Dion Waiters Traded

[Tornicade]

Dion's found his niche right now & it's been working (pre-injury, of course). No reason to change anything right now, IMO.

Dion didnt "find" a niche. its worked as well as when he was starting. he is performing off the bench like almost NBA starter would and improving just as any up and coming 2nd year player would.

 

[CleveRocks]

Dion didnt "find" a niche. its worked as well as when he was starting. he is performing off the bench like almost NBA starter would and improving just as any up and coming 2nd year player would.

You mean like Beal or Drummond?

...Just messin'

 

[Mr. Blonde]

You mean like Beal or Drummond?

...Just messin'

Huh?

 

[Lee]

I was a big proponent of Dion off the bench, but Hawes and Delly change that. Delly is a capable 20 mins a game guy to play backup pg and sg, and there will now be proper spacing with Hawes starting. I wouldn't mind after Dion gets his sea legs back to see MB play with the lineup a bit now that we have Hawes.

It could be interesting. We have 20 games or so to evaluate our team with Hawes before we have to offer him a decent size contract if we want to keep him. Seeing how he does at center with a starting Dion and Kyrie might be worth the experiment. Whats the worst that happens? We lose some games?

 

[kidduck]

[h=4]<cite class="fn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">steppxxxz</cite>[/h]
two questions. First is, im stunned watching detroit and the Knicks right now. Shocked at the lack of effort. I dont know the full reason. Thoughts? And cavs, too, though effort is maybe ok, but they just arent very good. Is it Kyrie being overrated? Not a leader? And draft…every draft there are guys who are overhyped. EVERY YEAR and yet journalists will continue to hype them. This year more than most. My list of overhyped starts at james young, then wayne selden, and marcus smart. I just dont see the production. Smart is going to be an ok two guard. I dont see he can ever be a point. Wiggens too…i mean he’s an elite athlete, but im not sure I see the intangibles. (underrated…KJ McDaniels, Rodney Hood, and PJ Hairston).

• 
  [h=4]<cite class="fn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Kyler</cite>[/h]
  Step… you are kind of all over the place here, so let me hit on what I see individually.
  
  
  — effort is often coached. To get optimal effort everyone has to buy in and thats hard to do when players don’t believe in what they are being asked to do.
  
  
  <b>— We had the Kyrie debate over dinner on Thursday, and I have made the argument that I might prefer Dion Waiters long-term over Kyrie. I love Kyrie and think he is an amazing player, but its clear when he’s not happy and he’s not as good of a player when he is not happy. I don’t think thats unique to Kyrie, but I do think he’s not having fun and his overall effort level is lower than we’ve seen from him.</b>
  
  
  — On the media and hype — thats what we do. I think you need to keep in mind that almost every writer in the country, especially the big newspaper and major media sites, have an editor that is guiding what is being written. They are trying to craft stories that will generate interest and being even keeled and logical doesn’t sell anything.
  
  
  The 2014 NBA Draft class is not NEARLY as good as everyone wants it to be. There are some solid players that should have good to great NBA careers, however the next Jordan, Kobe or LeBron is not in this draft class and no matter how hard people want wish it it to be true, its just not.
  
  
  The good news is the NBA teams looking to draft in the top have scouted these guys enough and have tempered their expectations. But hype sells and it always has, so you just have to accept that kind of stuff with a grain of salt.
  
  
  
  

Read more at http://www.basketballinsiders.com/chat/nba-rumors-chat-with-steve-kyler-3314/#yM4urq9uFKckKwvK.99

 

[OptimusPrime]

We had the Kyrie debate over dinner on Thursday, and I have made the argument that I might prefer Dion Waiters long-term over Kyrie.

I might too, but luckily it isn't an either/or proposition. As long as Kyrie doesn't try to pave his way out of here I would rather have both of them.

 

[kidduck]

Kyrie and Dion have the potential to be better than the 'Splash Brothers.'

 

[Cavatt]

Kyrie and Dion have the potential to be better than the 'Splash Brothers.'

I agree with this. They just have more dimensions too them.

I'd like to see Dion get lots of burn with Hawes and Kyrie in the last few games of the year. He should probably go back into the starting lineup, but maybe that can wait until next year. Now that Jack is here to stay for awhile they have to figure out where he fits, and it is not in the starting lineup in my opinion.

 

[getBUCKED]

Dion Waiters' first game back
By Nick Borges | ESPN.com

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without Dion Waiters for the last seven games after he hyperextended his left knee on Feb. 18. Waitors is set to play Tuesday when the Cavs go against the San Antonio Spurs.

