Three weeks ago, The NBA‘s Oklahoma City Thunder traded for Dion Waiters. How has he fared so far?
When asked what he has learned so far about the Oklahoma City Thunder offense and where he will be getting his shots, Dion Waiters did not hesitate to laugh when he compared the difference between the Thunder and his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Listen. They actually give me the ball,” he told the Oklahoman. “Like, I touch the ball. Like, I actually, like, you know, touch the ball.”
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Apparently, the refreshing novelty of touching the ball during basketball games is all Waiters needed to get his season back on track. Although advanced metrics show that he actually handled the ball more in Cleveland (24 percent usage rate with the Cavs; 22.9 percent with the Thunder), Waiters is nevertheless playing much better basketball with the Thunder.
Acquired in a three-team trade, Waiters went from flailing on the Cavalier bench to starring on the Thunder’s second unit due to, according to him, the mind-blowing strategy of actually touching the ball. While the sample size is not yet comparable to his time in Cleveland, Waiters has reason to joke when talking about his newfound opportunity in Oklahoma City.
Although he is still backing up two ball-dominating superstars like he was in Cleveland, Waiters has improved in all aspects of the game and the pay off has been almost immediate for the Thunder. Since securing Waiters’ services, Oklahoma City has gone 4-2 and broken the .500-mark in terms of win percentage for the first time this season.
In the six games that he has played with the Thunder, Waiters is averaging 12.5 points per game, which is a two-point improvement from his time with the Cavaliers. He is also shooting 31.6 percent from the three-point range, which is six percent better than his percentage from beyond the three-point line with Cleveland, which only the beginning to his better shooting overall.
During his time with Cleveland, Waiters managed an effective shooting percentage of 43.6 percent. Since joining the Thunder, Waiters has improved his effective shooting percentage to 45.2 percent despite upping his three-point attempt rate from 25.1 percent to 26.0 percent of his total field goal attempts.
“They brought me in since Day One with love. It seems like I’ve been here forever. It seems like I’ve been playing with them forever, too. When I came here, we clicked right away.” – Dion Waiters
It is not as if Waiters never had the potential to be a consistent shooter from the outside. When tasked with more responsibility during the 2013-14 season, he had a true shooting percentage of 50.8 percent and scored 15.9 points per game playing alongside Kyrie Irving. If that is the case, why was he struggling when great players like LeBron James and Kevin Love were added to the team?
Like so many players in his league, Waiters needs the ball in his hands to do his damage. With only Irving to contend with for touches, Waiters had long stretches where he could dominate the ball and score without fear of being pulled.
When James and Love arrived in Cleveland, he found himself unsure on whether or not to shoot or defer to his star teammates. Since he was usually sharing the court with either Irving or James, he found himself a spectator unable to get a feel for the game.
He was frequently hesitating, which kills production for players. He was looked at as a scapegoat for why things were not going well in Cleveland because he was not an All-Star and the pressure to perform also negatively affected his numbers.
Waiters went from scoring 15.9 points per game to scoring 10.8 on 40.4 percent shooting before being traded to the Thunder who needed a scorer off the bench to help Reggie Jackson get open lanes and open shots. Despite his reputation for terrible shot selection, Kevin Durant openly welcomed Waiters to the team and focused on making him feel like he was wanted there. Waiters has paid that inclusion back by becoming an aggressive two-way threat off the bench.
On the Thunder, Waiters is encouraged to be assertive offensively and look for his shot because he is one of the few players on the team that can score in a variety of ways. His aggressiveness has led to an increase in foul shot attempts per game offensively and caused him to ramped up his defensive pressure, swiping 1.7 steals per game since joining the Thunder.
“I’m just trying to show the world, man, I’m a two-way player,” Waiters stated. “It’s not all about scoring with me. I can get down and get dirty and play defense. I think they know it’s in me, though. I just got to continue to keep doing it and stay aggressive on the defensive end.”
With Waiters on the floor, the Thunder are scoring 2.1 more points per 100 possessions and giving up 2.7 fewer points per 100 possessions than when he is off the court. With his shooting touch, the Thunder have an effective field goal percentage of 52.9 percent as opposed to the 48.4 percent they shoot while he is on the bench.
With Oklahoma City, the game is much more simple for Waiters. In Cleveland, his role was ambiguous, which was a big reason his play was erratic. With the Thunder dependent on isolation plays to get baskets, Waiters can freely dominate the ball while he is out there with the second unit to establish a rhythm and has plenty of opportunities to shoot without Irving or LeBron taking away his touches.
“They brought me in since Day One with love,” Waiters explained. “It seems like I’ve been here forever. It seems like I’ve been playing with them forever, too. When I came here, we clicked right away.”
Funny what happens when you can relax and just, like, touch the ball.
*Statistics current through games completed January 20th*