Slowly but surely the Cleveland Cavaliers are beginning to look like the team everyone thought they would be. After an extremely slow start to the year, the team has rattled off six straight wins as the roster begins to gel with one another. That was on display in the win over the Toronto Raptors where Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and LeBron James all put up double-doubles. After trade rumors began running wild on the team, are things quieting down as the wins stack up?
Dion Waiters have not stopped hearing trade rumors surrounding his name since last season. The shooting guard continues to hear that his future is in doubt despite the Cavaliers exercising the option on his contract. Waiters certainly did not help himself by getting benched at the start of the season, but the Cavaliers are stressing that any trade rumors out in the media are not coming from the team themselves.
Most Cavaliers' trade rumors are saying that Cleveland is shopping Waiters for a rim protector. ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting that Denver Nuggets' center Timofey Mozgov is the intended target to acquire while Chris Andersen of the Miami Heat has come up in discussions. However, according to FOX Sports Ohio's Sam Amico, the Cavaliers are not shopping Waiters prior to the NBA trade deadline.
"I've heard talk in league circles that the Cavs are open to moving him. But that seems more like wishful thinking from employees of opposing teams. As far as I know, the Cavs haven't made any calls regarding Waiters," Amico said.
Waiters is not exactly playing well which is only fueling the idea of a trade. In his last four games, the shooting guard is 6-of-20 which included taking just one shot in the game against the Milwaukee Bucks. It is certainly feasible that the Cavaliers would be trying to trade the young guard, but Amico believes that the team likes the chemistry with Waiters and more importantly, James likes the shooting guard.
James has also been a big advocate for Thompson which could help the power forward get a contract extension from the team in free agency. Thompson will be a restricted free agent in the summer and has heard trade rumors surround his name as well. However, Thompson has really come along this season and could be a valuable piece for the future.
"Tristan, as I've said many times, together with Andy (Varejao), is a starter for us," head coach David Blatt said, via WKYC.com. "That's the kind of contribution we hope to get out of the two of them, if not individually, then combined on a nightly basis, and Tristan just came out and played an exceptional game on both ends of the court, defending, rebounding in traffic, finishing around the basket, making good decisions with the ball when he didn't have shots and just competing at a high level. He was really a key to our win."