Cleveland Cavaliers Need Dion Waiters to Thrive as New Sixth Man
It just makes too much common sense. Dion Waiters' game was always built for the sixth-man role—the same one he played at Syracuse while his NBA stock exploded.
You can break down Waiters' game in a million different ways, but there's no mystery as to what ultimately drives his value. He's a scoring specialist—someone who can create his own shot and generate offense out of nothing against a set defense.
Not much of a passer, rebounder or defender, putting the ball in the hole is really Waiters' sole purpose on the floor.
Only he isn't as good at it as LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. And for Waiters to get going, he's a guy who needs the rock in his hands.
"That's not my game," he told Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal when asked if he was focusing on catch-and-shoot basketball this summer.
The Cavs didn't move mountains to acquire James and Love for Waiters to steal their touches and potentially delay or harm the jelling process.
Cleveland's starting lineup isn't a place for Waiters' low-percentage, heavy-volume attack. The lineup needs balance—not more offensive firepower.
Waiters actually finished a game the other night with five total passes in 28 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The five-man unit of Waiters, James, Irving, Love and Anderson Varejao has a plus-minus of negative-seven so far on the year, per 82games.com. That lineup with Shawn Marion instead of Waiters is at plus-14.
Marion makes better sense starting at the 2, where his defensive versatility holds more value than Waiters' scoring prowess.
But this isn't just about maximizing James', Irving's and Love's touches and building their chemistry. It's about spreading the wealth—with Waiters starting, the Cavs are looking at Tristan Thomson as their big bench spark, which doesn't quite scream championship depth.
Cleveland needs Waiters to embrace the idea of being the guy who keeps the pressure on when any of the big three takes a seat.
"I got to do whatever I got to do for the better of the team," Waiters told Cleveland.com's Chris Haynes. "If it's starting, if it's coming off the bench, if it's the water boy, I got to do it. Whatever is best for the team."
Given the bump in usage rate he'd likely see in Cleveland's second group, you'd think he'd enjoy the idea of coming off the bench. Not only does he get to play against more reserves and second-tier guards, but with Irving or James out, it gives him a little extra freedom to make things happen off the dribble, where he's most comfortable.
Waiters actually just played his best game of the young season—a 17-point effort as Cleveland's sixth man in a road win over Denver.
"I thought he had a terrific game today, and I told him so in the locker room," coach David Blatt told Haynes. "Because he came in and did exactly what we needed him to do from the bench: Score the ball, he played hard and right."
The big challenge for Waiters will ultimately be picking his spots hunting for offense without jeopardizing the team's ball movement or flow. As a third or fourth option, he has to get used to seeing more of his scoring chances come in the form of spot-up jumpers and opportunistic drives.
The fact is that there's a level of volatility tied to Waiters' particular style of play, and it's easier for a coach to manage when it's coming off the bench.
In a sixth-man role, you can shoot 43 percent from the floor and still be highly effective. That's what Jamal Crawford shot last year while winning the award for best bench player in the league.
For Waiters, it's more about timing than production. The Cavs don't need him dropping 18 points a game. They need him to get to the line when the second team can't buy a bucket or to knock down the open jumper created by James' dribble penetration with the shot clock winding down.
Cleveland doesn't need a big four. It needs a big three plus one. And Waiters has the chance to emerge as one of the NBA's top plus-ones.
If the Cavaliers plan on winning a title, it might come down to Waiters being able to deliver the final knockout blow from the bench.
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