Dion Waiters

Dion Waiters

32-Year-Old GuardG
 Free Agent    
2024 Fantasy Outlook
There was no outlook written for Dion Waiters in 2024. Check out the latest news below for more on his current fantasy value.
RANKS
Current Season
From Preseason
$Signed a one-year, $503,656 contract with the Lakers in March of 2020.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary

Dion Waiters was born in Philadelphia in 1991. He is the sun of Monique Brown and Dion Waiters Sr. During his junior and sophomore year of high school, Waiters attended South Kent School in Philadelphia, but played basketball for Life Center Academy. After two years at Syracuse University, Waiters entered the 2012 NBA Draft. Waiters is in the process of establishing the Dion Waiters Foundation, a non-profit whose focus will be to help end teen violence in Philadelphia, a subject which holds a special meaning to him after he lost his younger brother to gun violence in 2016. The shooting guard hosts an annual Back to School Giveaway in his hometown of Philadelphia where he distributes backpacks filled with school supplies and clothing and also provides free haircuts to more than 300 kids in low-income communities. During Thanksgiving, Waiters goes into underserved communities throughout Philadelphia and gives away turkeys to families. He also hosts a free youth basketball camp in Philadelphia during the offseason for boys ages 8-13. Waiters recently donated money towards the renovation of the playground at E.M. Stanton Elementary School in Philadelphia where he first started playing the game of basketball. Fans can follow the sharpshooter on Twitter @dionwaiters3. After his freshman year in high school, Waiters committed to Syracuse. The 6-foot-4 guard was a street-ball legend and found a role as a scorer off the Orange bench for two seasons. He only played 16.3 minutes as a freshman and put up 6.6 points. He had his best scoring game in the season finale against Marquette in the NCAA Tournament with 18 points on an 8-of-10 tally from the field. Waiters' role increased as a sophomore. He improved his scoring average to 12.6 points and connected on 36.3 percent of his three-point attempts. Waiters reached the 20 point-mark thrice, including 28 points in a loss to Cincinnati in the Big East Tournament. He earned Big East Sixth Man of the Year and All-Big East Tournament honors, and he was an AP Honorable Mention All-American. Waiters helped the Orange get to the Elite Eight and his best performance in the NCAA Tournament came against Kansas State in the second round, where he scored 18 points. After his sophomore season, Waiters declared for the 2012 NBA Draft despite not having started a game in college. He was chosen with the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Not on injury report
GLos Angeles Lakers
September 30, 2020
Waiters is not on the injury report ahead of Wednesday's Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
ANALYSIS
Waiters suffered a groin injury in Game 2 against Houston and has not played since Sept. 6. While he appears to be available to begin the Finals, the guard is unlikely to make a major impact, though at some point in the series coach Frank Vogel could turn to Waiters for an offensive spark off the bench. Waiters played a combined 29 minutes in Games 2 and 4 against Portland in Round 1, but both of those contests were blowout Lakers victories.
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Stat Review
How does Dion Waiters compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
  • True Shooting %
    An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
  • Effective Field Goal %
    A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
  • 3-Point Attempt Rate
    Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
  • Free Throw Rate
    Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
  • Offensive Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Defensive Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Total Rebound %
    An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
  • Assist %
    An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
  • Steal %
    An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
  • Block %
    An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
  • Turnover %
    An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
  • Usage %
    An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
  • Fantasy Points Per Game
    NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
  • Fantasy Points Per Minute
    NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
51.8%
 
