The Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster is full of shiny new acquisitions, but perhaps the most interesting player to watch this year will be Dion Waiters. No Cavalier has a greater gap between his potential ceiling and floor, and no Cavalier has more questions surrounding his ability to fit in with LeBron James and company.

Lest we forget, the Cavs 2013-14 campaign was just silly. Andrew Bynum successfully begging to get traded by chucking full-court shots. Anthony Bennett slogging his way to one of the very worst seasons ever by a number one pick. The ill-fated idea to re-marry Mike Brown. And of course, the players-only meeting that led to the public usage of the term “buddy ball” and Dion-centric trade rumors.

LeBron be praised, those days now feel far, far away. Everyone said the right things in the warm cocoon of media day, Dion chief among them. “I’m going to do whatever I have to do for this team,” he said. He’s been working out with Kevin Love. He’s been the consummate teammate while in the primordial ooze of the preseason.

Still, Dion’s gonna be Dion. One does not inspire a Swag Matrix by being vanilla. To wit: He wants to play some point guard. When he gets the ball, he’s “got to destroy (his) opponent.” When asked on Twitter if he would come off the bench, he replied “Nooooooooo” with nine o’s, and did so at 4:43 AM. There’s also this video, which features Dion stepping out in a white bowtie, a gold pinky ring, and a Bentley. And don’t forget the roller skating—backwards.

One gets the sense that being on a good team will free up Dion to be himself. We don’t yet know if that’s a completely good thing, but it will certainly be entertaining. Without further adieu, an illustrated look at Dion’s game:

In Rainbows

When it’s on, few players have as pretty a jumper as Dion. He really lofts it up there, making it all the picturesque when it falls through the bucket. His long two-point jumpers had the highest average arc in the league at 15.6 feet, and the loft on his threes was fifth highest at 16.5 feet (number 29 in this Zach Lowe piece). A high-arcing shot is not a guarantee of accuracy, and it actually can make it difficult for a shooter to control a shot’s distance. The likelihood of a lovely swish, however, is increased when the ball comes down like a parabola.

Dion shot 36.8% on threes last year, just above league-average. It’s not unreasonable to expect that number to climb, considering that LeBron and Love are replacing, say, Alonzo Gee and Tyler Zeller. Waiters will often be the fourth option on the floor, and teams are likely to put their best perimeter defenders on James and/or Irving. This is an ideal scenario for optimal opponent destroying.

Dion averaged 2.5 catch-and-shoot threes per game last year, another figure that is likely to rise. He shot a solid 41.6% on those, a hair better than former Cav Danny Green. In contrast, Waiters shot just 26% on pull-up threes. Assuming that drives and post-ups from Kyrie, Love, and LeBron will bend, compress, and otherwise manipulate defenses, Dion should enjoy a lot of wide open looks. Better yet, he shouldn’t have to launch as many tough jumpers late in the shot clock.

Dion has shown a tendency to fade on his jumper, a mechanical issue that can knock everything awry. He corrected some of that last season, and has been praised by David Blatt thus far; continued consistency will make him a more accurate deep threat. He also has a propensity to catch and drive rather than catch and shoot. Drives are good things that put defenses on their heels, but it is important to read the rotation and make quick decisions as to the best course of action. Hesitation can kill an otherwise effective possession, and it will be important for Dion to make smart decisions on when the ball finds him.

Fast and Furious

By no means should Dion mimic Mike Miller and become a perimeter-only player. Driving is an integral part of his game, and the one that best capitalizes on his strength and quickness. Dion took it to the hole often last year, averaging 7.4 drives per game, a top-20 mark (A drive is defined as “any touch that starts at least 20 feet from the hoop and is dribbled within 10 feet of the hoop and excludes fast breaks.”). He has an explosive first step and he is especially dangerous when a defender can’t close out under control. He has also shown the ability to handle the ball in the pick-and-roll game, which should create chaos for teams worrying about the Cavs’ stars off the ball.

Dion was not, however, an efficient player when getting to the basket. He shot only 40.7% on his forays to the rim, bottom 10 in the league among players who averaged at least five drives per game. He struggled inside in general, converting 49.7% of shots from within five feet, which contributed to the Cavs ranking dead last in the league at such shots, at 54.8%. Close shots should be easy shots, even if there are large men trying hard to discourage them.

