The Heat’s Dion Waiters reflects on first games back. And his hope for after the break
As the Heat’s rotation continues to evolve, Dion Waiters is still hoping to regain his starting role at some point.
But as the Heat begins a three-game homestand Wednesday against the Bulls, the guard is just happy to be playing 20 minutes again. He has logged 18 or more minutes of court time in each of the past four games after doing so just twice in his first six games back from left ankle surgery.
“It’s always good. It always helps,” Waiters said when asked about his increased role. “Hopefully it keeps getting better. I don’t want to take no steps back. At this point, we’re all trying to accomplish something, a goal and that’s the playoffs.
“I missed half the season. So this right here for me is like preseason, it’s like training camp, just building that up. So after All-Star [break], I’m able to just take off and get back to playing basketball and making sure it’s consistent.”
Waiters, 27, was fined an undisclosed amount for publicly venting about his lack of playing time earlier this month. He has remained fairly quiet about the topic ever since.
Waiters, who is in the second season of a four-year, $52 million contract, has played in 10 games after returning from ankle surgery that forced him to last season and the first 35 games of this season. He has averaged 8.8 points on 43.4 percent shooting from the field and 31.9 percent shooting from three-point range, 2.1 rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes.
There have been positive moments like Waiters’ 21-point performance against the Bulls on Jan. 19 and his 18-point outing against the Celtics two nights later. But there have also been some tough moments like a 3-of-12 shooting night at home against Boston on Jan. 10 and two two-point games.
“Just stay consistent,” Heat forward James Johnson said of his advice to Waiters. “He’s been consistently working, coming in at night time, doing his lifts wherever he lifts at. He’s just being consistent with it and that’s the main thing. You can’t get down because of minutes or your role or anything like that. The main goal is to get back to 100 percent. That doesn’t guarantee nothing, but it always gives you your best chance when you can perform at your best.”
Before his surgery, Waiters was the Heat’s starting shooting guard. But he has been used in a bench role since his return.
With Waiters almost a month in since his Jan. 2 season debut, does coach Erik Spoelstra believe he’s ready for more minutes?
“I don’t want to put a number on it,” Spoelstra said. “But that’s the balance — trying to keep our rhythm as a team and not take a step back when we’re trying to work somebody in [their] training camp. It’s too late for that, so he has to wrap his mind around making the best of his opportunity and then, behind the scenes, do as much as he can to prepare his body to be ready.”
Waiters believes he will continue to trend in the right direction, but “that also comes with more playing.”
The Heat is a different team than when Waiters helped lead a 30-11 finish to the 2016-17 season, his first with the organization. He averaged 18.4 points on 46.7 percent shooting to go with 4.8 assists during that stretch.
Waiters is starting to realize just how much things have changed.
“Everything is different, as you can see,” he said. “Everything is different about it. It’s about finding your niche, I guess, and just getting back to where you were before.
“It’s totally different than how we played when I first got here. When I first got here, it was more free. Now it’s more structured a little bit. So it’s just getting in certain sets and things like that. Things change.”
▪ Heat guard Tyler Johnson, who did not play in Sunday’s win over the Knicks, is questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Bulls because of left calf soreness. He did not practice Tuesday. If Johnson does not play, Spoelstra said Wayne Ellington will continue to start in his place.
Guard Dwyane Wade is also questionable for Wednesday’s contest because of right knee soreness.
This story was originally published January 29, 2019 at 3:07 PM.
