Waiters surgery expected

Operation would end his season

MIAMI — Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters is expected to undergo seasonending surgery on his troublesome left ankle, at least two media outlets reported after the Sun Sentinel reported that a decision was imminent.

The Heat declined to comment on the recent reports of Waiters’ status, with the guard having missed the past nine games with what the team had listed as a “left ankle sprain.”

Waiters, 26, missed the final 13 games of last season with a sprained left ankle, then, after agreeing to a four-year, $52 million freeagent contract, reported to training camp complaining of continued discomfort in the ankle.

Waiters’ contract includes a $1.1 million bonus if he appears in at least 70 of the 82 games this season. Counting the two games he missed in November for the birth of his daughter, he now has missed 11 games, likely to miss the final 52 games of the schedule, after appearing in only 46 with the Heat last season due to a variety of injuries.

ESPN reported the surgery would come within the next two weeks, a period when the Heat largely will be on the road.

Waiters said in September he was told last season that the estimated timetable for a return from such surgery would be eight to 10 months. The Heat’s regular season ends April 11. The long end of such a timetable could put Waiters in jeopardy of missing the start of next season’s training camp.

Asked last Friday about the possibility of such surgery, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “We’re not even at that point right now.”

Waiters has been seeking outside opinions on the ankle in Los Angeles, with, according to a Sun Sentinel source, the Heat huddling Thursday to discuss the approach going forward.

Waiters went down with his sprained left ankle in the Dec. 22 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. He had been uneven to that stage, his early-season struggles including .398 shooting from the field and .306 shooting on 3-pointers, with 70 turnovers to his 113 assists.