After the Lakers struck out at the NBA trade deadline, they held hope they could reinforce their backcourt by luring veteran point guard Darren Collison away from retirement. Collison, who had been reconsidering his time away from basketball, decided this weekend he wasn't ready to return to the game. Los Angeles, then, is left with few options to improve ahead of the postseason, where it will likely need to overcome the Clippers to reach the NBA Finals. One player the Lakers are reportedly now considering is Dion Waiters, who was exiled by the Heat earlier this season for his off-court conduct, traded to the Grizzlies and then waived on Sunday. Waiters passed out on Miami's team plane in November after reportedly eating too many marijuana gummies. He has also lashed out at coaches over playing time. Despite his sometimes peculiar antics, Waiters can be a prolific scorer when on top of his game. The 28-year-old has averaged 13.2 points per game over the course of his career. Update in story via @WindhorstESPN and me: Lakers expected to have exploratory conversation with Dion Waiters in near future. https://t.co/V1bBRirHX3 — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2020 MORE: NBA trade deadline grades Waiters was particularly effective in his 46 games for the Heat in the 2016-17 campaign. He averaged almost 16 points per game, shot 39.5 percent from beyond the arc and nailed several memorable game-winning buckets. Miami went 28-21 in games he played and 13-20 in games he missed. Waiters' career has gone downhill since then, though. He has battled injuries and failed to be efficient from the field for prolonged stretches. The Lakers would likely use the Syracuse product and 2012 No. 4 overall pick as a bench ballhandler who would enable coach Frank Vogel to spell the struggling duo of Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley. The team is reportedly also weighing former Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith as a potential late-season pickup.
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