Additions: Jared Cunningham, Austin Daye, Chris Johnson, Richard Jefferson, DJ Stephens, Mo Williams
Mo Williams is back. After LeBron left Cleveland in 2010, Mo was devastated. Like so many in Cleveland, Williams understood what LeBron’s initial departure mean to the city of Cleveland. Since then, while LeBron’s played in five finals, Mo’s played on five different teams—yet still making strong contributions to most. Last year, he dropped 52 on the Pacers and averaged 17.2 PPG in 27 games with the Hornets. Tired of playing on scrub teams, Williams made amends with James this summer and joined the Cavs. With Irving out until what I predict could be January, Williams will be essential for the Cavs. He’s a superior option to Dellavadova at the point, and he’s a more reliable scoring option than J.R. Smith. Williams’ sole All-Star season was with Cleveland in 2008/09, and although he won’t start 81 games and average 17.8 PPG, he should find moderate success leading a stronger cast than Mo has ever played with before—anywhere.
Subtractions: Shawn Marion, Kendrick Perkins, Tristan Thompson
Tristan Thompson wants to get paid. And apparently 5 years/$80 million isn’t enough. I don’t begrudge the man for wanting big money but I certainly don’t blame the Cavs for not giving it to him. Although Thompson’s timely playoff contributions certainly raised his value in the eyes of many, personally I think he’s shooting a little high on this one… I mean, he is a bench player who just switched his shooting hand two years ago. He’s never averaged more than 11.7 PPG and he’s never averaged double-digit rebounds; furthermore, he’s an inept free throw shooter and a subpar shot blocker, and he plays behind Kevin Love, a guy who the Cavs already re-signed to a 5-year/$110 million deal. Add to that, the fact that the contract Thompson is seeking would put the Cavs even further over the cap triggering costly luxury tax penalties. Just a year ago, Kenneth Faried, who has undoubtedly proven to be very bit the player Thompson is in his four years in the league, agreed to a 4-year/$52 million with the Nuggets—do you really think Thompson is owed 5-years/$94 million? I doubt you do and I doubt the Cavs do either. I assume the Cavs will work something out with Tristan but it appears it might be short-term…
Rookies: Quinn Cook, Sasha Kaun, Nick Minnerath
If I’m writing about Quinn Cook, what does that tell you about the Cavs rookie class? There’s not much here. Which is fine because the Cavs used every penny available to re-sign last year’s core (excluding Tristan Thompson). Want further proof the Cavs have no interest in drafting (and paying) a rookie? Look how quickly they dumped off two first-rounders for Timofy Mozgov (a trade that I 100% co-signed by the way). But hey, you gotta fill out your roster with players, and with Cook, Kaun, and Minnerath, the Cavs are trying to find some value in their rookie contracts. Of the three, Cook may have the most potential. A three-year starter at Duke, Cook went undrafted and after playing Summer League ball with the Thunder and the Cavs, he signed with Cleveland. Playing with the likes of Tyus Jones, Austin Rivers, and Seth Curry, Cook has spent the majority of his time playing off the ball. He’s a solid outside shooter but isn’t much of a slasher and doesn’t take many shots in the paint. He also has high basketball I.Q., he’s an excellent passer, and has sneaky quickness. Defensively, he’s a little undersized, but he’s very quick and energetic. Truth be told, this all may be a moot point. Cook could quite possibly be cut from the Cavs or sent to their D-League affiliate this season as he has very little chance to crack Cleveland’s guard rotation.
Guards: After three seasons of never sniffing the playoffs, Kyrie Irving proved that he could be an important cog on a successful team. James has long been credited with making his teammates better and Irving was no exception. Irving increased his scoring (21.7 PPG from 20.8) on less shots (16.5 FGA from 17.4), and raised both his PER (20.1 to 21.5) and win shares (6.7 to 10.4). And although Kyrie certainly plays Robin to LeBron’s Batman, he also showed that he could bear the scoring load when LeBron’s on the bench. When LeBron says he feels that he doesn’t have to carry the Cavs, who do you think is gonna take the pressure off? Obviously, Kyrie. However, Irving isn’t gonna be ready for opening night and could return as late as January. In the meantime, Mo Williams is gonna have to step up. Now I’m not gonna lie, I’m not as big on JR Smith and Iman Shumpert as others are. I understand Shumpert’s a solid “three-and-D” player and those are in vogue right now, but he’s not much of a scorer (7.7 career PPG), has terrible shot selection (41% career FG%), and doesn’t pass (2.1 career APG). That gets you 4-years/$40 million? Crazy. Even crazier was JR Smith opting out of his $6 million option last summer? I know a lot of Cavaliers have inflated self-values right now, but this dude is crazy! Listen, JR is a good player; he’s unbelievably talented and can heat up in a way that only 15-20 players in this league can. But dude is a knucklehead… and super un-clutch. Remember when Smith was knocking threes down in the waning minutes of Finals Game 6 last year? That’s because that’s what he does! He loves hitting shots that don’t count. Dude couldn’t knock a shot down in the first 45 minutes of the game when the Cavs needed it. If his team is up 20 or more, Smith can catch fire; but if there’s two minutes left in an important tie game, there’s no way that ball’s going in—you might not even get a good miss. Perhaps I’m overlooking many of Smith’s contributions, but he just seems immune to hitting big shots. Matthew Dellavadova stepped up big in the playoffs last year, and although he’s a third-string PG, should be able to find some minutes before and after Irving’s return. Joe Harris is a good player but he gets no burn. I want that to change but I don’t think it will.
