For the first time since LeBron James’ infamous “Decision”, Cleveland Cavaliers fans finally have a reason to be excited about the upcoming NBA season.The Cavs drafted Anthony Bennett, the 6-foot-8 scoring machine from UNLV. with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. They also added Sergay Karasev, the Russian sharpshooter, with the 19th overall pick. In free agency, they signed point guard Jarrett Jack, wing man Earl Clark and big man Andrew Bynum.
Add all these pieces to a young core led by Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao and you are looking at one of the most talented teams in the NBA. But talent doesn’t necessarily equal wins.
The biggest issue with this Cavaliers team is their health.
Irving, Cleveland’s best player, has dealt with injury problems dating back to his days at Duke. In his first two seasons in the NBA, Irving has already missed 38 games.Varejao missed more than half of last season after developing a blood clot, Bynum didn’t play at all last season because of knee issues and Bennett didn’t work out for teams before the draft because he was recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Cavs are rolling the dice on a lot of high risk, high reward players right now.
Another issue facing this Cavaliers team is the fact that there is only one basketball. The Cavs have a roster loaded with players that demand the basketball. Irving, Jack and Waiters are all scoring guards. Waiters is accustomed to playing off the ball, but both Irving and Jack work best with the ball in their hands.
Varejao and Thompson score most of their points off of offensive rebounds, so they won’t need too many post touches. However, both Bynum and Bennett need the ball to be effective. When healthy, Bynum is an absolute monster in the post, and Bennett can score from anywhere on the court. Head coach Mike Brown is going to have a very difficult time figuring out a way to spread the ball around to keep all of his players happy.
However, when healthy, this Cavaliers team has the talent to compete with any team in the league. If Bynum can return to his old form, or even close to it, he will be a perfect complement to Irving and this Cavs squad. Cleveland has needed a dominant post-scorer for years, and they may have finally gotten it.
A starting lineup of Irving, Jack, Alonzo Gee, Bennett and Varejao is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when you have Bynum, Waiters, Thompson, Tyler Zeller and Karasev coming off the bench. Not only will the Cavs be talented, but they’ll be deep too.
After finishing this past season with a 24-58 record, the Cavs' future looks very bright.
With all the talent they have on their roster, the Cavs should find themselves in the playoffs next year.
[Mike Lucas Sports]
