The Dion "Bizarro Wade" Waiters Project

[contract]

Lol you guys are going a little too crazy, Dion will get some minutes here and probably have a season not unlike his past. He put up decent stats with terrible efficiency, he has value to a playoff team. Trade him for a late first rounder at the deadline. Don't tell me hes untradeable, Hes got one year at 3 mil, you want untradeable? look at Garrett Temple for 3 years 24 mil.

He was available to everyone. This is the best he could do. Obviously he's not in demand. Understandably he's not in demand. Crappy delusional chuckers usually aren't.

[El Alonzo scowl]

This is going to be the most awful Heat team to watch since the 15-67 season. We're straight up Island of Misfit Toys status now. May God have mercy on our souls.

[RexBoyWonder]

Waiters for room exception is a good signing. Waiters for the 15th roster position sucks. We need minutes for our young players. I honestly don't understand what's going on anymore. Are we going to really piss away the potential of Briante Weber or Rod McGruder for Waiters? Makes no sense at all.

G: Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Briante Weber, Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, Rodney McGruder, Wayne Ellington
F: James Johnson, Justise Winslow, Derrick Williams, Josh McRoberts, Udonis Haslem, Luke Babbitt, Okaro White, Chris Bosh
C: Hassan Whiteside, Willie Reed, Stefan Jankovic

Ok, with Waiters signing, McGruder loses his chance, right? We have to keep Weber or we're stupid. Okaro White and Jankovic are probably for later anyhow. That leaves us 15 guys.

G: Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, Briante Weber, Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington
F: James Johnson, Justise Winslow, Derrick Williams, Josh McRoberts, Udonis Haslem, Luke Babbitt, Chris Bosh
C: Hassan Whiteside, Willie Reed

I don't see Waiters instead of McGruder as an advantage. If Weber is out instead, nothing makes sense anymore. The kid is very gifted and was a steal (& is on a great contract.)

I hope he proves me wrong.

I'm afraid it's much worst then you even imagine.

It's not Weber I'm worried about, it's TJ and Rich.

You think Waiters signed here to be the 4th guard? you're very mistaken. He expected and maybe was promised a big role, you can bet on that.

How much plating time this leaves for TJ and Rich? That's the question that should give Heat fan nightmares.

[dolphinatik]

You have got to expect Dragic and Dion to get the lions share of starter minutes at pg sg
Backup pg has to be JRich and TJ as sg, Jrish can also play backup sf to Winslow

This leaves Weber and McGruder out in the cold since none are really sf's I also dont trust Babbit as a sf but he might get those backup minutes. 1b to JRich

PF will be Dwill McBob and Okaro for garbage minutes

and center we are in a bind with no real options if anything happens to Whiteside or Reed

somewhere in there Jank has to get minutes, heis not the type to show any worth while sitting on the bench.
edit we keep Jank on the team and primarily assign him to Dleague so he can be a Dleague superstar while he learns how to play the Bosh role for us.

[KnIcKsYaNkSmEtS1127]

What's the point of this signing? I don't understand...

Completely unbiased opinion but I heard this signing and it sounds like a typical shrewd Riley move. If he becomes a cancer in the locker room you cut him quick. No long term investment no real salary cap hit. The salary cap is going up next year so it looks even better come next year. If he can become 50% of what he was supposed to be this is a steal. Spoelstra can coach top players in the league so he should be able to get through to Waiters(hopefully). There's virtually no risk in this signing and the reward can be him becoming a real NBA star. He's young and hasn't reached his potential. Several players have seemingly turned it around early on in their career guys like Dirk and Jermaine Oneal. In the league where you need talent to win or eventually trade for that talent this can be a diamond in the rough move.

Waiters just wrapped up his fourth season. In his fourth season Dirk averaged 23 and 10

The point was that players can blossom after a couple of years for Dirk and Jermaine it was more of limited minutes for Dion it's his character.