"The knee feels good, just a little bit of aching,” Waiters told The News-Herald on Monday. “I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow, looking forward to getting out there with my team. They’ve been playing great basketball ball the last couple games."

Mike Brown decided a while back to switch Waiters from the starting shooting guard position to the sixth-man and that's the role he'll have once again. Waiters still believes the Cavs will make the playoffs. They are currently 3.5 games out of the No. 8 seed.

“When we get everybody back and everybody healthy I think we can make a great playoff run,” Waiters said. “When we’re healthy, we’re one of the best teams out there."

Love the kid.

 

[kidduck]

Another view:
<cite class="fn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dionusis</cite>

Just red S.Kyler write that he might prefer Waiters over Irving long term. What’s your take? Do you see Irving developing into an MVP candidate at some point? Would you trade a top 5 pick in this year’s draft for him?

• 
  <cite class="fn" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nate Duncan</cite>
  
  Steve and I actually talked about that in person this weekend and we do not agree on that. I wrote over the summer that I think Waiters is someone who needs to reduce his usage and be more of a complimentary player. He does not have the athleticism to be a superstar, nor is he quite an automatic enough shooter. Guys his size generally aren’t stars unless they have one of those two attributes. I would be surprised if he ever has a season as good as any of Kyrie’s first 3 on a per-play basis, or makes an All-Star team.
  
  
  That said, I do not see Irving becoming an MVP candidate, which to me means a top 5 player in the league. His defense is still atrocious, and that matters. And while he has improved of late as a distributor, I do not think he has the natural vision of a lot of point guards. The fact he was ranked the #7 overall player coming into the season by ESPN’s ranking project was pretty ridiculous. Maybe his ceiling is as a top 10 player but not above that.

Read more at http://www.basketballinsiders.com/chat/chat-with-nate-duncan-3414/#lpMMyCJSDM72Hl4E.99

 

[shoes22]

Just like most national analysts who don't watch the team on a day to day basis, I think both takes are off-base. They put too much weight in the few games they do manage to watch of the team.

 

[falcon2294]

if a media person writes about the cavs and one of their players, he better have watched 99% of the games so far, or i dont give a shit about their opinion.
You cant just watch highlights or look at boxscores to know a player and their potential

 

[elcheato]

You don't have to watch 99% of their games to know everything about them. Check shot charts for tendencies, strengths and weakness, advanced stats, and break down film to look for what you just observed through the numbers to see why, if it makes sense, if they can improve, etc..

 

[narbar32]

I agree with this. They just have more dimensions too them.

I'd like to see Dion get lots of burn with Hawes and Kyrie in the last few games of the year. He should probably go back into the starting lineup, but maybe that can wait until next year. Now that Jack is here to stay for awhile they have to figure out where he fits, and it is not in the starting lineup in my opinion.

I agree with you, but I would absolutely prefer that it happens this year, not next.

I hope this team makes the playoffs, but there's no doubt that that's a long shot. And we're now approaching the end of year 2 of the Kyrie/Dion experiment/competition/collaboration. Let's see it. Let's see if the lip service manifests itself on the court. Let's continue to try to figure out if Kyrie being our starting PG means Dion is our 6th man, or if they can get closer to that dynamic back court duo we all hope they can be.

This isn't necessarily about the simple "number 4 overall pick shouldn't be a sub" perspective. To me, it's more about Dion's talent level and what often happens to talented subs when they hit the market. Despite what often seems like a shaky and widely varying popular opinion of what Dion can be, I could definitely see some teams having major interest in snatching him up to potentially be their starting PG, a la Darren Collison, George Hill, and Eric Bledsoe, to name a few. This means two things to me: 1) if he's going to be a perpetual 6th man for us, he's going to want his chance to shine elsewhere and will be a risk to walk when he can; and 2) we should keep trying to figure out if our starting back court is set as soon as possible to determine if it would be better to trade him while his value's high (or Kyrie, I suppose, though I don't see that happening unless he's in his last year of a deal and about to bolt).

But yeah, whether Jarret Jack fits in as our starting SG next to Kyrie is not a question that needs to be asked as we go forward (an irrelevant question with an obvious answer). I don't think the question is all that important as it pertains to C.J., either, to be honest.

 

[shoes22]

You don't have to watch 99% of their games to know everything about them. Check shot charts for tendencies, strengths and weakness, advanced stats, and break down film to look for what you just observed through the numbers to see why, if it makes sense, if they can improve, etc..

All of those things can tell you how a player currently is. Not so much what their potential could be in the future...