Dion Waiters Traded

[cavsfanclanman]

Very true (about the superstars) though, hard to imagine Love wanting to stay right now.

 

[Simmy]

From Jason Lloyd:

The Cavs have been shopping Waiters since last season. The harsh reality, according to people familiar with trade talks, is there wasn’t a lot of interest league-wide in Waiters. Considering that, they did very well. They got two useful pieces (Shumpert and the pick) while acquiring another headache in Smith. They used the $4.9 million disabled player exception in this deal (obtained after Anderson Varejao was lost for the season) and still own a $5.2 million trade exception to pursue a big.



And from Griff:

View: https://twitter.com/chrisbhaynes/status/552316115511439361

 

[Simmy]

Odd headline by Yahoo:

I wonder how Dion feels about being referred to as "LeBron's teammate"?

Probably about the same way he felt when he hit a buzzer-beaten against Detroit last season and prompted ESPN to call us 'LeBron's Former Team' when describing the victory on Twitter

 

[Dungong]

The way I see it:
Dion for JR - even, though Dion wasn't working here and JR is at least associated with the possibility of working
Amundson, DPE, Kirk and 2019! 2nd rounder for Shumpert and a protected 1st - gotta be a win right?

Shumpert gives us a legit defensive player and I expect him to be the starting 2. With him, Lebron, and the new defensive Kyrie we might not be so much of a sieve allowing penetration? One can only hope.

Anyone know how protected that OKC first rounder is? The stuff I've read just says heavily protected, I figure at least lottery protected

Edit: Nevermind, its right there in the future draft picks post stickied up top. Why they cant put that in any of the articles about this and why its not a bigger deal are beyond me, the pick is a huge asset considering just how hard it is to get 1st rounders nowadays. In fact, I think Cleveland has been involved in the majority of the 1st rounder trades one way or another, I dont actually have numbers to confirm that but just what it seems.

 

[gregdawg]

i don't see what you could find bad about this trade. Dion is inconsistent and has a bad attitude. he was always going to be a problem in cleveland - he had no interest in his role. We didn't have time wait for him to come around, if he's even capable of it.

In Shumpert we get a long SG who fits the role we need him to play. I like Shumpert's length and size. Dion was small for an SG. Shumpert has the size to guard larger SG's.

in JR Smith, we get a player with similar skills and size to Dion, but one who is more consistent and more experienced. i say we totally won this trade.

 

[Douglar]

Oddly enough, if we get Dalembert and Smith, we'll have two of the players whose names frequently showed up on Cavs fans want lists ... back in the summer of 2005.

Here's Pelton's take--

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/stor...nder-swap-dion-waiters-iman-shumpert-jr-smith

Cleveland Cavaliers: A-

The groundwork of a Waiters-Shumpert deal has existed basically since LeBron James announced he was coming home, and it's always made sense. With James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavaliers didn't need Waiters' best skill (volume shooting). And while believers pointed to Waiters' spot-up shooting and potential to develop into a physical defender, accepting a smaller role has never been his mindset. The first two months of this season proved the fit was as bad as we all suspected.

Shumpert might not be a better player in a vacuum, but he's certainly a better choice as James' sidekick on the wing. While Shumpert isn't an All-Defensive caliber stopper, he is a solid wing defender who can handle opponents at all three perimeter spots, and he's good at generating steals. ESPN's real plus-minus rated him as the NBA's fifth-best shooting guard on defense through last season. Unfortunately, Shumpert has never become a good enough 3-point shooter to truly qualify as a 3-and-D specialist, but his 34.3 percent career shooting from deep is good enough to keep defenses honest. He's better beyond the arc, for example, than the similar Corey Brewer (29.6 percent).

So Waiters for Shumpert is a strong deal for the Cavaliers. Adding Smith, too? That makes this move a bit trickier. After all, Smith's shortcomings -- poor shot selection, unreliability off the court -- are much of what made Waiters so frustrating in Cleveland. And if Smith opts into the final season of his contract at $6.4 million in 2015-16, it will significantly hamper the Cavaliers' ability to stay below the tax line and maintain maximum flexibility to add to the roster.

At the same time, there's a big difference between Smith and Waiters: Smith has actually been good in the NBA. Waiters has posted a true shooting percentage (TS%) better than 50 percent only once in his three seasons in the NBA (.508 in 2013-14) and was still below average then. Before this season, Waiters' most efficient season would have been the second-lowest TS% of Smith's career. Especially in Denver, Smith hasn't been nearly as shot-happy or as inefficient as his reputation would suggest. Even this season, Smith's usage rate with the Knicks (23.5 percent) is lower than Waiters' with three All-Stars (24.1 percent).

There's a lot of downside with Smith, but there's upside, too. On a Cleveland team desperate for wing contributors with James sidelined, Smith can be helpful. Getting a first-round pick (a possible trade chip) as incentive to take on Smith's contract makes the choice that much easier.

At first, it looked like Cleveland would get Samuel Dalembert in this deal, but I don't think it was workable with his salary included. Now, the Cavaliers have to be hoping that Dalembert clears waivers and becomes a free agent. Cleveland would be the most logical landing spot for Dalembert, who would be a huge upgrade on the Cavaliers' current frontcourt backups. As I wrote in this morning's Insider Daily, Cleveland has been far worse with a reserve big on the floor since Anderson Varejao was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles.​

 

[Typhoon]

It's not a bad trade per se but - and it might be the cynic in me - a little part of my brain wants to think that LeBron is just trying to return us to factory settings like when he left last time before he leaves again. Kyrie's next then Love walks.

Ill laugh my way to the grave.

Anyways. Ignore this.

