NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Now Vetting Dion Waiters
By Bret Stuter
Not so OK with OKC Either
His role with the Oklahoma City Thunder was blemished as well, but this time from the team’s performance when he stepped foot onto the court. This is what Cray Alfred had to say about the young man during the 2015-2016 season at WelcometoLoudCity.com in a piece dated January 26, 2016
"Waiters is fourth in minutes for the Thunder, getting more run than Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Andre Roberson (whose knee sprain figures to exacerbate the Waiters problem), players who have had a much more positive effect on offense, defense, or both, than the Dion. The team’s offensive rating slips from 110.5 when he’s off the court to 108.2 when he’s on it, and their defense slides from a 98.2 rating to 102.6 when he checks in (from NBA Stats). The severity of those splits are less severe because Waiters sees so much time with the starters, subbing in early and closing out games alongside Durant, Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka (he has the most minutes in combos with each of any non-starter). That ghastly box plus-minus stat is a better indicator of individual performance, and it’s damning. According to Basketball-Reference.com, over the last 10 seasons, no team has reached the conference finals with a player receiving top-5 minutes and a BPM below -2.5, with one exception: Udonis Haslem, who was almost as bad as Dion the year Miami beat OKC in the Finals. He had a -2.8 BPM while playing 24.8 minutes a night. Waiters would be the worst, most heavily featured rotation cog on a final-four team in at least a decade were the Thunder to exceed expectations and get that far."
Other articles were written about Dion Waiters time with Oklahoma City. “Delusional Dion, hurting OKC more than helping” written in November 2015. and Commentary: Dion Waiters met with boos from Cleveland crowd written in January 2016
Some players don’t connect with fans. In Philly, a player doesn’t survive very long if he doesn’t.
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