In a dramatic turn in NBA free agency, the Miami Heat have landed Oklahoma City Thunder free-agent guard Dion Waiters with their $2.9mn salary-cap exception, agreeing to terms Monday on a one-year contract.
A free-agency period that began with the Heat’s failed effort to land Waiters’ former Thunder teammate Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City to recently rescind their qualifying offer to Waiters. The Heat then swooped in Monday, according to the Associated Press, with their lone chip remaining to put into play in free agency, the $2.9mn salary-cap exception granted to teams that had previously utilized salary-cap space to fill out their roster.
Had Waiters, 24, merely accepted the Thunder’s $6.8mn qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, he would have been guaranteed that salary for the coming season. Instead, he declined to accept that contract for 2016-17, with Oklahoma City then withdrawing that qualifying offer by their July 18 deadline. He earned $5.1mn last season.
To appreciate the dramatic turn of events, consider that Heat President Pat Riley said just over a week ago that there were no plans to utilize the $2.9mn exception this offseason.
“As far as the $2.9mn room exception,” Riley said on July 16, two days before Waiters’ qualifying offer was rescinded by the Thunder, “we’re going to hold on to that. It’s a little jewel right now. I don’t think we’re going use it for the rest of the summer. There isn’t anybody out there right now that I want to give it to. It’s something you can use somewhere in February or March.”
In the wake of losing franchise mainstay Dwyane Wade in free agency to the Chicago Bulls, the Heat appeared poised to enter the season with Wayne Ellington, Tyler Johnson or Josh Richardson as their opening-night shooting guard in place of Wade.
But into that void now steps Waiters, who had his moments during the Thunder’s run to within one victory of the 2016 NBA Finals and provides an added element of 3-point shooting that the revamped Heat roster had lacked.
With Waiters and Ellington added, it is possible that the Heat explore minutes at small forward for Richardson. That would leave Justise Winslow available to move to power forward should Chris Bosh be unable to return from the blood clots that have sidelined him the second half of the past two seasons.
The addition of Waiters brings their roster to 18 players, with teams allowed to carry a maximum of 20 during the preseason before being required to trim to a maximum of 15 by the start of the regular season.
The addition of Waiters further lengthens the odds of summer-league additions Okaro White, Stefan Jankovic or Rodney McGruder making the Heat’s opening-night roster, despite six-figure guarantees to each.
Waiters’ future with the Thunder came into question when Oklahoma City acquired Orlando Magic shooting guard Victor Oladipo during June’s NBA draft, with the Thunder then losing Durant to the Golden State Warriors in free agency.
Waiters was selected with the No. 4 pick of the 2012 NBA draft as a sophomore out of Syracuse by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After a pair of productive seasons in Cleveland, including a fifth-place finish in balloting for 2013 NBA Rookie of the Year, Waiters was dealt by the Cavaliers to the Thunder in the middle of the 2014-15 season in the three-way deal that delivered guard J.R. Smith from the New York Knicks to Cleveland.
Waiters had been utilised primarily as a reserve by the Thunder, with 35 regular-season starts over the past two seasons, after starting 73 games with the Cavaliers.
Waiters appeared in 18 playoff games for the Thunder this postseason, playing 27.3 minutes per game and averaging 8.4 points.
By utilizing their $2.9mn exception on Waiters, the Heat now have only the NBA minimum salary to offer any additional players this offseason.