 

[Douglar]

Here is what Pelton says about things from the OKC point of view:

Oklahoma City Thunder: D

This trade looks like the start of a two-step process for the Thunder, and it's hard to evaluate before we know what Part 2 will be. First off, Waiters seems to create a crowd on the wing in Oklahoma City. It's tough to see Waiters ousting the two specialists playing most of the Thunder's shooting guard minutes (defensive stopper Andre Roberson and sharpshooter Anthony Morrow), which would leave him battling fellow youngsters Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones for spot minutes as the fourth wing.

Second, as noted by ESPN's Royce Young, this trade puts Oklahoma City slightly over the luxury tax. The Thunder have never paid the tax, and it seems unlikely they would do so when they can easily get under. Dealing either Jones or Lamb to a team with a trade exception would do the trick, and that's the most likely follow-up. The more extreme possibility is that Oklahoma City really is planning to trade Jackson, a restricted free agent this summer, and sees Waiters as a replacement for the minutes Jackson plays alongside Russell Westbrook.

Ultimately, I think this deal is probably about Sam Presti value-shopping for a player drafted No. 4 overall. The first-round pick the Thunder sent to Cleveland is top-18 protected according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, so the worst-case scenario is Oklahoma City gives up the 19th or 20th pick as a low seed in this year's playoffs. It's also possible the pick rolls over to 2016, in which case it will probably fall in the late 20s.

The problem is I'm not sure Waiters is worth even a low first-rounder. Three seasons into his career, he's never rated better than right around replacement level. Waiters fits slightly better with the Thunder than the Cavaliers because of Scott Brooks' tendency to rest both Westbrook and Kevin Durant at the same time, leaving Reggie Jackson as the primary creator on the floor, but the same issues exist if Oklahoma City tries to play Waiters with the starters. So the Thunder might not be more satisfied with Waiters than Cleveland was.​

 

[TwoPistols]

This trade is huge for Kevin Love as I think it will force the team to defer to him more. The Cavs may have lost out on a pure talent and potential standpoint, but they vastly improved the team by actually building something with complimentary players who will know their role. The Cavs gained size, athleticism, and defense for the price of one. It's been a d-league-like roster out there for the past few games and it won't look like that anymore.

 

[Apollo 13]

What does the bolded even mean and what other options did he have when LeBron and Kyrie were out with injury and Dion was being held out by the FO for the trade?

Could had started Marion which would had added D and athleticism. You can't put Miller and Harris out there together. Hell I rather see Price then Delly scrub self. He has such a ugly shot no wonder why he misses all the time. Even the way he shoots free throws is ugly. Someone needs to work on his shooting form. Hopefully someone works with Harris because I can see him becoming very good if developed correctly.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Not before this season when Dion in attempts to "showcase" himself began chucking at the worst clip of his career. Dion really thought Bronnie,Irving,Love would shoot their 15-25 a night, he would get his 10-15 night(and a few more when the others feed him more because of a hot hand)

Actually, Dion averaged 10.4 FGA/game. There were even games he led the team in FGA. Love is averaging less than 15 FGA/g, and Kyrie has fewer FGA than any time since his rookie season. They did try to make it work.

the Cavs made poor coaching and organizational choices with Dion. They should have not reduced his playing time, especially with Lebron on a slow start. They should have looked ways to get him shots and make him feel secure in his roll.

This boils down to Dion needing to be coddled emotionally, but at his age, that's on him. Playing with passion doesn't mean your play should be governed by your emotions, and Dion just never figured that out. The result is a guy whose defense, movement, and all-around play varied wildly depending upon his emotional state at a given time. That's not acceptable.

I won't miss Dion's patented "I'll stand over here waving my arms for a pass, then throw my hands up and whine when it doesn't come" look. That shit is corrosive. Every player in the league has times they think the ball should come their way, and it doesn't. Dealing with that is part of being a professional, and Dion never did figure that out.

 

[Brandname]

In fact, one of the reasons the Cavs pulled the trigger on including Wiggins in the Love trade is because they had Dion & liked him enough that they were comfortable including Wiggins & only 1 pick as opposed to Dion & multiple picks.

Was... was that an option?

 

[Jack Brickman]

View: https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/552315703362334720

I said it in S34 last night, but I absolutely hate when our organization using their mouth piece The Bullshit Whisperer to bad mouth players on the way out the door. Even if everything he is saying is true (and it probably is), it's classless and something that good organizations just don't do. Better teams shut their mouths and move on quietly. Poor organizations feel the need to run a smear campaign.

It makes us look bad to other players who might consider signing here and it's really something we need to stop doing. It seems to happen every time we cut ties with a player or coach, too.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Was... was that an option?

What... What is that ANIMAL? It looks like the offspring of a shrew and a lemur...

 

[Green Lantern]

Simply not true. Dion was very much wanted here & was given multiple chances.

You all know I've defended Dion multiple times on here, but the simple fact is that the guy was not buying in at all.

The Cavs & LeBron love Dion's game & thought he'd have a very good year. They thought he'd turn the corner and, with the locker room, buy in.

In fact, one of the reasons the Cavs pulled the trigger on including Wiggins in the Love trade is because they had Dion & liked him enough that they were comfortable including Wiggins & only 1 pick as opposed to Dion & multiple picks.

He was benched for inferior players because that's the role he's best suited for. He claimed time & time again that he'd do whatever it took to help the team win, but it simply wasn't the case.

We all saw it first hand on the court. When his shot wasn't falling, he moped, sulked, and showed little to no effort.

Even when he's been playing well, his act never changed. He never bought into his role and they simply grew tired of it a while ago.

It might also be that Minney was never enamoured with Waiters enough either.
If it were me, I'd take Wiggins potiential over what I've seen in Waiters.