The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly looking to trade guard Dion Waiters for New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert. Waiters began being shopped around because of his "contentious relationship" with teammates, ESPN reports.
Cleveland is interested in dealing the second-year pro for Shumpert and has already spoken to New York about a potential trade, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN. Broussard also said the Cavaliers have spoken with the Chicago Bulls about Luol Deng and the Philadelphia 76ers about Evan Turner.
Waiters, the No. 4 pick of the 2012 draft, became expendable because of his less-than-friendly relationship with his teammates, which he presumably voiced last week to Cavaliers coach Mike Brown and general manager Chris Gant during a three-hour meeting.
The 21-year-old shooting guard out of Syracuse had a promising rookie campaign with 14.4 points per game, but his numbers are down this season. He's averaging 13 points per game this season on 38.9 percent shooting from the field.
His lack of production is something that he reportedly blamed on Kyrie Irving for playing "buddy ball" with Tristan Thompson. Waiters' accusations almost led to him and Thompson getting into a physical altercation at a players-only meeting where Waiters first voiced his grievances.
Waiters is also unhappy with what he perceives to be a "double standard" with how the team treats Irving.
"...Waiters and Irving are not close," Broussard wrote on Wednesday. "Waiter believes the Cavaliers have a double standard when it comes to Irving, sources said. Waiters feels that while Irving is allowed to get away with loafing defensively, making turnovers and taking bad shots, he is taken out of games for such things."
Although Waiters hasn't requested a trade, Broussard's sources say the guard is open to leaving Cleveland.
It's uncertain what level of interest the Knicks have in dealing Shumpert for Waiters. Shumpert was linked last month to a potential trade with the Denver Nuggets for forward Kenneth Faried.
