Cleveland Cavaliers Don’t Want Dion Waiters Leading Team In Shot Attempts

By Michael Terrill @MichaelTerrill on October 18, 2014

The Cleveland Cavaliers had an epic offseason that saw the team acquire two offensive machines in superstars LeBron James and Kevin Love. For that reason, it is troubling trend when Dion Waiters is leading the team in shot attempts during the preseason.

“I was thinking about that at halftime, actually,” Cavaliers head coach David Blatt said, according to CBS Sports. “Remember that we didn’t play with a full roster tonight and our normal rotation was not what it will be. The way that Dallas played led to a lot of open perimeter shots, which Dion is going to take because that’s what he does.

“I don’t think he should lead the team in shots. On the other hand I don’t really care. I just want us to take good shots and make them. But we’ll look at it. It’s something we really should look at it and we will.”

If Waiters is sinking his shots from the outside, it will only help Cleveland’s play in the post. Not to mention, it will open up unimaginable doors for James, Love and point guard Kyrie Irving. Everyone will be rightfully focused on the three All-Stars, but Waiters excelling on offense will do wonders for the success of the team.

With that said, Waiters essentially taking over the offense is the last thing the Cavaliers want. Converting 42.6 percent of his 13.6 shot attempts is certainly not a bad statistic. At the same time, that shooting percentage could very well go down. The last thing Blatt wants is to see his team fall into a poor, consistent groove.

Of course, once the regular season starts this is hardly going to matter. There is no way James is going to sit idly by while Waiters takes shot after shot. He is the king for a reason. He wants to control the tempo of the game through his play, and when he passes someone else the ball they better make it more times than not.

It should be noted that more than a few fans in Cleveland are somewhat alarmed at how often Waiters has been shooting for obvious reasons. The good news is he will have his place on the team once the season kicks off, it just will not be what he has grown accustom to through five preseason games.

Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.