[vanhowell]

“Without a doubt, I really believe that [I’ll eventually be the best shooting guard in the NBA]. This year, I’m going to show a lot of people who doubted me and still doubt me. I’m going to show them. And I don’t need praise and all of that. I just want to be respected. I’m coming. That’s all I have to say. I’ve taken my work ethic to another level and I feel as though I still have something to prove. So, watch out.”
[…]
“I’m coming,” Waiters told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. “I just feel as though I’m next up as far as shooting guards. If you look around, you know, Kobe [Bryant] and [Dwyane] Wade and those guys, they paved the way for a player like me and they’re almost done. It’s not like that, but I’m just saying, I’m coming. I just want everybody to know that.”


- Dion Waiters interview with Alex Kennedy at hoopsworld

[Bishop45]

“Without a doubt, I really believe that [I’ll eventually be the best shooting guard in the NBA]. This year, I’m going to show a lot of people who doubted me and still doubt me. I’m going to show them. And I don’t need praise and all of that. I just want to be respected. I’m coming. That’s all I have to say. I’ve taken my work ethic to another level and I feel as though I still have something to prove. So, watch out.”
[…]
“I’m coming,” Waiters told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. “I just feel as though I’m next up as far as shooting guards. If you look around, you know, Kobe [Bryant] and [Dwyane] Wade and those guys, they paved the way for a player like me and they’re almost done. It’s not like that, but I’m just saying, I’m coming. I just want everybody to know that.”


- Dion Waiters interview with Alex Kennedy at hoopsworld

Watch on YouTube

[Daffy]

I dislike Dion Waiters's game as much as many of you but this is a good signing. Low risk high reward. He's still only 24 years old. I understand being upset that he's taking minutes away from Johnson, Winslow, Richardson, but being upset over guys like Mcgruder is ridiculous. End of the day we need to harvest as much talent as possible. Who knows maybe he becomes a solid player for us or a tradable asset. We have no draft picks in a few drafts. We need young talent. JR Smith was once looked at like Dion Waiters and he's serviceable now. Hassan Whiteside.

[SCHeat]

Completely unbiased opinion but I heard this signing and it sounds like a typical shrewd Riley move. If he becomes a cancer in the locker room you cut him quick. No long term investment no real salary cap hit. The salary cap is going up next year so it looks even better come next year. If he can become 50% of what he was supposed to be this is a steal. Spoelstra can coach top players in the league so he should be able to get through to Waiters(hopefully). There's virtually no risk in this signing and the reward can be him becoming a real NBA star. He's young and hasn't reached his potential. Several players have seemingly turned it around early on in their career guys like Dirk and Jermaine Oneal. In the league where you need talent to win or eventually trade for that talent this can be a diamond in the rough move.

Waiters just wrapped up his fourth season. In his fourth season Dirk averaged 23 and 10

The point was that players can blossom after a couple of years for Dirk and Jermaine it was more of limited minutes for Dion it's his character.

I get your point, Dirk just isn't a good example. In his second season he averaged 17.5 and 6.5. It's not like he struggled that much.

[twix2500]

I didnt like Waiters at Syracuse and didnt like him coming into the NBA. I do not like much of this game. Now to not be overly negative. I think I may have seen something in this game that could work for him. When I watch the Thunder and GSW series, there were moments where Thunder used Waiters similar to how the Heat used Wade at times. He seems to play better getting the ball at the top of the three point line choosing where to penetrate. His instinct seemed to be more natural for him handling the ball at the top. In contrast i see him struggle when he gets the ball in the corners or edges. Rex did mention, that Waiters need to redefine his body for basketball. IMO he has a football body and is too top heavy. He needs to get quicker with better balance.

[DefenseWins]

I absolutely loathed watching Dion Waiters brick shots

He is like a lower tier JR Smith in his Knicks days. JR Smith as a Cavs actually contributed to wins with his shooting

Dion actually showed capabilities on the defensive end and he can run, but my god his shooting is terrible... I remember when he would shoot 3's they would be WAY OFF...

