Amidst reports of a "contentious" relationship with teammates, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dion Waiters appears headed for another team. The Cavaliers are reportedly pursuing a trade with either the Chicago Bulls for Luol Deng, the Philadelphia 76ers for Evan Turner or the New York Knicks for Iman Shumpert.
Cleveland is shopping their second-year guard because of his poor relationship with his teammates, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN. The Cavaliers have already contacted the 76ers about Deng, the 76ers about Evans and the Knicks about Shumpert.
Broussard said Waiters' contentious relationship with his teammates reached boiling point on Nov. 13 at a players-only meeting when he complained about not getting the ball enough. He called out Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson for playing "buddy ball" and almost got into a physical confrontation at the meeting with Thompson.
Waiters voiced his frustration in a three-hour meeting last week with coach Mike Brown and general manager Chris Grant. He's also upset with what he believes is a double standard the Cavaliers have regarding Irving.
"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," Broussard wrote on Wednesday. "Waiters has shared his views with Brown and Grant."
For his part, Waiters denied the trade rumors and friction with his teammates.
"It's just nonsense," Waiters said on Wednesday, via ESPN. "There's been things thrown out there that haven't been true at all."
Although Waiters hasn't asked to be dealt, Broussard's sources said Waiters is open to being open to a trade.
Waiters, the No. 4 pick of the 2012 NBA draft, had a promising rookie campaign with Cleveland but has since seen his numbers dip this season.
