Here’s the plan for Waiters and what Heat expects, as difficult choices loom for Spoelstra

They butted heads during the early stages of their relationship, before Erik Spoelstra and Dion Waiters gained a greater understanding of each other. And now, with Waiters in the early stages of his Heat comeback, Spoelstra is asking Waiters to be something that runs counter to his personality: patient.

Is that difficult to be, Dion?

“Hell, yeah,” he said after scoring seven points in Wednesday’s win at Cleveland, his first game in nearly 13 months after ankle surgery. “But I’ve got to be. I’ve been out all year. I know it’s going to take time. Whenever the training wheels come off, I’m ready.”

Spoelstra, too, cautions that Waiters is not going to go from playing 10:42 in Cleveland to logging starter’s minutes. This will be gradual progression. And the coach also has to sort out how to make room for both Dwyane Wade — who missed Wednesday’s game due to illness — with Waiters.

“Long-term,” Spoelstra said. “That’s how I’m looking at it. This is big picture, not about how many minutes he’s going to get right now because we have a team that really started to make some strides in the last five weeks, and we have a lot of depth and guys that are finally healthy at the same positions. These are going to be challenging decisions from my spot, and that’s what I’m here to do. We’ll get him going.”

But this much is clear: Heat management believes he can be a difference-maker.

Days after giving Waiters a four-year, $52 million contract in the summer of 2017, Heat president Pat Riley spoke of a player he believes, if healthy, is “one of the most talented two guards, two-way guards at not only attacking the basket, but raising on threes. He had one of the top defensive percentages in the league defending. He’s an end-of-the-game, end-of-the-shot-clock player. A lot of times you can’t find those kind of guys.”

Heat players see the potential, even after a long layoff.

“He’s one of the easiest guys I’ve ever seen get to the paint without a screen,” James Johnson said. “He puts a lot of pressure on defenses, and they tend to forget about other guys who can put pressure on.”

Since the day he arrived, Riley and Spoelstra repeatedly have spoken to Waiters about the need to be more efficient.

When he shot 42.4 percent from the field and 39.5 percent on threes during that breakout 2016-17 season, it marked only the second time in his six-plus-year career he has shot better than 42 percent overall and 36 percent on threes.

One area where Waiters has become considerably better: finishing at the rim. He shot 61.4 percent at the rim in 2017-18, topping his 50.8 and 50.7 percent the previous two seasons. The Heat hopes that continues.

One thing Waiters can do, at his best, is make the game easier for others by driving and kicking.

Kelly Olynyk said he’s particularly on high alert with Waiters in the game, awaiting a pass for a three-pointer. “Definitely, because he always has the ability to get in the paint. There’s never a dull moment so you always have to be ready.”

Who on the Heat does his best work with Waiters?

Hassan Whiteside, and it’s not even close. During Waiters’ Heat career, Miami has outscored teams by 112 points when Waiters and Whiteside are on the floor together, including plus-11 Wednesday.

“Dion gets in the paint on pick-and-rolls so I can be in the basket [area] a lot more, and he does a really great job of finding me, like that D-Wade-type feel coming off pick-and-rolls,” Whiteside said. “He really does well reading my game.”

Conversely, the Heat is plus-14 with Waiters and Olynyk, minus-37 with Waiters and Josh Richardson, minus-46 with Waiters and injured Goran Dragic, minus-83 with Waiters and Bam Adebayo and minus-108 with Waiters and Justise Winslow.

Even beyond the scoring and penetrating, Tyler Johnson said Waiters brings something else, too: “More than anything, you love his competitiveness, you love his energy. When he gets out there, he has this swag on the court. It brings the best out of you, too.”

The Waiters/Spoelstra relationship has grown, and that should help as Spoelstra figures how to allocate minutes.

“We’ve spent a lot of time together,” Spoelstra said. “We butted heads several times at first but we’ve come over the years to find some common ground. In a competitive field, we’re not that far apart. He has a very charming side to him and the competitive side, as long as it’s challenged the right way.”

As Waiters said: “One thing about us is I’m always going to tell you the truth. I don’t know how to sugarcoat nothing. He’s the same way. I can always go in his office and tell him how I feel. Whether he agrees or not, he’s always going to listen.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2019 at 1:30 PM.