Forwards: LeBron James is the best player in the NBA right now. Some would argue for Anthony Davis, others might advocate Steph Curry or James Harden. Kevin Durant? Russell Westbrook? Get the fuck out of here. LeBron’s been to the last five Finals, and it wasn’t because of James Jones… He’s the best all-around player in the league; he may go down as the second-best player in NBA history. He’s an 11-time All-Star and two-time champion. Last season, he led a Cavs team without Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao to the Finals. He’s one of the least selfish superstars ever, and always seems to make his teammates better. LBJ can more-or-less guard all five positions on defense and play four of them on offense. If there’s one part of LeBron’s game I could be critical of, it’s his free throw shooting. A 74.5% career shooter from the stripe, James has never shot 80% from the line in any of his 12 seasons—which isn’t awful; it’s just a goal that given his talent, he should achieve. Earlier in the offseason, James commented that he did not feel he needed “to carry the team” just lead it; although I understand LeBron’s putting the emphasis on teamwork, with Irving out until January, he’s gonna need to carry them at least through the first two months of the season. I still feel bad for Kevin Love; I’m not going to bluntly state Kelly Olynyk deliberately tried to hurt him, but if you look at the play, I’m not willing to say Olynyk did everything he could NOT to hurt him… It certainly rode the line between dirty and aggressive. So after six seasons in which Love couldn’t sniff a post-season appearance, he played in two playoff games before his season was over. Love got A LOT of shit last year for his declining production. With career averages of 19.2 PPG and 12.2 RPG with Minnesota, Love’s 16.4 PPG and 9.7 RPG in his first season with the Cavs was disappointing. Many speculated that David Blatt simply didn’t know how to use Love or that James and Irving weren’t sure how to get him the ball. Love seemingly became more reliant on his outside shooting and played a lot less in the post or in the paint. What happened to the guy who had 53 straight double-doubles with the Wolves? I think he’s still in Cleveland. Impressively, Love was able to obtain 38 double-doubles in 75 games with the Cavs last season. But if you’re expecting Kevin Love to “be the player he was in Minnesota,” you’re crazy. Dude posted a 26.9 PER and 10.6 offensive win shares in 2014/15!! But that was on a team with bums like Ricky Rubio and Wayne Ellington. But if one reasonably tempers their expectations, Love can be a winner in Cleveland. The Cavs signed Richard Jefferson to a one-year veteran’s minimum this summer. After barely cracking the rotation in 2012/13, RJ had two solid seasons in a reserve role with Utah and Dallas respectively. Although he’ll again see limited time with the Cavs, he should be a nice complimentary piece. Three point specialist James Jones rounds out the front line while journeyman Austin Daye attempts to reclaim his career with Cleveland.
Centers: As I stated earlier, I was a big fan of the trade that brought Timofy Mozgov in the fold last season. The bottom line was that the Cavs were too small and with Anderson Varejao out for the season, they we’re getting killed on the glass. Mozgov came in and made an immediate impact. In his 46 games with the Cavs, he scored 10.6 PPG, shot 59% from the field, and posted a career high 18.9 PER. The acquisition of he, JR Smith, and Iman Shumpert greatly changed the Cavs’ trajectory last season, and it’s no surprise all three players were re-signed (well, I guess I was kinda surprised JR Smith got re-signed…). Anderson Varejao enters his 12th NBA season (all with the Cavs) after missing most of the 2014/15 season. Unfortunately, Varejao doesn’t seem to play much any more—he’s played in less than 32 games in four of his last five seasons. But when he’s on the court, he can still be effective… With Tristan Thompson holding out, Varejao may be relied upon to help the frontcourt. I think it’s reasonable to believe that Varejao could average 9 points and 6 rebounds—hopefully he can appear in more 50 games.
Final thoughts: Much like Chicago, Cleveland is more or less returning the same team. Regardless of Irving’s timetable, I expect the Cavs to secure the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference… With Tristan Thompson out of the line-up, expect a healthy Anderson Varejao to pick up the slack. Despite rejecting a qualifying offer, I expect Thompson to re-sign with the Cavs (even if it’s only a one-year deal). I think it’s in the best interest of both parties to reach some sort of understanding… Those who dogged Kevin Love and said, ‘he wasn’t living up to his contract” or ‘he wasn’t part of the big three’ will regret those comments. With a year in Cleveland under his belt, Love will better understand his role… JR Smith is a bum. The Cavs should’ve let him sign with the Kings or the Trailblazers… Don’t believe the hype! Coach Blatt’s job is secure (which shouldn’t need to be stated). He took a team who’s never won a chip to the Finals in his first season. LeBron respects Blatt as does the rest of the team… I’m happy to see Shawn Marion and Kendrick Perkins out of the league. Marion had a borderline HOF career (although he will ultimately fall short) and should enjoy life after basketball. As for Kendrick Perkins, we’ve reached the end of the road. His basketball skills have completely eroded. Over the least two seasons, he’s just become a goon out there. Perhaps Sam Presti and the Thunder should’ve considered moving Perkins during the summer of 2012, not James Harden…
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