The Los Angeles Lakers have been in the market for some backcourt reinforcements for months, and finally, the franchise believes it has found someone who can help bolster their guard rotation. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers and free agent guard Dion Waiters have agreed to a deal that will lead to Waiters donning the purple and gold for the remainder of the season.
Free agent Dion Waiters has agreed on a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers for the remainder of the season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 5, 2020
Waiters hit the free agent market after his tenure with the Miami Heat came to an unceremonious end. The Heat traded Waiters, who fell out of favor this year and only appeared in three games thanks in part to multiple franchise-mandated suspensions, to the Memphis Grizzlies in the gigantic deal that sent Andre Iguodala to Miami. Soon after, Memphis bought out Waiters’ deal. As a result, Waiters was free to look around and find a new situation if one arose.
It had been reported that Waiters was one of the options the Lakers would consider in their search for backcourt help, and as Dave McMenamin of ESPN noted in his confirmation of Charania’s report, he apparently impressed the franchise when that happened.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Dion Waiters for the remainder of the season, league sources confirm to ESPN. Waiters had a strong workout this week and the team hopes he can be a consistent shot maker off the bench. The Athletic first reported the agreement.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 5, 2020
Waiters and LeBron James were briefly teammates in Cleveland back during the 2014-15 campaign, but the two didn’t quite mesh and Waiters ended up getting traded to Miami. Now, the two will try to get on the same page in L.A., and Charania noted that everyone understands that the team is not in a position where it can afford to be patient with its newest addition.
Sources: Waiters, his agent Rich Paul and the Lakers had several conversations, they have been positive, and it's been made clear among all: This must work out for him — otherwise, Lakers reserve the option to release him. https://t.co/rGL3xlxFvo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 5, 2020
If this does work out, though, Waiters — who has never lacked the confidence that is necessary to provide a scoring punch off the bench — would be a useful addition to a bench unit that could use some scoring punch in the backcourt. While suiting up for the Heat during the 2018-19 campaign, Waiters averaged 12 points and connected on 37.7 percent of his attempts from deep. It stands to reason that he won’t need to do the former in Los Angeles, but if he can hit triples at that clip, he would give the Lakers something they could really use heading into the postseason.