The only game I remember him having any sort of significance against us is when he was with the Cavs before LeBron was there and he went off.

Meh, atleast we didn't sign him longer and for more money... this is literally a cheap contract that's a test for both sides. Dion has to prove himself he belongs in the NBA, while we are giving him that chance because we have no options...

[Myam333]

“Without a doubt, I really believe that [I’ll eventually be the best shooting guard in the NBA]. This year, I’m going to show a lot of people who doubted me and still doubt me. I’m going to show them. And I don’t need praise and all of that. I just want to be respected. I’m coming. That’s all I have to say. I’ve taken my work ethic to another level and I feel as though I still have something to prove. So, watch out.”
[…]
“I’m coming,” Waiters told HOOPSWORLD in a phone interview. “I just feel as though I’m next up as far as shooting guards. If you look around, you know, Kobe [Bryant] and [Dwyane] Wade and those guys, they paved the way for a player like me and they’re almost done. It’s not like that, but I’m just saying, I’m coming. I just want everybody to know that.”


- Dion Waiters interview with Alex Kennedy at hoopsworld

-2013

[bondom34]

I came to bring highlights of Dion.

Spoiler:

[QUIZ]

I came to bring highlights of Dion.

Spoiler:

Stop mocking our players.

[bondom34]

I came to bring highlights of Dion.

Spoiler:

Stop mocking our players.

I did want to say this, because for some reason he got a bad rep. Dion was a really great kid and good locker room presence. I guess he wasn't in Cleveland but they were a mess at the time, and at the end of the year Donovan sat down w/ him and he seemed to change a bit. His brother also passed, and I think it put some things into perspective. He's got a good heart and he may end up turning things around. To be honest he's not good, but he showed a few times when he was on what he's capable of, and I wish him luck.

[JoeBarryCaroll]

I absolutely loathed watching Dion Waiters brick shots

He is like a lower tier JR Smith in his Knicks days. JR Smith as a Cavs actually contributed to wins with his shooting

Dion actually showed capabilities on the defensive end and he can run, but my god his shooting is terrible... I remember when he would shoot 3's they would be WAY OFF...

The only game I remember him having any sort of significance against us is when he was with the Cavs before LeBron was there and he went off.

Meh, atleast we didn't sign him longer and for more money... this is literally a cheap contract that's a test for both sides. Dion has to prove himself he belongs in the NBA, while we are giving him that chance because we have no options...

I agree that it's a cheap contract in today's NBA. The comparison to JR Smith I cannot agree with. JR and Waiters are two completely different birds. JR can't create his own shot but you put him on the arc with Lebron and Kyrie and he's gonna do a lot of damage hitting open 3's. JR actually can also play some real solid team D.

Waiters can't consistently hit 3's open or not but he can definitely dribble penetrate and create his own shot. JR cannot do that. Dion's other big problem is even though he has the handles and the quickness to get to the rim he cannot consistently finish. Honestly, he gets the yips. He blows past his guy he's at the rim but he lifted off too early so he can't dunk it or he tries to finger roll it and spins off the rim. I've seen him do it a thousand times with OKC and Cleveland.

If Spols and Riley can correct that part of his game so that he is a decent finisher at the rim and get him in sync with his teammates he could be a really outstanding get for the Heat. It isn't going to be easy to do those things though.

The guy does have skills and quickness and It's definitely worth the low cost flyer.

[EscapoTHB]

It's crazy how good Waiters was supposed to be, and then wasn't. Him and Derrick Williams are huge busts kind of in last chance corral.

[SF_Warriors]

Does he start? There seems to be a logjam at SG
Can richardson play SF?

[contract]

Ummm ... was that during halftime? Where the hell were the Memphis players? Were they on strike? Did they get paid for that game?

[TinmanZBoy]

Ummm ... was that during halftime? Where the hell were the Memphis players? Were they on strike? Did they get paid for that game?

Dion wanted a rebound