Dion Waiters has seldom seemed more valuable to the Miami Heat than he does right now, in dress clothes, nursing a sprained left ankle, not playing.
It is this Waiters whose benefit to the team appears so indispensable that one wonders if, in his absence, club president Pat Riley may be reevaluating the Heat's plans for Waiters and its commitment to him as he becomes a free agent this coming summer.
Miami was steaming toward the playoffs, with Waiters, as one of the great comeback stories of this NBA season.
Now, without Waiters, the Heat is trying to hang on as the regular season ebbs.