Dion Waiters Traded

Wow, I couldn't believe what I was seeing tonight... Dion was checked out from the moment he came in the game. This guy was pouting and acting all down and sad when the team beat the Magic by 30 points and snapped a 4 game losing streak... I understand he's not happy w/ his minutes but at least be a team player and support the rest of your teammates. Mike Miller didn't play a single minute but was on the sidelines cheering like hell and smiling... Kyrie didn't get to shoot much tonight and only scored 12 points but was over on the bench smiling w/ teammates and enjoying the W while Dion was the only one pouting.

I don't know, but I'm sure his teammates don't appreciate that. Maybe Dion is the cause of some of our problems as a team... It makes me wonder how bad he is behind closed doors if he's that bad in front of 20,000 Cavs fans and the TV audience. If he's going to keep acting that way, you have to get rid of him. I'm a Dion fan, but that attitude during a blowout win to snap a 4 game losing streak is unacceptable. He sticks out like a sore thumb.

godfather said:

Waiters has now been benched by 3 different coaches, but its always the coaches, and never Dion's fault.

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Going back to college it is actually 4 straight coaches.

TyGuy said:

Going back to college it is actually 4 straight coaches.

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He didn't get benched @ Syracuse. Boeheim believes in seniority. He started the players whom had been with him longest.

Spencer Hawes said:

At this point, Dion probably needs a therapist to turn things around. Someone give him Metta World Peace's number. So sad that he can't even school 2nd stringers and acts like a bitch on the court.

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Ron Artest was always a fierce competitor on the floor, a DPOY type player at his peak. He had some crazy in him but it only came out in rare situations like Malice at the Palace; crazy that perhaps cost his team a chance at the title that year (Indiana was coming off a 60 win season and was the best defensive team in the league).

Dion might not be Ron Artest crazy but he seems to have the maturity of a ten year old who pouts when he doesn't get the present he wanted at Christmas.

Amazing how all of a sudden everyone is posting the exact same things that me and a few other brave souls posted after game one.

Except back then, it was a parade of "dumb" tags.

Maybe some of us weren't "haters"* after all?


* "haters" and "rim protector" should both be bannable words at this point.

It's really disappointing to me to see Dion act like he did during that Magic game. I have always supported him and thought that he would make this a big 4. He has that kind of talent if he could merge the mental with the physical. As tough as he is, he is mentally soft and just can't seem to get the perspective of the team to align itself before his own needs.

We really will not go anywhere positive until every member of this team buys into this. Lebron knows this and has been trying to instill it but it's been a rocky start and sometimes he goes too far trying to send the message. Kyrie is a much easier project for Lebron than Dion and Dion simply needs to realize that Kyrie is the more talented player for good reason and that Dion's role should be to defend the perimeter with 100% effort and be opportunistic offensively.

For the first time, I am honestly open to a trade if it makes sense. I still have not given up on the fact that he can turn it around but if a trade with the Sixers presents itself, I like both KJ McDaniels and Noel.

I didn't watch the game, can someone provide me a short recap of why Dion is receiving all this hate from last night.

bushwick_bill said:

I didn't watch the game, can someone provide me a short recap of why Dion is receiving all this hate from last night.

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I wish someone had the play. But the killer was late in the game, with the Cavs up 30, Dion missed an open lay-up and proceeded to put his head down and stand under the basket, not moving, for roughly 5 seconds. The Magic went down the court and either the ball was knocked out of bounds or a foul was called (can't remember, some sort of stoppage happened) before Dion decided it was time to head down the court and help out. It wasn't one of those times where a guy doesn't immediately start running back because he wants to yell at the ref for a second. This was a straight up "I'm going to stand right here and not move a muscle because I feel sorry for myself" moment. It was really, really bad.

I hope someone tears into him then, did they talk about it after the game in any of the interviews with Blatt or Lebron?

bushwick_bill said:

I hope someone tears into him then, did they talk about it after the game in any of the interviews with Blatt or Lebron?

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No the game was already well over and Dion was in there with the end of the bench crew. So it wasn't a play that mattered.

Splitz said:

For the first time, I am honestly open to a trade if it makes sense. I still have not given up on the fact that he can turn it around but if a trade with the Sixers presents itself, I like both KJ McDaniels and Noel.

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I highly doubt the 76ers give up either one of those guys for Waiters.

westsidebob said:

Amazing how all of a sudden everyone is posting the exact same things that me and a few other brave souls posted after game one.

Except back then, it was a parade of "dumb" tags.

Maybe some of us weren't "haters"* after all?


* "haters" and "rim protector" should both be bannable words at this point.

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It's not amazing. If the people in charge of a professional sports franchise decide that one game is enough to evaluate a player in a new system, with virtually a new team, under a brand new coach, then said franchise would end up chasing its own tail more often than not.

I had the same mentality. I was completely wrong in the fact that I thought LeBron would be able to wake Dion up and make him realize that he has to sacrifice for the team in order for him to find a successful role. Perhaps Dion will still find his place, but I am low on patience at this point, especially when Will Cherry comes in and fills the role Dion was supposed to better than Dion has.

But the team needed to confirm what Dion was to this team. He obviously isn't the starting two guard, but he hasn't played particularly well off the bench either. His two highest scoring games this were both against Denver. Other than that he has barely reached double figures twice and has shot 33.7% outside of the two games against the Nuggets. That's not good enough to cut it in the NBA at all, let alone as a backup.

Perhaps they need to break Dion in order for him to realize what he needs to do to be a valuable piece to a winning formula. At this point, however, I think that the more likely conclusion is that he is moved in a trade that brings back a post-defender or maybe even a 3-and-D player.

Splitz said:

Dion's role should be to defend the perimeter with 100% effort and be opportunistic offensively.

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Lebron has came out and literally said that's exactly what his role should be.

Anyways, if we are to trade him it should be for someone who is gonna do exactly that. A long athletic wing (hopefully two of these) that can guard 1-3 and take the open shot when it comes to them. Teams like OKC, MIL, and now ORL and PHIL are usually littered with them. They don't have to be great shooters either, just okay is good enough.

We all said going into this season, no more excuses for Kyrie and Dion. Look, he was a train wreck last year. I gave everyone a pass from last year, even though both he and Kyrie didn't present themselves the way we needed them to.

Going into this year, they were surrounded with everything they need. Talent and veteran leadership.

Kyrie has hopped on board, Dion hasn't. There's no more justifying Dion. He's a selfish me-first player, that we should unload if we can.

I'm sure he'll do well putting up good numbers on terrible teams for the rest of his career.

I'll take any decent player for him at this point.

I used to defend him, but it's clear he does not get it. We need to trade Dion the same way we needed to trade Ricky Davis. I would take an Eric Williams and Tony Battie deal in a heartbeat.