Dion Waiters

[All4One1ForAll]

Well it's nice to see you've finally showed your face again for the 1st time in weeks after Dion had a poor shooting performance today. Must have felt it was safe to come out of hiding! Where were you last game and the previous nights before that? It's not a coincidence that you only pop up after he has bad games and nowhere to be found when he performs well. I'm sure you'll be back in here on a night where his shot isn't falling saying "see I told you so!" Like clockwork

He's had two 1-9 games and one 6-16 game in which he had more shots than even KD or Russ. That's half of his 6 games there. Let's not pretend he's only been having good games. This is exactly what everyone else expected of Dion. He has nights where his shot his on and nights where his shot is complete garbage. Still can't even comprehend why people like you expect this kid to become a star (that is, If you don't already view him as one).

 

[Soda]

Love him one night.. The other nights he goes 1-9 for 3 points and 2 fouls, logging no value in other stats.. -6

 

[Binkster]

Bomb drop in 3, 2, 1...


Dion Waiters digs on Cavaliers
Updated: January 21, 2015, 12:29 PM ET

Dion Waiters, to put it lightly, is very happy with his new surroundings after being acquired by the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

And it all starts on the court.

"Listen," he told the Oklahoman of his new teammates, "they give me the ball. Like, I touch the ball. Like, I actually, like, you know, touch the ball."

- Dion Waiters, on the difference between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers, his former team

"I'm able to feel the game out, knowing when to take the shot, when not to. Like I said, we got a great group of guys on this team who's very unselfish and they want you to be successful. So I think I came into a great situation."

The Thunder acquired Waiters from the Cavaliers in a deal that also involved the New York Knicks on Jan. 6. As part of the deal, which also involved draft picks, the Cavs got J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, and three players with nonguaranteed contracts -- Alex Kirk and Lou Amundson from the Cavs andLance Thomas from the Thunder -- were sent to the Knicks.

Through six games since joining the Thunder, Waiters has averaged 12.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.7 steals in 27.3 minutes. He's played as few as 21 minutes and as many as 37 minutes, showing that the Thunder are willing to use Waiters as little or as much as needed.

"They brought me in since day one with love," Waiters told the Oklahoman before Tuesday's 94-86 victory against the Miami Heat. "It seems like I've been here forever. It seems like I've been playing with them forever, too. When I came here, we clicked right away."

And he makes no bones about the difference from Cleveland, where he averaged 10.5 points in 23.8 minutes per game.

"I've always been confident in myself knowing what I can do. It's about having the opportunity to go out there and be able to just play my game and have fun and enjoy it," Waiters told the Oklahoman. "And that's what I'm doing. I'm having fun. I'm enjoying the fresh start. It's a great organization. Great coaches. I couldn't ask for a better situation than what I'm in."

The Thunder are 4-2 since acquiring Waiters and, after falling nine games below the .500 mark earlier this season, have improved to 21-20 heading into Wednesday's game against the Washington Wizards.

"I think the No. 1 reason why he's feeling comfortable is his teammates," Thunder coach Scott Brooks told the Oklahoman. "They have a good group [with the] support that he has.

"Every time that we've brought in a guy, whether it's a guy that's made a team off of free agency in training camp, or a guy traded in mid-season, all of our guys have done a great job of opening up their arms and supporting them and wrapping them around them and making them feel comfortable. And I think that's the biggest reason."

 

[Simon]

Are people really still hating on the Dion trade, or is it qaws and Dion fans?

The trade has worked out great for us so far. Waiters was not the guy we needed to come off the bench. Smith and Shumpert are those guys for us and who actually accept their roles.

 

[CAVSFAN4LYFE]

He chuckled.

“Listen,” he said, “they give me the ball. Like, I touch the ball. Like, I actually, like, you know, touch the ball.”

You watch Dion play and as Max says he contributes absolutely nothing off the ball, it's almost shocking how little he does.

Dion Waiters is not in the same stratosphere as JR Smith as a complete all around player.

Cavs record after trading Dion 3-5 OKC record after trading for Dion 4-2

Through six games since joining the Thunder, Waiters has averaged 12.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.7 steals in 27.3 minutes. His on-ball defense has been really good as well.

 

[macbdog]

Meh. It was clear he never had on court chemistry w Irving. The two did not know how to work together. He also stepped into an established locker room with a coach n team leadership in place. Was never the case here. It also helps when there is one less primary guy since the Thunder offense is Westbrook n Durant.

Good for him, hopefully he continues to eat up his role there and do well. Like it or not he just wasn't doing that here. 3 straight seasons of start/bench/start just to get Dion going was getting old. Plus his trade also made the Mozgov move possible (at least for Griffin) and this team hasn't seen the benefits of Shump in the lineup yet.

