Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters became friendly through playing AAU ball against one another, Irving for the New Jersey Roadrunners and Waiters for Team Final.
Now they’re teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers and head coach Byron Scott says they can man the backcourt together for the next decade.
“We just felt it was going to be a great fit with Kyrie,” Scott said Friday on The Doug Gottlieb Show on ESPN Radio. “It puts a very explosive young backcourt together that can be together for 10 years.”
Waiters never started a single game at Syracuse and also didn’t work out for any teams on the advice of his agent.
Still, Scott said the Cavaliers feel they got the second-best player in the draft behind Anthony Davis when they plucked Waiters at No. 4.
The Big East Sixth Man of the Year, Waiters averaged 12.6 points at Syracuse, but was the team’s most potent scorer and closer.
“We just thought that was the way to go for us and we needed some scoring as well and we needed somebody else who can create besides just Kyrie Irving,” Scott said. “So we were able to fill a need that we felt was very important and we were excited that Dion was still on the board.”
Waiters, who attended multiple high schools but finished up under coach Wilson Arroyo at Burlington (N.J.) Life Center, said at the draft he was looking forward to playing with Irving, the former St. Patrick star.
“I just can’t wait to play alongside Kyrie because I know he can help me,” Waiters said. “He’s been here before. I’m going to try to just pick his brain as much as I can.”
Scott has heard the criticisms that Waiters needs the ball in his hands to be successful, but believes he and Irving can coexist and thrive.
“First and foremost, they’re both ballers,” Scott said. “They both want to just get after people. And I know both those guys have a relationship with each other, talking to Kyrie. He understands how good this can be for him as well.
“It gives a chance sometimes to take a little bit of time off on the offensive end and not to just wear himself out, so I think it has the potential to be very, very good. So that’s what we looked at and we think both of these guys’ past relationship of being friends will help that process as well.”
The Cavs also nabbed North Carolina senior center Tyler Zeller at No. 17, and plan to play him in a rotation with former St. Benedict’s Prep and Findlay Prep standout Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao.
“We thought he was probably one of the most skilled big men in the country. I think his negative is that he was a four-year senior. Most of these guys now if you stay four years, you get penalized for it instead of if you leave your freshman year you get the potential tag on you.
“So we didn’t think at [pick] 24 that we were going to have a chance of getting another big guy…So having the opportunity to move up to 17 and get Tyler Zeller, we thought was a home run.
“To get Dion Waiters and to get Tyler Zeller in this draft, we thought both of those guys would be in the top 10, is a big-time home run for us.”
Photo: Getty Images
gman / June 30, 2012
Except they will take their talents elsewhere first chance they get
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