by Austin Kent

When Dion Waiters hurt himself last March he had the option to pursue a surgical treatment that would have sidelined him for eight to 10 months, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. The Heat guard, and at that point pending free agent, opted against going under the knife to repair his ankle and instead has been strengthening it and undergoing treatment.

Winderman stresses that Waiters only brought up the injury when asked at the Heat’s media day on Wednesday but admitted that some days are better than others.

“I’ll get four or five treatments every day,” Waiters, who re-signed with the Heat this summer, said. “Some days you’re going to feel great, some days it might be just one of them days. You have to push through it and be smart about the whole situation.”

In 46 games with the Heat last season, Waiters averaged 15.8 points per game. This year his contract will pay an additional $1.1MM if the guard stays on the court for 70 games, one of several incentives built into contracts that Miami extended this offseason.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

On the verge of what could be his first full season since 2014/15, Wizards guard Jodie Meeks is eager to show that he can still contribute to an NBA team. “Just because I want to show that I’m healthy,” Meeks told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. “I’m not old and washed up or whatever you want to call it.“
A hamstring injury will sideline Hornets forward Treveon Graham, the team’s PR department tweets. Graham is one of five players on non-guaranteed deals hoping to make the team’s opening day roster.
The Hawks will receive $100K for taking DeAndre Liggins‘ deal off of the Clippers’ hands, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. We wrote about the September 25 deal here.

Southeast Notes: Incentives, Gortat, Kidd-Gilchrist

September 14th, 2017 at 5:27pm CST by Austin Kent

The Heat found a creative way to pad the contracts of their offseason signees, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes, by loading the deals with impressive bonuses and incentives. Dion Waiters, for example, can net over $1M in addition to his traditional $11M deal by simply appearing in 70 or more games this season.

While Waiters only appeared in 46 contests last year, thereby making this an “unlikely” incentive, he played in 70-plus in each of the four seasons prior to 2016/17. Other sorts of bonuses offered include one that would reward Kelly Olynyk should the Heat make the playoffs and another that would sweeten James Johnson‘s deal provided he meets certain body-fat measurement requirements.

Such contractual maneuvers aren’t new for the franchise, Winderman writes, noting that the Heat employed similar tactics, tying routine weigh-ins to retired point guard Tim Hardaway‘s deals.

Incentives are officially classified as “unlikely” if the condition was not met in the previous season. Unlikely incentives do not count toward a team’s salary cap at the time of the signing but they do at the end of the season if the conditions are met. This allowed the Heat flexibility to successfully juggle their returning free agents.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Wizards decided this offseason to stick with their plan of gradually developing their young core, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes. While they may have been able to skip the line in the East by going out and acquiring an additional star, the Wizards’ patience could pay off in the long run.
A healthy Ian Mahinmi will eat into Marcin Gortat‘s role with the Wizards, Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes. At the end of last season, Gortat expressed doubt about his future in Washington, though he said last month that he’s fully committed to the franchise.
Without being asked, head coach Steve Clifford has reiterated that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will start at small forward for the Hornets, Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer writes. Concern over the 23-year-old’s offense has some wondering if he may be better suited for a reserve role.

Cap/Salary Notes: Heat, Clippers, Sixers, Chalmers

July 26th, 2017 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

When the Heat agreed to deals with Dion Waiters, Kelly Olynyk, and James Johnson earlier this month, the reported terms of those agreements looked a little too high for the club to fit within its available cap room. At the time, it appeared the reported salary figures on those deals – $52MM for Waiters, $50MM for Olynyk, and $60MM for Johnson – could be inflated by possible incentives, while the base values ended up being a little smaller.

In the case of Waiters and Olynyk, that’s indeed the case. As Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders details, the overall base value of Waiters’ four-year deal is approximately $47.3MM, while Olynyk’s is worth about $45.6MM overall. Pincus doesn’t yet have details on the unlikely incentives included in each contract, but if the terms reported initially are to be believed, it appears each player will have the opportunity to earn more than $1MM in incentives in each year of his new contract with the Heat.

Here are a few more cap, salary, and cash details courtesy of Pincus:

The Clippers sent $1.3MM to the Hawks as part of the three-way deal that landed Jamal Crawford in Atlanta, tweets Pincus. Meanwhile, the Clippers also paid $3.2MM to the Sixers to land the second-round pick that became Jawun Evans (Twitter link). That leaves the Clippers with just $600K available to send out in trades for the rest of the 2017/18 league year.
The Sixers can no longer receive cash in trades during the current league year, which runs through June 30, 2018. In addition to receiving $3.2MM from the Clippers, they were sent $1.9MM by the Bucks in exchange for the No. 46 pick (Sterling Brown), per Pincus (Twitter link). The limit for cash received in trades this season is $5.1MM.
Mario Chalmers is back in the NBA, but his contract suggests he doesn’t necessarily have job security quite yet. According to Pincus (Twitter link), only $25K of Chalmers’ minimum salary deal with the Grizzlies is currently guaranteed.
The Knicks sent $400K to the Kings as part of their “trade” that allowed them to hire Scott Perry away from Sacramento, tweets Pincus. Pincus adds (via Twitter) that the Kings and Knicks are now ineligible to trade with one another through the 2017/18 season. We saw that same restriction occur with the Clippers and Celtics a few years ago after L.A. sent Boston compensation to land Doc Rivers.

