Report: Lakers, Waiters to meet March 2
The Los Angeles Lakers plan to meet with ex-Miami Heat shooting guard Dion Waiters on March 2, TNT's Chris Haynes reported during Tuesday's broadcast of the Lakers' game versus the New Orleans Pelicans.
Any player who is a free agent as of March 1 is eligible to appear in the postseason with any team.
Owing to three team-issued suspensions, the last one citing "continued insubordination," Waiters made just three appearances for the Heat this season. He was flipped to the Memphis Grizzlies at the trade deadline earlier in February and waived Feb. 9.
Apart from the ignominy of being cut with over a year left on his contract, the 28-year-old's nadir was a 10-game ban after an incident on the Heat plane - reportedly the result of Waiters overindulging in edibles infused with THC, a principal chemical component of cannabis.
Prior to 2019-20, Waiters had blossomed into a volume scoring threat, albeit one with a checkered injury history. In his first three seasons with the Heat from 2016-19, he averaged 14 points on effective field-goal shooting of 49.3%, with 3.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. However, he appeared in just 120 out of 246 possible games over that span, mainly due to ankle and knee injuries.
The Lakers' roster presently has 15 players signed to regular contracts, so the team would need to waive a player to make room for Waiters or any other potential late-season acquisition.