Dion Waiters

[kovanovich]

I find it hard to blame Grant when he was given almost no power to make his own decisions. Coach Scott wanted Waiters to recreate Thomas/Dumars and Gilbert refused to let Grant trade down in 2013.

There's certainly a lot of truth in this (especially the decision not to trade down in 2013), but to take one example, if Gilbert was really forcing Grant's hard, I find it interesting that he didn't force Grant to draft Draymond Green in 2012.

Gilbert referenced the failure to draft Draymond recently; he even referenced having spoken to Tom Izzo about him. Gilbert seemed to blame himself, which I thought was rather striking since Grant was his GM and was ostensibly responsible for the draft. I suspect (and I have no evidence for this) that Gilbert talked to Grant about potentially drafting Draymond, and Grant had sort of a non-committal response, and said instead he wanted to trade up, which probably intrigued Gilbert enough not to harp on drafting Green.

You can also argue that Grant was simply too weak to stand up to Gilbert. I understand it's not entirely fair, but at the end of the day the draft picks are on Grant's resume.

 

[kovanovich]

Interesting. Care to share where that's from ?

You would ask me to cite evidence for my claims

Griffin, who had overseas scouting in his portfolio as assistant GM under Grant, was the one to introduce Karasev after the draft:

http://factoryofsadness.co/2014/02/10/new-cleveland-cavaliers-gm-david-griffin-going-buy-griffin/
http://factoryofsadness.co/2014/02/10/new-cleveland-cavaliers-gm-david-griffin-going-buy-griffin/
When Grant was fired, Griff said something to the effect that he was hoping to see more Karasev on the floor. I've tried to find a link to this, but haven't succeeded (though did come across a lot of other Grant requiems).

So it's just sort of putting the pieces together. I don't believe I have ever seen it explicitly reported, even on RCF, that Karasev was Griffin's pick.

 

[Zog]

The Heat have a new DW3.

 

[brownindian]

The Heat have a new DW3.

 

[cavsfever]

A lt

I wouldn't say that it was erased. Lebron is just so good that he was able to deliver a title regardless. A lot of people would say it is nitpicking since the Cavs are coming off of winning the championship. But, they missed a lot of opportunities to have a younger talent on the team that may have helped as either starters or even a bench player. The AB pick is the one that sticks in my craw. There wasn't anyone that thought he should've been the top pick even in a weak draft such as that one. With the top pick, they should've been able to at least get someone that could've been on the roster now.

Yeah, we still have to see how things turn out -- those missed picks may end up being the difference between a one championship team and a dynasty. Add one or two young players from those picks to our team now and we'd be the favorite over even Golden State.

If we had Draymond Green and GS didn't we'd be expecting our third straight ring right about now...

 

[Derek]

Yeah, we still have to see how things turn out -- those missed picks may end up being the difference between a one championship team and a dynasty. Add one or two young players from those picks to our team now and we'd be the favorite over even Golden State.

If we had Draymond Green and GS didn't we'd be expecting our third straight ring right about now...

Still have to see how things turn out?

We won a championship, mother fucker. It turned out great.

 

[inliner311]

The Dion pick was Grant putting his faith in Byron Scott. I remember Byron Scott talking about watching every tape of Dion he could get his hands on.

The Bennett pick was exactly the same way the next year with mike brown. Mike Brown talked about watching Bennett at UNLV and how he thought he could be a great defender with his length.

Both Bennett and Dion didn't work out for the cavs pre draft. I think they were so in love with Dion they wanted to keep it a secret and Bennett was hurt. Pre-draft workouts were the reason we drafted Tristan yet they didn't seem to rely on them after that draft.

 

[Douglar]

https://theringer.com/dion-waiters-island-map-thunder-heat-e5cb5e752a78#.oopeh2bzs

 

[Tornicade]

https://theringer.com/dion-waiters-island-map-thunder-heat-e5cb5e752a78#.oopeh2bzs

The Troll ... whats that referring to?

 

[Douglar]

https://theringer.com/dion-waiters-island-map-thunder-heat-e5cb5e752a78#.tvxdmndsc

5. Men Lie, 6. Buckets Don’t, 7. The Troll
The twin, grass-covered hills of Men Lie and Buckets Don’t dominate the central landscape of Waiter’s Island. Thorny vines dotted with a rare type of hallucinogenic blackberry crawl up their eastern slopes, and a sea of wild ganja grows thickly in the valley between. A cave on the southern side of Men Lie is home to the magic troll who feeds on overconfidence and finishes every sentence with “AF.”

Legend has it the troll was the first to tell Dion he was better than Kyrie.​

 

[kosis]

The Troll ... whats that referring to?

Hate to be the spelling and/or grammar police, but number 6 should be "Buckets DNT".

 

[Tornicade]

Dion took less money for a one year deal. He has a good shot at starting and earning a 4 year 48-52 million deal next season

 

[David.]

Dion took less money for a one year deal. He has a good shot at starting and earning a 4 year 48-62 million deal next season

Man I hope so.

 

[Biw]

I kind of feel for Dion on this one. Probably trusted his agent in knowing the market and making the best decision and ends up missing out on 4 million dollars this year. I'm sure Miami won't be too much of a distraction for him after playing in Oklahoma City...

This year is going to be a huge test for Waiters. I hope he passes.

 

[mhi]

I kind of feel for Dion on this one. Probably trusted his agent in knowing the market and making the best decision and ends up missing out on 4 million dollars this year. I'm sure Miami won't be too much of a distraction for him after playing in Oklahoma City...

This year is going to be a huge test for Waiters. I hope he passes.

Yep, Riley and Spo run a no nonsense org. If they can't bend him a little I don't what will. If I was his agent, I'd tell him to focus 100% on defense and let everything else come along.