Southeast Notes: Waiters, Wade, Meeks, Magic

July 18th, 2017 at 9:02pm CST by marksuleymanov

Dion Waiters is for all intents and purposes the man who replaced Dwyane Wade as the Heat‘s shooting guard in Miami. After inking a four-year, $52MM pact recently, he will be the franchise’s immediate fixture in the lineup and the community. Yet, if Waiters has his way, Wade will eventually join him back home in Miami, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.

Waiters, 25, came into his own with the Heat in 46 games last season, averaging 15.8 PPG and 4.3 APG while playing over 30 minutes per game. As Waiters tells Jackson, he’s admired Wade from afar and made his desire to learn from the longtime Heat legend this offseason.

“We’ve got the same initials, our games are similar,” Waiters said. “Difference is, he’s got them three rings. He’s a Finals MVP. Top three best shooting guards all time. I’m chasing that. He’s one of my favorite players, one of the players I idolized my game after. When he’s playing against me, I’m checking things he’s doing.”

Wade, 35, has an option for $24MM for 2017/18 but the Bulls are not interesting in pursuing a buyout at this time. If Wade does end up on the open market, a reunion with the Heat seems like a possibility and one that Waiters — whose social media has hinted at his desire to play with Wade — would be rooting for.

Here are additional notes surrounding the Southeast Division:

When picking a destination this offseason, Jodie Meeks knew playing alongside John Wall and under head coach Scott Brooks was an appealing scenario, CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Chase Hughes writes. The Wizards won 49 games last season and with a productive, young core in the nation’s capital, Meeks will have a chance to be part of a winning team next season.
Magic president Jeff Weltman told media in a recent Q and A that his team is still looking for shooting upgrades, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter).

Heat Sign Dion Waiters To Four-Year Deal

July 7th, 2017 at 7:32pm CST by Luke Adams

July 7, 7:32pm: The Heat have officially re-signed Waiters, the team announced over Twitter.

Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel notes that the Waiters deal had to be announced prior to the Johnson confirmation, at which point a potential Wayne Ellington guarantee could follow.

July 6, 7:01pm: The Heat and Waiters are in agreement on the previously reported four-year, $52MM deal, per several reports. According to Scotto, the deal won’t include any options.

Scotto also reports that the Lakers made a one-year, $17MM offer to Waiters. L.A. has been reluctant to commit any second-year guaranteed money to free agents.

4:48pm: Waiters’ new deal is expected to be a four-year contract, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) pegs the total value at $52MM over four years.

4:31pm: The Heat are finalizing a contract agreement with Dion Waiters that will bring the free agent guard back to Miami, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Wojnarowski had indicated earlier today that Waiters was considering the Heat, Lakers, and Knicks, and would likely make a decision soon.

[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]

Waiters, a former fourth overall pick, didn’t generate much interest in free agency last summer after the Thunder withdrew his qualifying offer, and ultimately signed a modest deal with the Heat. Although he was limited to 46 games (43 starts), the 25-year-old had a nice bounce-back season in Miami, averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 3.3 RPG with a shooting line of .424/.395/.646.

Armed with a player option for 2017/18, Waiters turned down that option in search of a more lucrative deal on the open market, and was linked to the Lakers, Knicks, Bulls, and Kings. After Miami missed out on top free agent target Gordon Hayward, however, it made sense for Waiters and the Heat to work out a new agreement that allowed him to return to South Beach.

Terms of Waiters’ deal aren’t yet known, but the Heat figure to use a chunk of cap room to re-sign him, since their Non-Bird rights would only allow for a 20% raise. The club would also like to bring back James Johnson and has interest in Rudy Gay, among other free agents, so we’ll see how much cap space is left over after Waiters’ deal.

Waiters had ranked 21st overall on our list of 2017’s top free agents last week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Heat, Knicks, Lakers Still In On Dion Waiters

July 5th, 2017 at 1:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Dion Waiters may be nearing a decision on his free agent destination, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the Waiters situation is “inching closer to resolution.” Waiters is considering the Heat, Knicks, and Lakers, per Wojnarowski.

Waiters, who earned less than $3MM in 2016/17, had a big year for the Heat, averaging 15.8 PPG, 4.3 APG, and 3.3 RPG with a shooting line of .424/.395/.646. Although he was limited to 46 games (43 starts), the 25-year-old appears likely to parlay his performance in Miami into a much bigger payday this summer after turning down his player option with the club.

The Heat, Knicks, and Lakers all have a good deal of cap room available, though New York will have to renounce Derrick Rose to make use of that room and Miami may dedicate a portion of its space to a new deal for James Johnson. It’s not clear how many years those teams will be willing to offer — the Lakers are known to be avoiding multiyear commitments, and it’s possible that Miami and New York will want to preserve cap flexibility for the summer of 2018 as well.

The Bulls and Kings were linked to Waiters earlier in the offseason, but Chicago is now in rebuilding mode and Sacramento made its big backcourt splash by agreeing to sign George Hill.