Report: Dion Waiters to Be Bought out or Released by Grizzlies After Heat Trade
The Memphis Grizzlies plan to release or buy out Dion Waiters after trading for the shooting guard in a deal with the Miami Heat that also landed them forward Justise Winslow, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Waiters, Winslow and James Johnson went to Memphis in the trade, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill and Jae Crowder landed in Miami.
The Grizzlies then dealt Johnson to the Minnesota Timberwolves for center Gorgui Dieng, per Wojnarowski.
Waiters has played just three games this season, averaging 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game.
The Heat have suspended Waiters three times this season for a total of 17 games, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Those suspensions have been for "unprofessional conduct" (one game), "conduct detrimental to the team" (10 games) and a "failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination" (six games).
Waiters' exit from Miami seemed inevitable, and now the ex-Syracuse star is set to become a free agent, per Haynes.
The 28-year-old averaged 14.0 points on 41.4 percent shooting in his three previous seasons in Miami. He shot a career-best 39.5 percent from three-point range in 2016-17.
The Cleveland Cavaliers took Waiters with the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. He spent two-plus seasons in Cleveland before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 6'3" guard signed with the Heat as a free agent in 2016.
