Waiters interview skips any controversy
MIAMI— The ink on his $52 million free-agency contract still drying, Dion Waiters has emerged as the face of the MiamiHeat.
A day after appearing with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports 1, Waiters moved over the network’s other prime talk outlet, sitting in Tuesday with hosts Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe onUndisputed.
Days after Bayless anointed the Heat as the prime challenger in the Eastern Conference to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Waiters took a respectful stance, despite prodding fromBayless.
“They got LeBron, man, they got Kyrie [Irving], they’ve got Kevin Love. They’re still good,” Waiters said of his former team. “At the end of the day, they still have talent. I don’t know what moves they’re making or what they’re trying to do.”
Bayless then interjected, “They haven’t done much,” with the Cavaliers’ having re-signed Kyle Korver and added point guard Jose Calderon and journeyman forward JeffGreen.
“So we have to sit and wait to see what goes on,” Waiters said. “Butwe’re not worried about that. This is all about the MiamiHeat.”
Asked about the Heat’s chances it they were to make the conference finals against the Cavaliers, Waiters said: “I like our chances against anybody over seven games. We’re just different, man. We’re dogs. We’re a bunch of dogs. That’s it. We come from the jungle. That’s out motto, ‘We come fromthe jungle.’”
Asked about center Hassan Whiteside, Waiters said, “He can be the most dominant big if hewants to.”
Waiters said he views the Heat as possessing a unique mix, having re-signed James Johnson and added Kelly Olynyk in free agency to a core that also includes JustiseWinslow, Josh Richardson, Goran Dragic and possibly first-round pick Bam Adebayo, the big man out ofKentucky.
“Our lineup, our chemistry is just different,” he said. “We got a bunch of guys who do every little thing. Like James Johnson, he plays one through five. We gotWayne Ellington, we got J-Rich, JustiseWinslow. We got Kelly Olynyk. We got Bam, the kid we just drafted. He’s a little monster.
“And of course you got me, you got the dog. You got the dog. I like our chances against anybody. I actually feel like that, because I knowwhatwe can do.”
Heat General Manager Andy Elisburg accepted the award in place of Rothstein.
In addition to serving as coach of the Heat for the franchise’s first three seasons and then as coach of the Detroit Pistons for a season, Rothstein served as an assistant coach under Stan Van Gundy, Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra with the Heat, as well as under Hubie Brown with the Atlanta Hawks, Chuck Daly with the Pistons, Rick Carlisle with the Indiana Pacers and Mike Fratello with the Hawksand ClevelandCavaliers.
“Not many coaches get as lucky as I did to work with and for so many brilliant and successful head coaches,” Rothstein said of his 22 seasons as an assistant. “I can’t thank them enoughfor all that theyhave done for my family and me over the course of my career.”
The awardwas instituted last year, with former Utah Jazz assistant PhilJohnson the previous winner.
iwinderman@ sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ ira.winderman “will give them to think about.”
The contracts of Johnson, Waiters and Olynyk are the very types of assets that Riley lacked going into this offseason, mid-range salaries to package in a trade. Because impending free agents cannot be dealt, the Heat essentially were limited to the oversized contracts of Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside when it came to trade permutations this offseason.
As it is, players signed in the offseason cannot be dealt until Dec. 15. But while coach Erik Spoelstra first will be given the opportunity to maximize these opportunities, there also can be a longer view from the personnel side.
Riley pointed to how Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey was able to seize the moment this offseason with the acquisition of potential free agent Chris Paul from the Los Angeles Clippers. The advantage for Houston in that move was having tradable contracts of heft with Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley.
“The organic trip,” Riley said, “obviously is through lotteries and draft, andmaybe some real good trades. But to be able to pick off the free agent that can change that organic trip andmake it a little faster, I think will always be there.
“I think what Darryl has done, Chris Paul wanted to play with James [Harden] . . . so they’ve got a really good team.”
For the Rockets, this latest remix came on the heels of first trying to make it work with Dwight Howard and then last season’s threefor-all that came up short with Ryan Anderson. something Pat Riley
That has Riley first looking to make this July 2017 blend work, before possibly having to push his tradable chips to the middle of the table as he did for O’Neal in the 2004 offseason.
“I wanted to tie up our young guys,” he said. “Dion, I’d like to see him play 70 to 75 games. If he does, I think — and I believe this — we have one of the most talented two guards, two-way guards at not only attacking the basket, but raising on threes. He had one of the top defensive percentages in the league defending. He’s an end of the game, end-of-the-shot-clock player. A lot of times you can’t find those kind of guys.
“So, being able to secure the services of a 26-year-old Olynyk, a 26-year-old Dion, a young 30 in J.J., who I think is going to be a key to our core, I thought was important.” For the moment. And potentially future.
“If there’s onemore piece that we could add to that group without extracting a lot,” Riley said, “then that would make us better, yeah.” for the
iwinderman@ sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ ira.winderman