Dion Waiters turns up the Heat (on himself)

Dion Waiters got himself suspended by the Miami Heat on Sunday. This is the Heat’s second disciplinary action of training camp and preseason. Previously, the Heat had sent James Johnson home from camp because he didn’t meet conditioning standards. (He came back once he did.) Waiters didn’t have fitness issues, but it appears to have been a rough camp for him as he ended up behind rookie Tyler Herro on the apparent depth chart.

The Heat suspended Waiters for the season opener on Wednesday. He appears to have had a meltdown on the bench in Friday’s final preseason game amidst playing just 10 minutes. Then he had a meltdown in the comments of an Instagram fan account. Among Waiters’ comments made in frustration, he says that anyone could have won with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, implying that Erik Spoelstra (widely regarded as one of the league’s best coaches) doesn’t deserve credit for Miami’s titles.

It’s unfortunate that Jimmy Butler and the famous Heat accountability culture couldn’t get Waiters on track with the revamped roster. Herro and Waiters should be a deadly battery of gunner guards, but (not for the first time) pride seems to be getting in the way. This is part of the deal with Dion Waiters: you don’t get the nominally good without the assuredly bad.

The Raptors gave Pascal Siakam a full max-value extension over the weekend, preventing the multi-skill budding star from hitting restricted free agency in 2020. The Raptors had all the leverage here as in a worst case scenario they could have extended a maximum offer sheet at the beginning of 2020 free agency or matched any offer sheet Siakam signed. But odds are it’d end up a max-value number anyways, so the Raptors — coming off of a championship with carte blanche — just gave Siakam the full pot now.

As Daniel Hackett writes, it’s a safe bet for Toronto. Siakam is a strong, versatile defender and a scorer and playmaker growing into his own on that end. Only health issues can really derail Pascal at this point. He’s 25, so Toronto is paying for what should be his best years. For Siakam, this is a huge come-up after going No. 27 in the NBA Draft and averaging just 20 minutes per game two years ago.

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The NBA has some new rules around fan conduct. Good.

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And finally: the Jazz gave Quin Snyder a long-term contract extension. To celebrate, SLC Dunk offers up 25 photos of Snyder looking like an axe murderer. Enjoy!

Be excellent to each other.