Effective Field Goal %
47.3%
 
3-Point Attempt Rate
41.1%
 
Free Throw Rate
21.9%
 
Offensive Rebound %
1.4%
 
Defensive Rebound %
7.1%
 
Total Rebound %
4.3%
 
Assist %
14.6%
 
Steal %
1.0%
 
Block %
2.1%
 
Turnover %
11.8%
 
Usage %
23.8%
 
Fantasy Points Per Game
19.3
 
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.8
 
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Total
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NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2019
2018
2017
2015
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2013
2012
Waiters was limited to just 44 games in 2018-19, and he has now appeared in only 120 contests across the last three years after playing 78 games back in 2015-16. Furthermore, he bristled about his dip in playing time, as he averaged 25.9 minutes per game last season compared to 30.1 and 30.6 minutes in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively. Bringing Jimmy Butler aboard this offseason would seem to signal the continued reduction of role for Waiters going forward. However, the Heat lost Dwyane Wade to retirement and traded Josh Richardson to Philadelphia to make room for Butler. As a result, Waiters could very well produce quality counting stats off the bench, though it's also possible he'll start alongside Butler and Goran Dragic. Coach Erik Spoelstra may decide against pairing three ball-dominant perimeter players in the starting five, but Waiters did splash in a career-high 2.5 threes per game on 37.7 percent last season. Rookie sharpshooter Tyler Herro could factor into the equation, but Waiters will likely earn more minutes and shot attempts regardless of role.
Waiter has played a combined 76 games over the past two seasons due to persistent ankle issues, which he addressed by surgery in late January of 2018, as it was clearly affecting his play. He appeared in 30 games before going under the knife last season, shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from beyond the arc -- significantly worse than 2016-17’s marks of 42.4 percent and 39.5 percent. Efficiency continues to be what’s holding Waiters back from a higher Fantasy stock. In addition to his subpar field-goal percentage, the seventh-year guard has made just 69.4 percent of his free throws over the past three campaigns. Waiters has seen over 30 minutes per game in each of the past two seasons, though other players -- namely Josh Richardson (a top-40 Fantasy player in 2017-18) -- have stepped up in his absence. So, it’s possible Waiters sees a decline in workload this year. That said, he'll likely continue to be a high-usage player, which gives him a shot at remaining Fantasy relevant in standard formats.
Waiters -- who spent the first four years of his career butting heads in Cleveland and Oklahoma City -- had a resurgence in Miami during the 2016-17 campaign, seeing his points per game rise for the first time since it peaked in 2013-14 (15.9). He also became a better distributor, which had been a knock against him early on in his career, averaging a career high in assists per 36 minutes (5.2). While he appeared in just 46 games with the Heat due to groin and ankle injuries, he started 43 of them and boasted the second highest usage rate on the team (26.3) behind starting point guard Goran Dragic. With the Heat essentially bringing back the same group of guys for next season, it seems reasonable to believe that Waiters will continue to see a significant ballhandling role with the team, giving him plenty of opportunities to rack up stats. Waiters has also shown capability of playing point guard through small forward, giving him plenty of rotational flexibility, which can be beneficial in a variety of formats. While Waiters isn’t an elite Fantasy option, he’s certainly worth considering in the middle rounds of a Fantasy draft, as well as DFS.
After spending the first two-and-a-half seasons with the Cavaliers, Waiters was traded to the Thunder in January of last season. Through 47 games with the Thunder (20 starts), Waiters averaged 12.7 points, 1.1 three-pointer, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.2 blocks in 30 minutes per game while shooting 39 percent from teh field, 32 percent from three, and 63 percent from the line. The mercurial guard appears in line to start at shooting guard this season between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, which could help him find his offense more easily than he could in his first couple seasons on a losing Cavs team. Waiters' terrible shooting percentages make him a frustrating player to own in fantasy, and with most of his value coming from his production in points and three-pointers, it's hard to see how Waiters could become anything more than fringe fantasy player. Despite his natural talent, Waiters seems to lack the proper mindset to be successful in the NBA. He'll turn 24 years old in December, so there's still an argument that his best days are ahead of him, but the real crux to Waiters' fantasy value this season will be new head coach Billy Donovan. If Donovan starts Waiters at shooting guard, he could be of use in 12-team leagues and larger, but if Waiters gets stuck coming off the bench, it's hard to imagine he'd get enough minutes and shots to matter in anything but the deepest of leagues.
Dion Waiters is entering his third season as a Cavaliers guard. He enjoyed better production in his second season as compared to his rookie year (with the exception of free throw percentage – just 69 percent in 2013-14). After being tried as a starter as a rookie, Waiters only started 24 of 70 games in which he appeared last season as a sophomore in the NBA. The 6-4 guard still played a starter's complement of minutes with 30 per game. He provided 15.9 points on 43 percent from the field, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 steals, and 0.9 steals. Perhaps his most significant number – particularly with the new regime in Cleveland led by LeBron James – was the 37 percent he shot on three-pointers (a significant increase from his 31 percent in 2012-13). He finished the season on an upswing by averaging 20.3 points and 47 percent on three-pointers in seven April games. If Waiters can continue to knock down long-range shots, he should get plenty of playing time. While opposing defenses try to contain James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving, Waiters should get plenty of open three-pointers. The stacked roster may mean fewer opportunities for the former Syracuse Orangeman, but he could see his shooting percentages climb. Waiters will need to continue to improve his movement without the ball, particularly in the cutting Princeton-style offense of David Blatt. He will also need to pay attention on defense, but he should get an opportunity to start at shooting guard in a power-packed lineup.
It should help Waiters' development to play just one position. After getting a trial as a combo guard as a rookie, Waiters will be limited to duty at shooting guard in his second year. The former-Syracuse player averaged 14.7 points but made just 41 percent of his field goals and 31 percent of his three-pointers. While he'll continue to start, his minutes may be limited by Jack's presence, but Waiters could contribute similar numbers if his shooting efficiency can improve.
Despite less than stellar college numbers and rumblings about his attitude at Syracuse, Waiters saw his stock rocket in the offseason, and he ended up as the first surprise pick in the draft when he went fourth. He is expected to be able to get a ton of buckets, and there have been comparisons to Tyreke Evans, who you may recall had a nice rookie season of his own. Even better for Waiters, nobody is likely to mischaracterize him as a point guard, and the Cavs already have Irving. Waiters could be the second leading scorer for Cleveland this season as a rookie, and perhaps even first if things break right for him.
More Fantasy News
Questionable for Game 5
GLos Angeles Lakers
Groin
September 25, 2020
Waiters (groin) is questionable for Saturday's Game 5 against the Nuggets.
ANALYSIS
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Doubtful for Game 4
GLos Angeles Lakers
Groin
September 23, 2020
Waiters (groin) is doubtful for Thursday's Game 4 against the Nuggets.
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Out for Game 3
GLos Angeles Lakers
Groin
September 22, 2020
Waiters (groin) is out for Tuesday's Game 3 against the Nuggets, Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register reports.
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Expected to sit Game 3
GLos Angeles Lakers
Groin
September 21, 2020
Waiters (groin) is listed as doubtful for Tuesday's Game 3 against Denver.
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Doubtful again
GLos Angeles Lakers
Groin
September 19, 2020
Waiters (groin) is doubtful for Sunday's Game 2 against the Nuggets.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Getting look from Golden State
GFree Agent
August 8, 2023
Waiters will participate in a workout with the Warriors in the near future, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
The 31-year-old guard last played in the NBA in 2019-20, but he held a private workout for teams in July in an attempt to make a comeback. It's not known whether Golden State was one of the teams that attended Waiters' workout last month. Tony Snell, Kent Bazemore, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Trey Burke and Harry Giles will also work out for the Warriors over the next two weeks as the team looks to round out its offseason roster.
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