For a brief time, at least, Lakers guard Dion Waiters was a teammate of LeBron James—a 33-game stint in 2014-15 when James returned to Cleveland after a four-year stint with the Heat. Waiters struggled to find a role, averaging 10.5 points on 40.4% shooting, and on January 5, he was the primary piece in a three-team trade that would reshape the Cavs that season.
Waiters wound up in Oklahoma City. The guy the Cavs got in return? J.R. Smith, who had been on the outs with the Knicks before the deal.
Waiters was speaking to the media on a call from Orlando on Friday morning when a reporter broached the topic. What wasn’t known at the time was the Smith was nearby, listening off-camera. “Stop trying to start s***!” Smith said.
A reporter (@joevardon) asked Dion Waiters about getting traded from Cleveland that allowed the Cavs to get JR Smith, JR (nearby presser) interrupted, “stop trying to start shit Joe.”
Smith and Waiters are the two newest Lakers and neither has played a game for the team yet. Waiters was signed in March to fill the spot for Troy Daniels, who was waived after the All-Star break. Smith auditioned for that spot, too, and though he lost out to Waiters, he was signed at the start of this month as a replacement for guard Avery Bradley, who opted out of participating in the NBA’s season restart.
Frank Vogel Called Dion Waiters ‘One of the More Talented Guys’ in NBA
The 2015 trade adds a layer of irony to the fact that Waiters and Smith are now teammates. But while those connections make a nice side story, Waiters and Smith could wind up being important cogs as the Lakers progress through the remainder of the season and into the playoffs.
Bradley won’t be going to Orlando and backup point guard Rajon Rondo is out as much as two months with a hand injury.
Smith has not played since he was let go by the Cavaliers in 2018. Waiters, though, did appear in three games this season and scored 28 points in 42 minutes of action with Miami. He fell out with the Heat for disciplinary reasons, a consistent issue throughout his career.
At his peak, though, Waiters averaged 15.8 points and 4.3 assists playing for Miami in 2016-17. He is more of a wildcard than Smith because, if the Lakers can motivate him, he has a high upside.
“He is working extremely hard, looks really good,” coach Frank Vogel said this week. “I think, like J.R., both of these guys haven’t played in a lot of full-contact basketball in some time, even prior to the hiatus, so conditioning will be a concern. But the talent is obvious when you watch him work out, you watch him handle the ball and create shots off the bounce.
“He’s one of the more talented guys in this league,” Vogel continued. “If we can get these guys brought along at the right pace from a conditioning standpoint, I think both of them are going to help us.”
Waiters Will Wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ on Jersey
Waiters said he is ready for the chance to shine. He has not been to the postseason all that much in his career—just 18 games with Oklahoma City in the team’s run to the Western Conference finals in 2015—but he has been in the NBA for eight seasons and has played important roles as a starter and as a bench contributor.
“I’ve been here before,” Waiters said. “I’ve been in this position plenty of times. I think I’m ready. Just continue to keep working, continue to get familiar with the sets and things like that. But at the end of the day, it’s still basketball. I’ve been doing that my whole life. So just being ready when my number is called, and just trying to impact the game.”
Waiters also said that he would be wearing “Black Lives Matter” on his jersey once the games get started.
“Everything that’s going on,” he explained. “I feel like it is a key moment in life right now for us to make an impact on and off the court. Just being able to keep letting everybody know what’s at hand and how big it is.”
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Lakers JR Smith, Dion Waiters on Trade History: ‘Stop Trying to Start S***!’