Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Waiters won’t risk his health for $1.1M bonus
Guard will lose payout if he misses 13 or more games
SALT LAKE CITY — The bonus, Dion Waiters said, is just a bonus. It is not something, he emphasized, that he would allow to compromise his season or his team’s season.
As part of the offseason creativity required from Miami Heat General Manager Andy Elisburg in order to return the core of last season’s roster, the four-year, $52 million freeagent contract Waiters signed in July included a $1.1 million bonus for appearing in at least 70 games this season.
Waiters already has utilized two of the maximum 12 games he can miss over the 82-game schedule, in order to return to South Florida at the start of this six-game trip for the Sunday birth of his daughter.
“I never thought about it,” he said ahead of Friday’s game against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. “It’s my daughter.”
He also said he would not overly concern himself with the financial implications if it were to conflict with physical implications, after appearing in only 46 games last season.
“I don’t care about that,” he said. “I get it or I don’t. If it’s something serious and I’ve got to sit out, I’m going to sit out.”
The 25-year-old former first-round pick said he already is secure in the type of free-agent contract he was expecting a year ago, before having to prove himself with the Heat last season on a minimal contract.
“I’m good with my money. I save my money,” he said. “I don’t care about that. If I’ve got to sit out, I’m going to sit out.”
The bonus represents 10 percent of Waiters’ 2017-18 salary.
After missing last season’s final 13 games, a time he was needed most, with the Heat ultimately losing out on the final Eastern Conference playoff berth in a tiebreaker, Waiters said his priority is being available for the season’s biggest games.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “and if it’s something serious, I’m not going to put myself in harm’s way. I’m going to sit out. My body is more important.
“I don’t care about money. It’s good to have for security, for your family, and I did that. So if it’s an injury, something I know I’ve got to sit this one out, I’m not putting myself in harm’s way.”
For the Heat’s part, the bonus is cut and dried, with no wiggle room. It is money the team gladly would pay regardless, but is not allowed to do so because of how the clause was written against the salary cap, which the team has since exceeded.
His absence for his daughter’s birth, for example, does not fall into any category of paternity leave, because this is not his actual salary being impacted, with that fully paid for his days away from the team, but rather an agreed-upon bonus.
NBA salary is computed on a 190-day calendar, not by games, leaving Waiters’ pay at $58,000 per day, including full pay for the three days he was away from the team for his daughter’s birth.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said he is cognizant of Waiters’ bonus but also committed to the best possible outcome for his player and his team.
“An injury is an injury,” Spoelstra said Friday. “So the most important thing is a player’s health, and then, secondly, the team — can a player be out there and be productive and not have his body be an issue?
“So I am aware of it, but I won’t make decisions on whether he is healthy enough to play based on his contract. Those will continue to be discussions on what’s best for him, healthwise, what’s best for the organization.”
Spoelstra, though, said Waiters’ commitment to conditioning and his core could make any concerns moot.
“He’s put a lot of time in on his body,” Spoelstra said. “He’s spending more time proactively than he ever has before in his career. There’s a lot of things you can’t control, but the ones that you can, getting your body, your core and your hips strong, he’s taken that to heart and he’s been more diligent this year.”