Didn't watch the game, but saw Waiters was 5-15 shooting.

Sad thing is, that improved his shooting percentage for the summer league.

This is cut & pasted from a radio show (The Sports Fix) that I follow on Facebook so take it FWIW...

The Cleveland Cavaliers may have inched ahead of the Houston Rockets as a facilitator in a potential trade that would send Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers, sources said Wednesday.

One source familiar with the talks, though, cautioned to not make too much of that shift just yet.

The Cavaliers would land Lakers center Andrew Bynum for a package of draft picks and veter...an power forward Anderson Varejao, according to one league source. The Lakers would receive Howard for Bynum. The source said this was merely the framework of a deal being discussed.

Cavaliers GM Chris Grant was in Las Vegas watching summer-league action but made an unplanned return to Cleveland, sources say, and is not expected to return. In the frenzy of anticipating if, when and where Howard might be dealt, such otherwise innocuous events have been enough to inspire massive speculation that a deal is near.

The Lakers have engaged both the Rockets and Cavaliers in their attempt to land Howard, sources say, because those two teams, a) have interest in acquiring Bynum, and, b) have the requisite salary-cap room to accept larger player salaries than they send out in a deal.

The complicating point for any deal to be completed, sources say, is whether Bynum and Howard agree to extensions with their next team. Sources close to Howard say that as of now, after mistakenly depriving himself of free agency this summer by opting into the final year of his deal with the Magic, he has no intention of doing so again.

ESPNLosAngeles.com reported the Lakers remain committed to pursuing Howard even without assurances he'd sign a long-term extension with the club.

The Rockets have had Howard at the top of their wish list for months and have made moves to pursue him, from collecting first-round picks in the draft to using the amnesty clause on Luis Scola.

Pick6;1227688 wrote:Didn't watch the game, but saw Waiters was 5-15 shooting.

It seems like they have Waiters working on his jumpshot to get it down consistently. He hasn't been stopped on the drive though. Byron wants him to shed a bit more weight though. He was something like 4% body fat while playing last season @ Syracuse and that's where Byron wants him back.

hoops23;1227887 wrote:It seems like they have Waiters working on his jumpshot to get it down consistently. He hasn't been stopped on the drive though. Byron wants him to shed a bit more weight though. He was something like 4% body fat while playing last season @ Syracuse and that's where Byron wants him back.

Agree with everything there. He looks a little out of shape, jump shot obviously needs work, and seems to be able to get to the rim from the first ~3quarters I watched of their first summer league game.

Hopefully he gets a little more efficient.

Killer_Ewok watch any of these games? Curious for his thoughts on Waiters.

RCF is heating up with Bynum talk again. And Sam Amico tweeted this gem:

Andrew Bynum loves Cavs coach Byron Scott and loves PG Kyrie Irving, says source close to him. Link to my story ...

Here's Waiters' highlights from the Charlotte game..

[video=youtube;vYQaZyVVt9o][/video]

Obviously his shot was off, but pay attention to his vision on the break and how he can split double teams with ease... He also displayed the clutch jumper at the end.

His shot was def off, in some spots looked horrible. Zeller looked great running the floor though.

Dion waiters ‏@dionwaiters3

Great RT @theestone19: @dionwaiters3 how you feel about bynum?????

Commander of Awesome;1228042 wrote:His shot was def off, in some spots looked horrible. Zeller looked great running the floor though.

Zeller has looked fantastic on offense... Not so much defensively.. I'm sure he'll adjust though.

But Waiters honestly reminds me of DWade. I'd be saying this if he was drafted by Toronto or something... The way he breaks double teams and his potency in the PnR is amazing. He and Kyrie compliment each other very well.

If Waiters works on that jump shot consistently, ala Wade, he's going to be special.

Commander of Awesome;1228042 wrote:His shot was def off, in some spots looked horrible. Zeller looked great running the floor though.

I am liking the Zeller pick more and more. He is definitely NBA ready IMO.

Seems like Waiters kicks his feet out too far on his shot, just doesnt look right. Any coincidence he is wearing #3 and is compared to D-wade?

hoops23;1228052 wrote:Zeller has looked fantastic on offense... Not so much defensively.. I'm sure he'll adjust though.

