Los Angeles Lakers: Dion Waiters will be an X-factor during the playoffs

Dion Waiters is going to be an X-factor for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Playoffs.

Four months ago, a relatively nondescript move barely elicited a murmur from fans of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Professional sports, more than most fields, operates under the mantra “what have you done for me lately?” Perhaps unfairly, in the collective recent memory of NBA fans, Dion Waiters was an injury-prone malcontent on the court and wasn’t exactly known for making intelligent decisions off it.

For the past two years, it looked like Zach Lowe was living alone on Waiters Island. However, yours truly has been intrigued by his fit in the purple-and-gold from day 1, albeit with tempered expectations.

Perhaps I unfairly put too much stock into his 2016-17 season with the Miami Heat, or perhaps I’m overly enamored with his combination of draft pedigree (pick 4) and relative youth (28 years old). Regardless, I belonged to a vocal contingent of Lakers fans that figured he’d be valuable insurance in case of emergency.

However, with Avery Bradley eschewing entering the bubble for family reasons and Rajon Rondo injured for an extended period, Dion Waiters became more than just a lottery ticket. A lack of guard-depth means that the Lakers are going to rely on Waiters, along with the recently acquired J.R. Smith to play key rotation minutes in the playoffs.

To date, Waiters has played only three games in Laker colors, all scrimmages. However, in this limited sample size, he’s been incredibly impressive. So impressive in fact, that I’ve seen enough to believe he’s going to be one of the X-factors for the team in the postseason.

In his first preseason game, despite relatively quiet statistics, Waiters demonstrated the ability to both handle the ball and create his own shot. This tantalizing combination of skills infinitely improves the Lakers bench, which previously didn’t have a single player with that skill set.

Then, games two and three happened for Dion Waiters and the Los Angeles Lakers.

I’m not putting too much stock into the numbers themselves. The opposition hasn’t been particularly good, with most teams opting to rest their stars and save them for actual games.

What I’m taking away from these games is the fact that Waiters adds a dimension to the Los Angeles Lakers that they haven’t had all season: a bench player that can create his own shot, space the floor and handle the ball. The absence of this skill set in the bench unit was a big reason for the Lakers’ struggles this season whenever LeBron James wasn’t on the court.

Adding someone with Dion Waiters’ offensively ability to the Lakers bench completely changes the dynamic of the second unit, and allows them to continue to run some of the offensive sets they’d run with LeBron.

Earlier in the article, you may recall me referencing Waiters’ 2016-17 season with Miami. While it feels like a lifetime ago in basketball terms, it also happened to be the last year that he was somewhat healthy, until his season prematurely ended due to injury.

In the 26-game stretch from when Waiters was named the starter in January until his injury, he not only averaged 18.3 PPG on 45/43 shooting splits but most impressively, averaged 5 assists per game.

As a passer, he’ll never be mistaken for LeBron James or even Rajon Rondo. However, with Rondo’s absence, the Lakers’ backcourt is filled with catch-and-shoot wings that aren’t exactly known for their passing aptitude.

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LeBron will see the court for 40 minutes a night once the playoffs begin, but it’s comforting to know that when he does sit, Waiters will be somewhat capable of running the offense.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Waiters’ scrimmage performances was his defensive intensity. Throughout his career, he hasn’t exactly been known for his lockdown D, having never had a season with a positive Defensive BPM.

However, in the YouTube clip above, you see multiple instances of Waiters either getting a stop or contesting a shot.

As this is a side of him we’ve never seen previously, I won’t exactly be holding my breath in expecting aspect of his game to continue once the season starts. But it’s something to monitor moving forward: after all, he’s still only 28 years old and still young enough to improve his game.

Despite my unbridled optimism towards Waiters’ fit as a key contributor to the Laker bench, I bear no delusions when it comes to what he can and can’t do on a basketball court.

As a starter, he wouldn’t offer either the level of floor-spacing or defense that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green provide. Even off the bench, he won’t provide the level of defense and energy that Dwight Howard and Alex Caruso bring to the team.

If you’re expecting that upon suiting up for the Lakers, Waiters will magically transform into someone that he’s never been in his career, you are setting yourself up for bitter disappointment.

However, the skills that Waiters excels at on the court are things that no other Laker can do, with the exception of LeBron James. If nothing else, adding a brand new dimension to the team that was already the top seed in the West is going to make them that much scarier to face.

Four months ago, Dion Waiters’ signing with the Los Angeles Lakers Lakers was seen as something of a meme. Now, he’s poised to be an X-factor come playoff time.