Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Waiters looks ahead: ‘I think we can be special’
Contract signings will let team retain its character from last year
Hassan Whiteside looked beyond the names on the dotted lines. He was confident that forward James Johnson and guard Dion Waiters would make their way back to the Miami Heat in NBA free agency.
It is what it said above where Johnson and Waiters signed that the Heat’s shotblocking center found particularly comforting.
“I’m very happy that they’re coming back,” he said Saturday at a celebrity softball game at Barry University, “but I’m even more happy that they’re here for so long, instead of signing a one- or two-year deal.”
Not only did Johnson and Waiters sign four-year contracts Friday, but free-agent acquisition Kelly Olynyk did, as well.
A year after the Heat lost Dwyane Wade, Whiteside said it was reassuring to know that the team’s identity would be allowed to flourish.
“It’s great, having everybody back,” he said. “We get a Round 2 with this thing.”
After a brutal 11-30 start with a drastically revised roster, the Heat rallied to close at 41-41, missing the playoffs by a tiebreaker.
That, Waiters said at Saturday’s softball event, made Friday’s signing as much a collective moment as personal validation with his $52 million package, after playing for $2.9 million last season.
“I mean,” he said, “that’s what we talked
about, about keeping it together. We felt that we had something special last year and we just wanted to keep the core together, most of the guys.”
Luke Babbitt, Udonis Haslem and Willie Reed remain unsigned from last season’s roster, with Reed likely squeezed out by salary-cap constraints. But there remains a $4.3 million midlevel exception for another acquisition, as well as veteran-minimum slots for Babbitt and Haslem.
“We’ve got to continue to build off of what we did last year and just continue to get better,” Waiters said. “Coming in that, that’s what we talked about this season is just how can we keep this thing together.”
By staying together, Waiters said the edge remains, from being mocked early last season to respected by the finish.
“I think we can be real good, especially just knowing everybody knew what we did last year and I feel as though we can feed off that,” he said. “But you know it’s going to be a different year coming in every year. We’ve got some new pieces and things like that. I just think we can be special. At the end of the day, I think we can be special, especially keeping most of the guys together.”
Even with Johnson and Waiters linked to other suitors, Whiteside said there were no reservations that Heat president Pat Riley would find a way to bring the band back.
“I never had any doubts,” he said. “Them guys love it here. So I didn’t have any doubts at all.”
With Olynyk, first-round draft pick Bam Adebayo and the possibility of more on the way, Whiteside said ninth place is in his rearview mirror.
“I definitely think we definitely can be a top-four team in the East. I don’t think that’s out of the question,” he said. “I think it’ll be a really good group, especially with our rookie, the way he’s been playing in summer league. I’ve been watching him a lot. So, I’m very excited. We’ve got all our guys back, we get the Bam back.”
Waiters said his breakout season was exactly what he was wagering on.
“Just got to bet on yourself sometimes. You’ve got to bet on yourself and let everything else take of itself,” he said. “I just was living life. Like I took care of what I was supposed to take care of. I did what I had to do.”
So he met with Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra early in free agency, listened to overtures from other suitors, then sat back and waited to sign.
“I wasn’t worried about nothing,” he said. “I did what I had to do, like I said. I just had to wait it out.
“It’s now how can you take it to another level? How can you elevate the team and things like that. That’s the thing we’ve got to work on.”