But Waiters honestly reminds me of DWade. I'd be saying this if he was drafted by Toronto or something... The way he breaks double teams and his potency in the PnR is amazing. He and Kyrie compliment each other very well.

If Waiters works on that jump shot consistently, ala Wade, he's going to be special.

I'm pretty disappointed I cant watch Waiters and Irving play together right now. I think they will be great compliments to each other.

Pick6;1228063 wrote:I am liking the Zeller pick more and more. He is definitely NBA ready IMO.

Seems like Waiters kicks his feet out too far on his shot, just doesnt look right. Any coincidence he is wearing #3 and is compared to D-wade?

If Waiters turns into just 80% of the player DWade is, he'll be an all star...

His shooting mechanics can be corrected, I'm not too worried about that. I think he and Kyrie will provide healthy competition for one another to continue to get better. The important thing is, Waiters shows the intangibles, i.e breaking through a double team, making the right move in the PnR, and good court vision on the open floor.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/222430/Scott_Waiters_Out_Of_Shape_Needs_To_Work_On_Defensive_Technique

I'm torn on Bynum. He could flame out as easy as he could be an all star every year. I would take the risk, as depending on how many round picks we have to give up.

OneBuckeye;1228904 wrote:I'm torn on Bynum. He could flame out as easy as he could be an all star every year. I would take the risk, as depending on how many round picks we have to give up.

I think all well have to give up is Varejao, Casspi, Walton and our Heat first rounder and the Kings first rounder. I think Orlando will make LAL give up Gasol, since they wouldn't want Bynum since he wouldn't re-sign. I think they'd be ok with that since they just Jamison.

Just reported that D12 wouldn't mind signing and would re-sign with the Lakers.

IchsCreekPRIDE;1228918 wrote:I think all well have to give up is Varejao, Casspi, Walton and our Heat first rounder and the Kings first rounder. I think Orlando will make LAL give up Gasol, since they wouldn't want Bynum since he wouldn't re-sign. I think they'd be ok with that since they just Jamison.

I think we have to give up our 2014 1st and maybe 2nd as well.

Over on RCF its AV and picks for Bynum. The thought is we'd be helping out Orlando by taking on two bad contracts of some combo Hedo/J-Rich/Big Baby.

I want Bynum to be a Cav but I'm not sure if this is the right time. We still have deficiencies at SF and in overall depth. If we don't do the trade we'll be in the lottery, most likely top 10 IMO. Based on who's in college and projected to be a 1 and done, it's a weak draft for wings. Meaning we need a high pick to get a good SF.

We can kiss that pick goodbye if we get Bynum now. We'd probably be a 1 and done playoff team picking mid-round. Why lose a potential piece at SF to have an extra year of Bynum. I know Bird rights matter but if we're already a top destination then wouldn't strengthening the team via another piece in the draft make us all the more attractive to sign with next offseason?

It's easy to say and money talks, especially offering an extra year. Either way I hope we end up with him, I just hope this trade doesn't have us wallowing in the middle like the Atlanta Hawks of recent.

Sam Amico's latest tweet:

"Cavs, Lakers, Magic have framework of deal in place, source says. Dwight Howard to Lakers, Andrew Bynum to Cavs is "closer."

KR1245;1228924 wrote:I think we have to give up our 2014 1st and maybe 2nd as well.

Bynum > 2014 1st, 2nd. I'm happy they pulled back into the trade. Bynum and Zeller in the front court... That's a monster front line.

Problem is....no way he signs an extension now

swoosh;1228957 wrote:Bynum > 2014 1st, 2nd. I'm happy they pulled back into the trade. Bynum and Zeller in the front court... That's a monster front line.

Don't forget TT. TT would instantly become a monster having Bynum behind him.

If this thing goes through and we only lose Varejao, we could have our arguably 5 best players at ages 23, 22, 21, 20 and 20. I wouldn't mind taking on Hedo for some depth at the 3 spot this year either. Then just keep hunting for our long-term SF.