Is Dion Waiters Truly a Good Fit with the Cavaliers?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are entering a very intriguing season with LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving trying to bring a championship home. Those three players will be the main focus of the offense, but there is another player that is known for taking a high volume of shots and being able to put up big numbers. Dion Waiters is expected to start at the shooting guard position for the Cavaliers, and that could lead to some issues down the road.

Is Waiters truly a good fit with the Cavaliers now that they have a “big three” running the show?

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Those numbers aren’t bad at all, but he isn’t going to be able to take the 14.2 shots per game that he took last season. Cleveland is going to be playing through James, Love, and Irving, with Waiters simply being a scoring option every now and then. That might not sit well with Waiters, and therefor could cause some locker room issues during the middle of the season.

Drama is the last thing that the Cavaliers need to have in their locker room this season, as there will already be plenty of it surrounding their team in the media. Waiters does have quite a bit of potential, and would love to learn and play alongside of James. If he is willing to take a backseat to three other players and put his scoring on the side, then things could work out.

While there is a possibility that Waiters would be willing to do that, there is also the likelihood that he would rather not take a scoring reduction. At just 22 years of age, he wants to score the ball as much as he can, and he doesn’t really have a great shot selection yet. There has already been talk through just a few preseason games that Waiters needs to shoot less and focus more on passing the basketball around.

It will be very intriguing to see what the Cavaliers end up doing with Waiters as the season starts up. Obviously if he changes his game up a bit and becomes more of a team player, there won’t be much that the Cavaliers have to do. On the other hand, they may have to decide to move on from Waiters if he is unwilling to change his game and insists on being a ball dominant shooting guard.

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Cleveland has the luxury of having the big three on the roster so that they can make moves with the supporting cast and not worry about blowing up the core of the team. The Cavaliers don’t have much depth at the shooting guard position, which is why they will hope that Waiters can change his game to the point that he fits in well. He would definitely be a dangerous scoring option and shooter for James when he goes one on one and looks to make plays with his passing ability.

All of that being said, Waiters could end up being the Cavaliers’ X-Factor or their nightmare. They really need him in the lineup in order to be as strong as possible, but they can’t afford to have him mess up team chemistry due to shot selection or being upset with having to change his game. Expect to see him end up fitting in with the Cavaliers’ new lineup and system, and play the role of supporting scorer whenever the big three need him to.