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ANALYSIS: Dion Waiters has been excellent for the Heat since being inserted into the starting lineup. Waiters, who has been a key member of the team's bench squad after making his season debut on January 2nd, was elevated to the first unit following the trade of Tyler Johnson to the Suns prior to the NBA trade deadline. The 27-year-old Waiters missed the first two-and-a-half months of the season while still recovering from ankle surgery that took place last January.
The 6-foot-4 wing has upped his production across the board over the last six games, which includes more than doubling his scoring average as he has scored in double figures in each of the contests. He has shot the ball really well, particularly from long distance. Waiters is coming off a 17-point, five-assist effort in Saturday's loss to the Pistons as he was 7-for-14 from the field and 2-for-6 from beyond the arc, marking sixth time in the last seven outings that he has made at least 43 percent of his shots and sank multiple three-pointers. The seventh-year pro also has collected three or more rebounds and doled out at least three dimes in four of the previous five contests.
Waiters is averaging 17 points, 3.5 assists, 3.3 treys, and 2.7 rebounds as a starter. He is also shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 40.8 percent from the three-point line. Waiters is averaging two career three-pointers a game for the season.
While it is unlikely the former Syracuse star continues to shoot as well as he currently is -- the former first-round draft pick is a career 41.7 percent shooter -- fantasy owners that need scoring, three-point shooting, and a few assists should pluck him from the waiver wire. Waiters may ultimately end up returning to the bench once Goran Dragic is no longer on a minutes restriction, but he has a history of lighting up the scoreboard in a hurry so that move shouldn't affect his production too much.
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