The Associated Press reported a short while ago that Dion Waiters has signed a 1-year deal with the Miami Heat. Waiters was a free agent this summer, and had his qualifying offer rescinded by the Thunder after the team looked to create cap space to resign Russell Westbrook in the wake of Kevin Durant‘s departure.

Though Waiters was a key component in the Thunder’s deep postseason run, he struggled to distinguish himself from other backcourt options for much of his tenure, leading to the team’s lackadaisical effort to re-sign him this summer. Waiters, a former #4 overall pick from Syracuse, was expected to team up with Kyrie Irving in Cleveland to form the team’s backcourt of the future, but those plans were foiled by LeBron James‘ return to the team in 2014. He was traded months later, in January of 2015, to Oklahoma City, where he would eventually begin to cash in on his potential, but it would be too little, too late.

The Thunder also traded away Serge Ibaka this summer to the Magic in exchange for explosive shooting guard Victor Oladipo, which lessened the team’s need to retain Waiters even more. Waiters will team up with Tyler Johnson, Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson to try to fill the void left by Luol Deng, Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson, both of whom left the team in free agency.

July 25, 2016