Cavaliers Roster, Schedule & Rumors: Dion Waiters is Starting 5 After Contract Extension

In the past few days, talks circulated that Dion Waiters was going to be traded off by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sports World Report wrote that the Cavs were allegedly interested in acquiring Russian center Timofey Mozgov of the Denver Nuggets. Cleveland has Waiters and Tristan Thompson as options to transfer. Both players have potential but the Cavs are focused on providing LeBron James the support he needs. Ultimately, no deal happened between Cleveland and Denver.

Sports Illustrated previously wrote that Waiters was useful for the Cavs but if Cleveland would need to do further trades as the season continues, letting go of the guard would be the most sensible thing to do, considering that there are three other great scorers in the team namely LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving.

However, Waiters can now feel comfortable after the Cavs picked up his fourth-year contract option on October 25, 2014. Yahoo! Sports reported that the Cavs were expected to pick up the contract option valued at $5.1 million and actually did on Saturday.

The big news is that the shooting guard will be in the starting five, working with point guard Irving in the backcourt, Yahoo! Sports noted. During the summer, he was training hard to improve his jump shot and can focus on shooting more, now that the "Big 3" will be given defensive tasks.

In a report by Cleveland.com, Waiters led the team in field goal attempts in each of their five preseason games. He said about his team-high shot attempts, "Nah, I'm not surprised. I'm just taking what's given to me. A lot of time guys are out. One game 'Bron is out. One game Kyrie is out, Love. That's more opportunities for me."

Waiters started in only 24 games in the 2013-2014 NBA season but averaged a decent 15.9 points per game, shooting 43.3 percent off the bench. In a report by Syracuse.com, he was drafted fourth overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Cavs and averaged 14.7 points per game in his rookie year. He made the NBA All-Rookie team that time.

Syracuse.com wrote that Waiters' recent contract extension improves his chances of playing with the Cavs in the next two seasons. Playing with the team's three superstars would be his best chance at winning an NBA title.

Cleveland also waived forward Shane Edwards. As a result, point guard A.J. Price, center Alex Kirk and forward Lou Amunson will be included in the team's final 15-man roster.