Some of the greatest joys of being a sports fan, besides your favorite team winning the championship, are the debates that arise between fellow sports nuts along the way. It’s with this in mind that we have begun providing a forum for basketball fanatics to voice their opinions, debate trending topics, and simply hang out with like-minded hoops aficionados. We’ve begun been posting a new topic for readers to discuss each weeknight, which we hope that this will become a regular part of your sports day. If you missed our previous discussions you can view them here, or simply head over to the sidebar and select “Hoops Rumors Community Shootarounds.”
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Now that the fine print is out of the way, let’s get to the topic of the day: What moves do the Cavaliers need to make this offseason in order to return to, and win, the NBA Finals? We’ll never know what the outcome would have been had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love been able to play versus the Warriors. If Cleveland had been at full strength, would LeBron James and company be raising a banner to the rafters of Quicken Loans Arena, or was the roster flawed enough that Golden State would have still triumphed? Do the Cavs need Love to return next season to contend, or would Tristan Thompson be a more effective starter at the four spot for the long-term? Would Andrew Wiggins have been a better fit, especially against the Warriors’ small lineups? All these topics and more are open for discussion. Head to the comments section below and share your thoughts and opinions with the world. We look forward to what you have to say.
If Kyrie and Kevin Love would have played, they wouldn’t have made it to the finals or they would have been beat even worse. They were exponentially betterdefensively without them, and it also allowed LeBron to dictate more offensively. Cleveland was an isolation based team and they isolated Kyrie Irving more than anyone in thebleague. That’s just inefficient offense. Sure, he can score for you in those situations b/c he is that good offensively, but he is a ball stopper, and does all of his work outside of the flow of the offense. That’s why their teammates didn’t usually play well when Kyrie had a big game. They weren’t involved ebough. Having said all that, cleveland didn’t use lebron properly much all season until the bulls series. Still, he needed to play the 4 even more, and they needed to surround him with shooters that can give them some versatility. I’ll never understand why Mike Miller didn’t play more, or why Shawn Marion didn’t play at all. I’ve been saying they need to play more all season, but David Blatt doesn’t seem to have a grasp on how NBA rotations work. Also, the cavs offense is isolation based, so Tristan Thompson actually helps them out, despite his shortcomings on both sides of the ball, b/c he gets them extra possessions, bUT otherwise, he hurts them in a lot of ways. Still, they needed to space the floor more and get out and run more, and both of those guys wouldn’t have hurt their defense either, as it makes them more versatile if they were to finally see the court. Meanwhile Tristan Thompson isn’t much of a defender, in fact he is pretty terrible, and he doesn’t shoot either. His minutes shpuld have been reduced by a lot, and they should t have played 2 bigs at once. As good as mozgov was for them, his minutes should have been reduced as well, and Matthew Dellavadova played too many minutes himself. Things I would have changed with the rotation would have been: Marion for 32 minutes, Mike Miller for 28 minites, Dellavadova for 20 minutes, Mozgov for 18 minutes, and Tristan Thompson for 12 minutes…I still personally think GS would have won, but it would have at least given them a better chance
I will laugh so hard if anyone gives Tristan Thompson max money. That Wiggins trade looked really dumb when the speculation started, when they actually made the trade, and especially now…As for next yeat, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Kevin Love. The cavs need shooting on the wing, and they could use a versatile wing defender (possibly a couple depending on who comes back). They could also use a better backup big. I expect them to get a very good piece with their draft pick, so that should be interesting to see. Most importantly though, they need to play a more ball movement based free flowing offensive style that runs through LeBron b/c they’ll have a hard time winning with the way they played in the half court for almost the entirety of the season….
I was also VERY puzzled by Blatt’s unwillingness to use his veteran bench. It makes me wonder if Ray Allen would have joined the team, would Blatt have even utilized him effectively. I seriously have to question if the team retains Blatt for another season. He did guide the squad to the Finals, but he was outcoached far too often in the playoffs.
I have the same question about retaining Blatt. He seemed too stubborn and short-sighted. He didn’t develop his bench enough to get the 5-6 minutes a game he needed from Marion and Harris when he desperately needed them. They have Tyronn Lue right there, for the asking, and it’s pretty clear the players respect and respond to him. I have some thoughts about the player moves everyone is discussing but I’ll add to the original question here and ask: Will the Cavs be able to get over the hump if they (largely) retain the team they have but change coaches?
Would depend on who they hire, I’d think. He’d have to have LeBron’s blessing, whoever he’d be. But it seems like they’re keeping Blatt, whether LeBron likes it or not.
I disagree. It’s not even an issue we can truly debate but you have to imagine that with Irving and Love starting I don’t think Golden State would’ve been able to dictate the game the way they wanted. Just imagine how much the court would be spread with two 35% + shooters in Irv and Love on the floor? Just imagine how much more effective Delly, Shump and Smith would be not having to play starter minutes. A healthy Irving makes Curry work much harder on defense. Curry was basically allowed to roam on defense because he didn’t have to worry about Delly shooting. He opted to pass the ball WAY too much in the series, except for the one game where he put up 22 or 23 pts.
With a front court of LBJ, Love, Tristan and Mozzie, imo, the Warriors would have to play Bogut and Lee much more than they would’ve wanted.
Now, it may not have altered the outcome but common sense says this game would’ve been much more competitive. LBJ could pick and choose when and if he wanted to take over a game vs having to do so for 45 minutes every game.
Love may not be a defensive player but that’s mostly on the post and the Warriors don’t really have a post player to worry about other than Lee.
