It's pretty ridiculous how bad the drafting guys at the Cavs are, basically the only thing they got right was get Kyrie Irving...and even then they "made him sweat" until they picked him up. It's ridiculous how bad the Cavs mgt are,if you think about it, the Cavs now are WORSE asset wise then when they started out, because Varejao going past his prime and Irving becoming disgruntled and doing a Lebron 2.0 is worse than snagging Bennett, Thompson and Waiters...all of whom combined isn't worth a 14th lottery pick at this point. Who the hell drafts Tristan Thompson over Valanciunas? Or waiters over Barnes/Drummond? Or Bennett over Oladipo...or basically someone who won't be their 3RD PF? I mean, if you hired someone who didn't know bball and just followed draft express and ESPN blindly you'd still have a better team: Irving/Varejao/Valanciunas/Barnes/whoever is so much better than the crap they have now. As far as Irving goes I think he's pretty good, anytime you have a pg with amazing ball handling skills and a deadly J you're pretty much set. He has a lot of holes to fill regarding D and playmaking, but those can be learned and I'd take him over playmaking guys with broken Js like Rondo or athletic freaks with nothing else like Wall/DRose. The problem right now is he's on a weak ass team with a bad coach. LBJ couldn't even make that team win a ring, and he basically willed the Miami heat to a ring for 2 years now.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Dion waiters back on practice court at CCC</p>— Bob Finnan (@BobCavsinsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/BobCavsinsider/statuses/402519780923432960">November 18, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Scanned the Cavs board to see what this is about. Apparently Mike Brown was going to pull a McHale and make Waiters a 6th man because he's kind of redundant with Irving. Not sure if that played a part in the "illness" here.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources: Cavs shopping Dion Waiters. They've spoken w/Chi, NYK & Philly. No deal imminent. Waiters is open to being traded.</p>— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/statuses/405796001006370816">November 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Rumors of Waiters/Kyrie fight R false. Instead Waiters & Tristan Thompson had intense argument but were separated b4 it became a fight</p>— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/statuses/405800201031782400">November 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Broussard said Cavs spoke with Knicks, doesn't mean the conversation got anywhere. I think a more likely partner is Chicago. Waiters for Deng in some packaged deal? Chicago gets the extra scoring punch they need with or without Rose, CLE gets a veteran 2-way wing player for a team in need of maturity.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources: Cavs' targets 4 Waiters - Shumpert (NYK), Deng (Chi), Evan Turner (Philly)</p>— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/statuses/405809808043167744">November 27, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Deng would be difficult. Cleveland would have to send out an additional $6.6 million somewhere to have enough salary to get a deal done. Only team with significant cap space to take on contracts is Philly and that wont come for free. They're gonna demand at least a first rounder to fill up their cap.
Except Waiters is "open to being traded". Doesn't really sound like he wants to stick around with Kyrie and Thompson or in Cleveland for that matter.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10046614/cleveland-cavaliers-shopping-dion-waiters The Cleveland Cavaliers are actively shopping second-year shooting guard Dion Waiters, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Three teams the Cavaliers are known to have spoken with are the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers, the sources said. The Cavs' targets are Iman Shumpert in New York, Evan Turner in Philadelphia and Luol Deng in Chicago, sources said. It is believed Cleveland has reached out to other clubs as well. Waiters, whom the Cavaliers drafted with the No. 4 pick in 2012, has a contentious relationship with several teammates, including star point guard Kyrie Irving, and sources say he is open to being traded. In fact, although Waiters has not demanded a trade, he brought up the subject in a three-hour meeting last week with coach Mike Brown and general manager Chris Grant, according to sources. The Cavaliers are looking to shake things up after a 4-10 start. Part of their problem has been the dysfunction in their locker room. Waiters, a 6-foot-4 guard, got into an altercation with forward Tristan Thompson during a players-only meeting after a 29-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 13, sources said. Sources described the following account: Irving called the meeting after the game, and every player spoke. When Waiters was given the floor, he criticized Thompson and Irving, accusing them of playing "buddy ball'' and often refusing to pass to him. Thompson took umbrage with Waiters' words and went back at him verbally. The two confronted each other, but teammates intervened before it could escalate into a fight. However, Waiters and Irving are not close. Waiters believes the Cavaliers have a double standard when it comes to Irving, sources said. Waiters feels that while Irving is allowed to get away with loafing defensively, making turnovers and taking bad shots, he is taken out of games for such things. Waiters has shared his views with Brown and Grant. Waiters is slumping after a promising rookie season -- both his scoring and shooting percentage are down.
Over Rondo? One of the greatest playoff performing PGs of all time? Once Kyrie averages 17-12-7 with 2 and a half steals for 19 playoff games, while playing injured, then MAYBE we can put him over Rondo.
Whatever his real value is, the Cavs won't get close to it. And LeDiva wants to go back to that mess?
Same happens in a lot of NBA teams. JLin is in the exact same situation, but luckily for us he is handling the situation admirably. I hope he gets even more respect now seeing what these situations can do to other teams' chemistry if handled poorly, like in Dion's case.
