The Cleveland Cavaliers are slowly getting into their rhythm after a rough start this season, but the star-studded team might still need to make trades before the deadline to improve their title chances.
And in the event the Cavaliers decide to make moves later in the season, Bradford Doolittle, a trusted NBA insider from ESPN, is convinced that Cleveland will shop Dion Waiters before the trade deadline.
Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt recently dropped Waiters from the starting lineup in favor of Shawn Marion after the Cavaliers lost in two of their first three games this season.
Waiters is averaging just 9.4 points this year - down from 15.9 points last season - as he is still struggling to adjust to new teammates LeBron James and Kevin Love, which could be one of the reasons why the Cavaliers will look to trade the former Syracuse standout.
"Given the chemistry issues on the Cavs, the defensive holes on the roster and the long-term payroll structure Cleveland will have to create, Waiters' name is going to keep getting floated," Cleveland.com reported. "According to sources, the Cavs shopped Waiters in August to nearly every team with no takers."
But while the Cavaliers failed to find a trade partner during the offseason, Doolittle expects things to change as the deadline approaches. He added that teams who are in dire need for a scorer are expected to express interest in acquiring Waiters, including the Philadelphia 76ers.
Doolittle pointed out that Waiters, a Philadelphia native, will be a good fit to the 76ers' young core of Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. The 76ers also have enough cap room to offer a lucrative deal to Waiters before his rookie contract runs out after the 2015-16 NBA season.
Zachary Arthur, another trusted NBA analyst from Bleacher Report, is also convinced that the Cavaliers might trade Waiters this season to Philadelphia because the 76ers have the trade assets that could make them decide to part ways with the third-year guard before the deadline.
"Philadelphia has two first-round picks - one of which is protected - in the 2015 draft," Arthur wrote. "If general manager Sam Hinkie believes that Waiters is worth one of those picks on top of a player or two on the roster, then it would give the Cavaliers something to think about."