I will agree that Kyrie would have made Curry have to work on defense, which is one way to try to slow him down. That being said, who says Steph guards Kyrie?
It kind if seems like he hasn’t gotten used to the fact that nba ganes are 48 minutes, and not 40 minutes
Either that, or those players are truly washed up and the team should have made different choices when constructing its roster last offseason.
I haven’t been able to watch as many Cavs games from the city I live in but I could not understand why Shawn Marion didn’t see at least 5-10 minutes a game, if for no other reason than to rest LBJ more and have someone on the floor that would not be a complete offensive black hole in his place.
Dirk Nowitzki expressed the same sentiment the other day. It’s possible that Blatt observed in practices that his game had eroded this year, but really, I can’t imagine it went away that quickly.
They were positive plus/minus when they were on the floor
I think when love opts in the cavs should try to trade him and get some assets back. He’s gonna want a max deal next summer and they cant have 4 max salary’s on the books if they retain Tristan Thompson. Some young players and picks to add some bench depth. Cal
L the Celtics since they have interest in love and some young players and picks
I’m not sure that Cleveland would deal Love if he opts in. Not a great PR move, and unless the return was something stellar, I don’t know if the Cavs would move him because of how much worse it would make the Wiggins trade appear.
Look I love Tristan Thompson but he simply is NOT a better player than Love. The Golden State Warriors just showed how important it is to have a spread offense and the ability to litter the court with shooters. I think and hope that TT will learn some post moves, but he will never be the same offensive player as Love.
What makes sense is to bring them both back and they can do so because they are both already in the fold. What they can’t do is ADD an outside player. They will get hit with a huge lux tax but Gilbert has shown willingness to go past that. The absolute LAST thing the Cavs should worry about is future assets and go over the salary cap. LBJ is here to win a ring and Love is one of the reasons he felt this team could win. He would be adamant against letting him walk or trading him. Obviously, LOve has to want to be here but it seems to be the case.
Maybe your right about the public relations behind trying to trade love but I see a front court log jam next season when Anderson comes back from injury.
Idk I think trading one of the guys for a sg would help
I think the major pieces are already in house. We need to focus on upgrading our backup guards and perhaps a small fwd player. We simply can’t have Delly and Shump on the same roster. That’s two non-offensive players.
Irving
Smith (we can shop for an upgrade but unlikely)
James
Love
Mozgov
TT can see 30 minutes a game coming in for defensive purposes for Love and split back up time with Varejao at Center.
I love Delly but I’m not sure if his grit is enough to justify him being backup to a very fragile Irving. I love the guy but he needs to improve his shooting percentage inorder to stay. He shoots better from 3pt land (.388) than he does from any place else (.384 from 2pt area) but he doesn’t shoot ENOUGH attempts (2.3 per game) to really make up for his other deficiencies. it got to the point where he became a very passive player with the ball and deferred way too much.
Wiggins is gone lets deal with the truths resign thompson and love revamp bench add norris cole replace miller add maybe a gerrald green
If Thompson is seeking a max deal, would you give it to him (if you were the Cavs’ GM) ?
I asked the same question. The answer? Not for any other team than the Cavs. With James and a bit of work on some post moves he can be a solid 12-15 point a game guy. The beauty of his game is that you don’t have to create plays for him. He’s a good catch and dunk guy, slashes to the basket when Jame is on ISO and can get 6-8 points easy on offensive put backs.
It’s a lot of money to give to a limited player but he is outstanding at what he does and has been doing it quietly since he entered the league. Standing next to James has simply showcased his skills this year. I would be excited to have a front court of Tristan, Mozie, Love and Varejao. It’s a lot of money to allocate but I think we have the major players we need and just need to upgrade backup players. I think you’re allowed to go over cap to retain your own players.
Can someone provide insight on cap rules regarding players already on the roster?
Here’s our glossary entry on Bird Rights, which should get you going on those rules about how teams can exceed the cap to retain their own players. There are other forms of Bird Rights, but this is the primary form: link to hoopsrumors.com
Considering the Cavs’ trade assets, there’s not a whole lot there. In my opinion, since they seem set on retaining Thompson at a high price, then Love may turn into top trade chip if he opts in. No one else but he is saying he will, but Cleveland should hope he does and shop him for some youth and picks.
Their only other asset for trades seems to be Haywood. While his non-guaranteed may not fetch a whole lot on its own, perhaps packaged with a couple 2nd-rounders would lead to more options. While using him to acquire players like Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, David West, Jose Calderon or the Kings’ Carl Landry or Jason Thompson wouldn’t make sense for either or both teams, perhaps a Nick Young or Channing Frye could fit the bill.
Here are my top trade ideas that involve Haywood’s contract and some draft assets:
To PHX for Marcus Morris, Bullock, and McNeal (PHX may want to split the twins up after their off-court troubles)
To OKC for Novak, Lamb, and Jones
To ATL for Scott, Mack, and Daye (this would give ATL some cap space for Millsap & Carroll)
To LAC with Harris for Crawford, Hamilton, and Hudson
And my first choice, to MIL for Mayo, Williams, and Gutierrez. This deal would further clear salary for MIL to chase Lopez and others, while for CLE it would give them someone equal to J.R. Smith (and less volatile) on a much cheaper/shorter deal than Smith will be seeking. So more future flexibility and less commitments.
These are some great ideas. I like that Milwaukee one best, too. The Rookie of the Year from two years ago as your backup point guard? Not bad for Cleveland!