Dion Waiters is due for a substantial raise from the $2.9 million he made in 2016-17, and he’s hoping it comes from the Miami Heat—so much so he’s willing to return at a discount.
Here’s what he said during an appearance on WSVN’s 7 Sports Xtra (via the South Florida Sun Sentinel‘s Ira Winderman):
“It depends,” he said Sunday. “Yeah, I would, though. But, like I said, it depends, just being the right thing, at the right time. It’s just got to be right. It’s got to be equal.”
The Way of Wade must have rubbed off on Waiters a little bit.
Waiters and James Johnson are the Heat’s two key free agents entering this summer. Both are coming off career years, and both should cost eight figures annually unless they accept totally unexpected pay cuts. Though the Heat have a ton of cap space after wiping Chris Bosh’s deal from the ledger, re-signing both Johnson and Waiters will take up a large chunk of it, presumably removing them from the pursuit of another big name.
And that puts team president Pat Riley in a weird situation. He has said he wants to focus on in-house free agents, but is it worth doubling down on a core that missed the playoffs? Can this Heat core recapture the magic that helped them to the league’s second-best record during the second-half of the season?
Retaining Johnson and Waiters is a no-brainer if Miami can still chase a Danilo Gallinari-type player. But cost, as usual, will be the driving factor behind keeping or busting up this core. Should Waiters find an offer worth more than $12 million annually, the Heat, and their fans, must brace themselves for him to leave.
