The NBA trade rumors are already starting up big before the month of November is even done and the Cleveland Cavaliers are looking like players in the middle of it all, as the team is shopping Dion Waiters and reports say they are targeting Luol Deng, Iman Shumpert and Evan Turner as potential options with the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers.
ESPN.com is reporting that the Cavaliers are shopping Waiters, as he has had some issues with star point guard Kyrie Irving and the team also feels that it has a backlog at his position. The report says that the Bulls and Knicks could be involved in a deal, as Iman Shumpert and Luol Deng have both been targeted as tradable players and the Cavaliers feel that a big move is necessary to shake up their team. Cleveland came into the year with expectations that they would compete for a playoff spot in the eastern conference, but after losing to the Miami Heat on Wednesday, the team now is 4-11 and Chris Broussard reports that one of the main reasons is issues that Waiters has with Irving and Tristan Thompson.
The report says that Waiters feels that Irvin gets away with things players like himself don't, including playing lax defense and making legitimate mistakes and he also said in a team meeting that Irving and Thompson play "buddy ball" and don't pass to him when he is open. Reports said that in that team meeting Thompson took exception to those words, but that teammates intervened before it escalated into a fight. Waiters is not asking for a trade, but is open to one and he spoke with head coach Mike Brown and general manager Chris Grant about the issues and now players like Deng, Turner and Shumpert could be in play for a deal.
Waiters is a talented player and he was picked fourth overall in the draft two years ago and teams looking for a young, talented player could go after him and the Cavaliers have been looking at Deng and Shumpert as well as Turner. All three of those players have been previously mentioned in trade rumors and Deng is an interesting option, as the Bulls tabled contract talks with him and he is set to be an unrestricted free agent and with Derrick Rose injured and out for the season, Deng could be on his way out.
Waiters scored 24 points in the loss against Miami and the Knicks are an interesting option as well, as they are in a slump and could shake things up as well. Iman Shumpert has been named in trade rumors numerous times, including with the Denver Nuggets and Kenneth Faried and now he could be one to move as well. The Sixers look like a rebuilding team and Turner is a player that has also come up in reports and it will be interesting to see where this goes.