 

[kookoo]

He also never gave a shit about this team. Guy had all the touches he wanted last season and he proved nothing.

 

[AZCavs]

I was open to supporting Dion this year. I even stated that I was more excited to see him play alongside LeBron than any other player on the roster. I figure playing with a player like LeBron would be able to shake him of some bad habits. He even had some strong games this season where he positively contributed to the team. He still has a ton of potential.

But this dude was toxic to this franchise and, based on his quotes, completely delusional. This was the equivalent of dumping Ricky Davis, a deal that ultimately helped Cleveland snag Anderson Varejao (Cavs acquired Battie in deal, then, later down the road, sent Battie to Orlando in the deal that netted Andy) and also got rid of one of the bad apples on that roster.

I think it was obvious that LeBron and the rest of the roster was growing tired of Dion very early in the season. At times they seemed to play well with him, but I have to imagine the constant ball stopping and step back jumpers were getting tiresome. It would be one thing if he were able to hit those with any sort of consistency or he was able to finish around the rim at a higher rate or he could play intense defense on a nightly basis, but he didn't do any of that.

He may work on his game a lot, but based on the evidence he leaves on the court, I am willing to bet he only works on the parts of the game he feels necessary as opposed to rounding out his game by improving in other areas because he doesn't feel that fits to "his game".

I've had friends ask me how I can so easily accept J.R. Smith. I was apprehensive about eating up that contract to take Shumpert but it's been a total blessing in disguise. Smith has basically accepted the role Dion was supposed to and plays with the energy Dion lacks. As stated, Dion is essentially a poor man's J.R. Smith in every way imaginable but he thought he was more of an Allen Iverson when he's not nearly as talented or gifted as Iverson was.

 

[Dylan Windler's Mom]

He's had two 1-9 games and one 6-16 game in which he had more shots than even KD or Russ. That's half of his 6 games there. Let's not pretend he's only been having good games. This is exactly what everyone else expected of Dion. He has nights where his shot his on and nights where his shot is complete garbage. Still can't even comprehend why people like you expect this kid to become a star (that is, If you don't already view him as one).

You just exposed yourself for not even watching the games. If you actually watched the game against Houston where he shot 6-16 you'd realize a good amount of those shots were with the game pretty much over in garbage time. 4-5 of those shot were after the game was decided and Durant/Westbrook were pulled. It wasn't like they lost because of him. KD turned it over 4 times and Westbrook 8 times and if they hadn't, they would have put up more shots. Still played great defense with a couple blocks and even made it in the top 10 on sportscenter with this highlight.

 

[AZCavs]

Cavs record after trading Dion 3-5 OKC record after trading for Dion 4-2

Through six games since joining the Thunder, Waiters has averaged 12.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.7 steals in 27.3 minutes. His on-ball defense has been really good as well.

They are 3-1 with LeBron back since the trade and Shumpert is still hasn't seen the floor.

Waiters is also averaging less assists in more minutes and while his shooting numbers have gone up, he's still shooting the ball very, very badly.

 

[AZCavs]

If you actually watched the game against Houston where he shot 6-16 you'd realize a good amount of those shots were with the game pretty much over in garbage time. 4-5 of those shot were after the game was decided and Durant/Westbrook were pulled. It wasn't like they lost because of him. KD turned it over 4 times and Westbrook 8 times and if they hadn't, they would have put up more shots. Still played great defense with a couple blocks and even made it in the top 10 on sportscenter with this highlight.

You do realize that Dion actually made four of his six shots in "garbage time", right?

He was a net negative and a complete dud that whole game.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

As stated, Dion is essentially a poor man's J.R. Smith in every way imaginable but he thought he was more of an Allen Iverson when he's not nearly as talented or gifted as Iverson was.

Great analogy, and even Iverson wasn't good enough to win a championship just playing "his game". Dion stating that he just wanted to be able to "play his game and have fun" is the nail in the coffin of him fitting in here. It's an NBA team, not a playground.

If it ends up that the Thunder can succeed long-term with Dion just playing "his game" and having fun, then he's a lucky, lucky man. Because virtually every successful NBA player has to change the game he'd like to play in favor of playing the type of game that helps his team win.

 

[SalvadoranCavsfan]

I want to take you seriously Qaws, but having "Dion >>>> Kyrie" under your name makes it really, really, really, hard.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

I want to take you seriously Qaws, but having "Dion >>>> Kyrie" under your name makes it really, really, really, hard.

It's funny because I highly doubt Dion will ever be as good as Kyrie's been in any year of his career.

 

[Marcus]

That awkward moment where Dion was second on the team in usage rating (24.0) only to LeBron during his time here...

Sure thing, dude didn't get enough touches. Fuck outta here