Dion Waiters Traded

[supermario21]

Just the fact that people are arguing over whether pick 4 vs a second rounder is better on defense should say enough as to what Dion's problems are. Harris may be more mistake prone at times but Blatt obviously has more faith in him long term in terms of learning the system and playing within it, which might be Dion's biggest problem. Dion also likely has more value so it wouldn't surprise me if he's being explored as a trade piece.

 

[gijimbo]

Your suspicion.... Really? Can you name any basketball player in the WORLD...especially an NBA shooting guard that can't/couldn't..."score as efficiently as many of the top guards in the league...[when they're hot]"?

Thats a poor argument in Waiters favor.

Quite frankily the experiment SHOULD be over. It was pretty bad pick...THEN and its just magnified now. He's a player in this league and whether or not you can add "good" between "a" and "player" is to be determined, but whats evident is it wont be in Cleveland. He's not in the right place mentally AFAIC....sitting on the bench with a towel on your head while the rest of the bench is up and engaged...SUPPORTING the ones on the court, just rubs me the wrong way.

Are you really going to hate on my suspicion and then come back with no numbers or proof against it?

There are a whole lot of guys in the NBA who lack Dion's offensive prowess. It's a rare ability against nba defensives to be able to get your own shot like Dion can. I'd put him in the class with the streaky scoring sixth men like Crawford, Smith etc.

Last season Waiters led a bench unit that was ninth in the NBA in bench scoring per game (34.5 ppg as a team).

He has a role on this team, but like everyone else, it is going to take some time. I watched almost every game last season and I thought the team looked leaps-and-bounds better in the last couple months compared to the first two.

 

[mcfly]

I do not see Harris as a better defender than Dion, I think some people are confusing effort with effectiveness. Plus, Harris is putting up marginally better shooting numbers, so I do not really understand that argument. I too am a little confused as to why Harris has been closing games in place of Waiters and/or Marion.

 

[gijimbo]

I'm sorry, but I just don't see what Waiters has done this year to prove he absolutely deserves to finish games. Some of you guys will support him no matter what he does...

By this method, I don't see what Kevin Love has done this year to prove he absolutely deserves to finish games. Shooting under 40% this season.

Everyone just needs to calm down, it will take time but the sky is not falling.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

By this method, I don't see what Kevin Love has done this year to prove he absolutely deserves to finish games. Shooting under 40% this season.

Everyone just needs to calm down, it will take time but the sky is not falling.

Not the same. Love is putting up 17/10/2.5 splits while providing floor spacing and an overall good fit with our other players. No other player on the team (obviously I mean one who isn't already out there) would give us even close to that.

Harris is a rookie and he already shows a better attitude and more of a desire to play off the ball rather than stop the movement. Now let me clear, I like Dion and realize he has a lot more talent than Harris. However, if he wants to finish games, he has to prove that he deserves it, because he honestly hasn't separated himself from Harris.

 

[gijimbo]

Not the same. Love is putting up 17/10/2.5 splits while providing floor spacing and an overall good fit with our other players. No other player on the team (obviously I mean one who isn't already out there) would give us even close to that.

Harris is a rookie and he already shows a better attitude and more of a desire to play off the ball rather than stop the movement. Now let me clear, I like Dion and realize he has a lot more talent than Harris. However, if he wants to finish games, he has to prove that he deserves it, because he honestly hasn't separated himself from Harris.

??

I know it's not the same. I was just calling out the person who was using that method of thought to prove anything this early in the season. Of course Kevin Love should be out there at the end of games.

I was trying to show how outlandish it is to overreact to numbers with such a small sample size. The Kevin Love example wasn't my opinion, I was just following that person's thought process and applying it to other players.

It's not a good look. People need to relax.

 

[jay_em]

Are you really going to hate on my suspicion and then come back with no numbers or proof against it?

There are a whole lot of guys in the NBA who lack Dion's offensive prowess. It's a rare ability against nba defensives to be able to get your own shot like Dion can. I'd put him in the class with the streaky scoring sixth men like Crawford, Smith etc.

1) You have to realize that you basically said my suspicion is that water is wet. OF FREAKING COURSE when Dion is HOT he scores efficiently. KEY WORD BEING.......HOT. (There are very few...if any NBA 2 guards that wont score efficiently when they're HOT) So basically what im saying in reply to your suspicion is "You Think?"

