Sources: Heat guard Dion Waiters expected to undergo season-ending ankle surgery

Shams Charania

Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters is expected to undergo season-ending surgery on his left ankle, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Waiters has received numerous opinions from foot specialists in Los Angeles over the past week and is finalizing his decision, league sources said. He has missed the past eight games because of the injury. For Waiters, undergoing surgery is an attempt to ensure the ankle fully heals instead of dealing with the injury off and on.

Waiters first suffered the ankle issue late last season and it has lingered. He publicly stated he decided to bypass surgery over the summer to focus on the 2017-18 season. Waiters signed a four-year, $52 million deal to return to the Heat in free agency in July.

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Waiters emerged as the Heat’s starting shooting guard last season and has averaged 14.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 30 starts this season.

Waiters was the No. 4 overall selection in the 2012 NBA draft and found a home in Miami when he left the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Heat as a free agent in 2016.

The Heat have won six consecutive games to improve to 24-17 and currently hold the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

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