It appears Dion Waiters could be getting his wish. Statistically, Waiters was the best player on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster behind Kyrie Irving and he was planning on capitalizing on that with an even better 2014 season. The addition of LeBron James made that even more possible, but the drafting of Andrew Wiggins hurt that effort. Wiggins was expected to be a starter with Waiters on the bench, but a trade of the rookie now re-opens the door for guard to succeed.
The Cavaliers originally drafted Wiggins with the intentions that he would be a franchise shooting guard. After being scouted as the next-best-thing in the league, Wiggins was expected to start immediately for the Cavaliers. That meant there was one less starting spot in the rotation and someone was getting pumped to the sixth man role. That player was supposed to be Waiters and he was not thrilled at the idea. The guard told the media and all of Twitter that he had zero intentions of coming off the bench and was prepping to start. Well, that now becomes a realistic option with Wiggins gone.
According to Yahoo Sports, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a trade that would send Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to Minnesota in exchange for Love. The Cavaliers did not draft Wiggins with the intentions of dealing him. It was supposed to be Waiters that was sent packing. However, pressure from Minnesota changed those plans and now Waiters returns with more expectations. He plans on meeting those by studying old James and Dwyane Wade footage to learn their style of play. He is also having conversations with James to prep for the season ahead.
"We've talked," Waiters said, via CBSSports.com. "I actually talked with LeBron before he made his decision. He called me and just told me to be ready. Be ready. I talked to him four or five days before he made his decision. He just got on the phone and said I haven't made my mind up yet but be ready. I told him that I'm already working hard. I'll be ready. And he said, I know, I know you are. Then a few days later I read the letter. I was just really excited for the city of Cleveland. I think the city, more than anybody, deserves this. They deserve to have LeBron coming back. I think the excitement is really back in Cleveland and I'm looking forward to being a part of that."
The Cavaliers are not done tweaking their roster. Shawn Marion, Ray Allen and Chauncey Billups are still targets on the team's radar. The Cavaliers will only take on short-term contracts now with the Love deal in place as the forward is expected to re-sign next offseason.
