Cavs pull a surprise by taking Waiters No. 4 in the draft
The Cleveland Cavaliers made a bit of a surprise draft choice with their first pick in the NBA draft on Thursday, taking Syracuse guard Dion Waiters with the No. 4 overall pick.
Waiters may be the first player in history taken in the top four picks even though he never started a single game in two seasons of college ball.
With the Cavs, he will be paired with point guard Kyrie Irving, the No. 1 overall pick of last year's draft.
There were reports the Cavaliers were trying to make a trade with the Charlotte Bobcats to obtain the No. 2 overall pick, to take Brandon Beal. One of the reasons that deal could not be made, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, was the Bobcats owner Michael Jordan's insistence that any trade partner pick up the three years and about $26 million left on the contract of forward Tyus Thomas.
The 6-4 Waiters was invaluable coming off the bench for the Orange with his ability to score, either aggressively driving to the basket or scoring from the perimeter. Scoring is Waiters' strength, even though he averaged just 12.6 points last season, and some have compared him to Dwyane Wade for the variety of ways he can score, although he is not in Wade's class and does not have Wade's length.
Waiters is an excellent ballhandler, and could possibly play the point with his ability to penetrate, although that's not his best position. He's a bit undersized for the shooting guard position, and his outside shot is not as consistent as NBA teams like from their guards. There are some questions about his defense and his coachability.
Although the choice of Waiters this high may be a surprise, it is not unikel the selection of guard Russell Westbrook. Westbrook was the No. 4 pick by Oklahoma City in 2008 after a sophomore season at UCLA where he averaged 12.7 points, 4.3 assists and shot 47 percent - numbers very similar to Waiters. Many were surprised Westbrook was taken that high, and that turned out pretty well.
