Lakers' Updated Roster, Starting Lineup After Dion Waiters Signing
March 6, 2020
Free-agent shooting guard Dion Waiters has agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers for the remainder of the season, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.
Here's a look at how the new Lakers addition may fit into the rotation, along with a bigger-picture look at the entire roster.
Starting Lineup
PG: LeBron James
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Danny Green
PF: Anthony Davis
C: JaVale McGee
Projected Active Bench Players
PG: Rajon Rondo
PG/SG: Alex Caruso
SG: Dion Waiters
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF/PF: Markieff Morris
SF/PF: Kyle Kuzma
Reserves
PG/SG: Quinn Cook
SF/PF: Jared Dudley
SF: Talen Horton-Tucker
Waiters, 28, has played in just three games this season, largely due to three team-issued suspensions during his time with the Miami Heat.
In his last extended playing time, he averaged 12.0 points on 41.4 percent shooting (37.7 percent from three-point range) in 25.9 minutes per game in 2018-19.
The Cleveland Cavaliers took the Syracuse product fourth overall in the 2012 NBA draft. He averaged a career-high 15.9 points per game for the Cavs in 2013-14.
Cleveland traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015. Two offseasons later, Waiters became a member of the Heat after signing a free-agent deal.
Waiters thrived in his first year in Miami, averaging 15.8 points on 42.4 percent shooting (career-high 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.).
The rest of Waiters' Heat tenure was not as successful, a stint that included a 39.8 percent field-goal rate in 2017-18. The Heat traded Waiters to the Memphis Grizzlies before the 2020 trade deadline. The Grizz waived him on Feb. 9.
At first glance, it's tough to predict Waiters carving out any significant playing time for the Lakers, although he gives the team yet another weapon opponents have to game-plan for.
L.A. already runs 11 men deep when healthy, which hasn't been the case since Feb. 25.
On that night, the Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 123-114, with each member of the rotation carving out no fewer than 11.5 minutes, per PopcornMachine.
It's possible that Waiters siphons some minutes from the current reserve guard rotation, especially if the Lakers are looking for some more offense (which Waiters can supply in droves when hot).
But suiting up for more than 10-15 minutes per night seems unlikely. A role on the back end of the bench as added guard depth is seemingly where Waiters should be.