Waiters also had a tough time in the near midrange. He shot 39.8% when between 5 and 14 feet from the hoop. This is a tricky area for a lot of players. Even Tony Parker, he of the crafty floaters and scoops around the paint, shot 43.6% from that zone. It’s a generally inefficient region, and one that defenses will gladly concede over a layup or a three. There are a couple ways that Dion could improve this part of his game. One is to develop some kind of runner/floater thing. The other choice is to use those drives as a means to move the ball to open teammates. This is a tough thing to do—imagine a quarterback throwing a pass after plowing into the defensive line—but an important area to improve if Dion wants to be considered a top-tier two guard.

Efficiency and stats aside, Dion Waiters is a bad man when he can finish at the goal. He simply delights in cocking the ball back and putting dudes on posters (Birdman. Hawes. Z-Bo. Andrew Nicholson.)

These are the plays that can knock the roof off of a building and give the whole arena a boost. I don’t know or care if stats back this up. Big dunks are awesome. This is why we watch.

Hot and Cold

Dion is absolutely the sort of player who can score 20-plus on any given night. He did that 24 times last season. He’s also the sort of player who can disappear and score less than 10. He did that 15 times last season. Now, some of those poor outings were due to being banged up or bad matchups or Mike Brown or whatever, but you’d like to see Dion be steadier night after night.

The good news is that Dion improved as the season went along. He scored at least 14 points in each of the final 17 games—18-plus in 13 of those—while shooting a respectable 45%. This is a bit misleading as Irving missed eight of those games, but it’s still heartening to see Dion play with less bipolarity.

The good news is that this Cavs team should be able to weather a bad game from Dion every now and then. Again, he’ll often be the fourth scoring option. The better news is that, on those occasions when he goes off for 20, 25, 30 points, the Cavs should be virtually unbeatable. There will be nights when he can get into the lane at will. There will be nights when he hits five threes in a half. There will be nights when he scores 12 in a quarter. He’ll be to the Cavs what Darren Sproles is to the Philadelphia Eagles: a guy opposing teams may overlook until he’s making them look stupid.

Wild Card

We can try to predict shooting percentages and efficiency ratings. We can use previous outcomes to divine future results. But it’s much tougher to forecast how a human will react to a new situation.

Has Dion truly bought in to this new Cavaliers era, or is he just hitting softball questions out of the park? Will he grumble if he winds up coming off the bench? Will he clash with David Blatt? What if he doesn’t get enough shots? Aren’t the other guys going to be in more commercials? Has his beef with Kyrie and Tristan been fully squashed?

Sadly, NBA.com doesn’t have any stats about these sorts of things, and armchair psychology is stupid and overdone in general, so I’m not going to bother trying to answer these questions.

Just keep an eye on this sort of thing is all.

La Fin.

The Cavs’ good fortune benefits everyone in the organization: Dan Gilbert makes more money; the veterans get a shot at a ring; the stars bear less individual burden. But Dion might be the one who makes out the best.

Imagine a world in which the LeBron doesn’t come back. The Love trade never happens. The Cavs might’ve thrown a max deal at Gordon Hayward. The team would be stuck in NBA purgatory, the best breeding ground for bad habits. It isn’t hard to imagine Dion peaking as a Monta Ellis- or even a Ben Gordon-type: a high-volume, low efficiency scorer on middling teams.

The rising tide of a good team lifts all players’ boats, and that is the great hope for Dion and the Cavs this year. The hope is that LeBron imbues the team with Kumbaya ideals of hard work and togetherness. The hope is that the veterans emphasize how fleeting an NBA career is, and how important it is to find one’s place in the league. The hope is that Dion sees the writing on the wall at Cleveland Clinic Courts and falls in line with the team concept.

He’ll always have his personality, his confidence, his innate Dion-ness. We would never wish to take that away, because that is what makes him such a fun player to watch and for whom to cheer. If he can find a way to weave patches of swag into the Cavaliers’ team tapestry, we’ll only have more reasons to cheer.