2) You can put him in the class if you want. He hasnt EARNED entrance into that class and he WONT the way things are set up here. Lebron, Kyrie and Kevin MUST get there shots....everyone else will be "hit or miss". One game they may get 12-15 shots the next they may get 5-7 shots. Now Dion may (and I wouldnt put it past him) ensure he gets his shots up

 

[gijimbo]

1) You have to realize that you basically said my suspicion is that water is wet. OF FREAKING COURSE when Dion is HOT he scores effeciently. KEY WORD BEING.......HOT. (There are very few...if any NBA 2 guards that wont score effeciently when they're HOT) So basically what im saying in reply to your suspicion is "You Think?"

2) You can put him in the class if you want. He hasnt EARNED entrance into that class and he WONT the way things are set up here. Lebron, Kyrie and Kevin MUST get there shots....everyone else will be "hit or miss". One game they may get 12-15 shots the next they may get 5-7 shots. Now Dion may (and I wouldnt put it past him) ensure he gets his shots up

You're just wrong about your first point. You really think Thabo Sefalosha is going to go off on offense and win a game for you? There are plenty of NBA shooting guards who lack the scoring punch that Waiters can bring.

This bench is right now in the bottom few teams in scoring per game so I would say that we need players like Dion who can carry the load offensively so that way we can rest our starters a bit more.

 

[jay_em]

You're just wrong about your first point. You really think Thabo Sefalosha is going to go off on offense and win a game for you? There are plenty of NBA shooting guards who lack the scoring punch that Waiters can bring.

This bench is right now in the bottom few teams in scoring per game so I would say that we need players like Dion who can carry the load offensively so that way we can rest our starters a bit more.

You continue to miss the key word of being HOT. Yes Thabo Sefalosha WHEN HOT is capable of going off on offense.....gijimbo WHEN HOT is capable of going off on offense.....BECAUSE HE"S HOT...(That is kinda what the definition of being HOT means.)

Well wit Lebron, Love and Kyrie playing so many minutes...yeah the bench scoring is going to be low. The whole point of having THREE MAX players tends to lead toward a lower scoring bench. Dion will not be on the court with 4 bench players so he's still going to share the ball/shots with Love, James and Irving depending on which one or two of them are on the court when he is. (Dion's is quoted as saying as much mind you).

Look bro keep hope alive on this Dion thing, though....if you're right it helps the Cavs and thats all that matters to me.

 

[Cashius X]

I think he's on his way out. The fact that his minutes are so low even with Delly out is concerning. He can add value and another dimension to this team but Blatt isn't using him correctly at all. If this is how Blatt intends on using him I'm a proponent of moving him. He's more valuable to this team as a trade chip than as a 20 minute per game gunner off the bench.

 

[Futuredome]

I think he's on his way out. The fact that his minutes are so low even with Delly out is concerning. He can add value and another dimension to this team but Blatt isn't using him correctly at all. If this is how Blatt intends on using him I'm a proponent of moving him. He's more valuable to this team as a trade chip than as a 20 minute per game gunner off the bench.

Problem is, we are killing his value. They need to start him again and push his minutes up to 30 a night if they want to try and move him in a couple of week.

 

[Cashius X]

Problem is, we are killing his value. They need to start him again and push his minutes up to 30 a night if they want to try and move him in a couple of week.

I don't think we have time to keep experimenting with that type of shit though. Blatt needs to decide whether or not this team seriously needs Dion. If the answer is yes, then get him more minutes and put him in better positions to succeed (pair with Love or Bron instead of Irving) or if the answer is no then ship him out. His value has no doubt taken a hit but it's not the point where we won't get a good return for him imo.

All I know is that this shit that Blatt is doing (playing him 23 minutes a game in his last 5 games) isn't the solution. If he's going to be relegated to a role player to that degree then we'd be best served moving him for another piece that we need.

 

[Cashius X]

And on another note his attitude has been really bad this year. It seems like after every play he's pouting about one thing or another. Annoying as hell.

 

[Ohio]

Definitely time to explore what you can get for him and TT.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

It was frustrating watching tonight how well Beal and Wall are able to play to together whereas Kyrie and Dion just haven't been able to do so.

Right when we drafted Dion I was excited about the potential of a young, dynamic backcourt between him and Kyrie. Then they showed chemistry problems. However, the end of last year gave us a glimpse of what they could become if they worked on their chemistry, so I was excited for it this year. Especially with Dion talking about how hard he's been working over the summer - how he's been watching videos of Wade, learning how to better play off the ball…. But he hasn't shown any progress this year in any of those areas, which has really disappointed me.

I love Dion because he's tough and plays with a chip on his shoulder. But I've come to accept that he'll be on his way out sooner than later.