And now for a quick Defend Cleveland look at the Dion Waiters trade: It pretty much looked inevitable that Waiters would be dealt, mostly because it had become obvious the Cavs needed to upgrade multiple areas and he was seen as one of the better valued bargaining chips available to them. As many know, this show was exhausted with Dions apparent inability to get it over simple things like better shot selection and giving full effort on defense, so were not upset to see him gone. To see him go for a tweener with serious injury concerns (Shumpert) and a guy whos a relative Waiters head case in his own right, except older and even more reluctant to play defense than even Dion is, and this trade is interesting to say the least. On paper GM David Griffin gives up 1 rotation player, 2 bench guys and a future 2nd round pick, for 2 rotation players and a protected 1st round pick. Thats a win. When considering the defensive upgrade of Shumpert on the wing, and this deal begins to come into focus in a way that makes Iman look like the heart of the trade for the Cavs. Again, if healthy, Shump is a considerable upgrade defensively for the Cavs and much more of a need (and better team fit) than the game Waiters was bringing which mostly boiled down to shooting, shooting, shooting. As for JR Smith, who has a player option left for 2016, this was the price you had to pay for acquiring Iman and the thinking has to be that, ultimately, the Cavs will get more good out of JR than bad. Contrary to the popular opinion that will have folks thinking JR puts up worse shots and with more volume than Dion, this is simply not true. JR is older than Dion yet hes still in his prime at 29, but the big thing is that his usage rate is lower than Dions (shots) and also his true shooting percentage has been far better throughout his career (buckets). Over his 11 years JR has averaged a 53.3% true shooting mark whereas Dion has only once broke 50%, last year when he posted 50.8%. Lets also not forget the fact that two years ago JR won 6th man of the year honors and all Dion has done is be relegated to 6th man by every coach hes had and done nothing but mostly complain about it each and every time. The thing that sucks about JR Swish most is that his contract was perceived as unmovable (which is why Knicks fans are now dancing in the streets) and going into next year if he opts in his last year of the deal, it would definitely put a strain on what the Cavs can do to reload if this experiment goes all wrong and they determine they no longer want him around. This is where the protected 1st round pick from OKC can come into play, however, as bundling that with JR and all of a sudden the $6.4 mill hes due next season might be able to be moved. Keep reminding yourself if you have to, though, this deal is about getting Shumpert. Smith was simply the cost of doing business. Probably the best of all is that the Cavs arent done yet, so dont freak out...yet...that this deal didnt include a big. Adding what they have, though still a gamble (but what isnt?), the Cavs have improved with this trade and they did so without having to use their trade exception. So sit back and feel pretty good about this move Griffin made happen if youre a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, and rest easy in knowing that when it comes to improving this roster and making a push for a ring, theyre not done yet. - Mike James
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 17:32:20 +0000
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