Transformers: The Cavs Are More Than Meets the Eye
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had an interesting season to say the least. If last year was the “Season of Huh” as dubbed by a number of #CavsTwitter, which also was turned into a book, than this year might be “Transformers: Triple Change Cavs.” The Cavs have transformed from one iteration to another three different times
In the off-season the young Cavaliers core was blown up by the decision of LeBron James to return to Cleveland. The Cavs went from building around Kyrie Irving and the youth of Andrew Wiggins, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Zeller and more. The young squad that was hopeful to make the Playoffs last year was transformed into a Championship level squad.
Irving, James and Kevin Love constituted the newest, best Big 3 in the NBA. The Cavs surrounded them with the youth of Waiters and Thompson as well as veterans like Anderson Varejao, James Jones and Mike Miller. Filler players like Lou Amundson, Alex Kirk, Brendan Haywood and Joe Harris filled the end of the bench. That team was set to try to outscore teams with the brute force of their offense. The lack of balance led the Cavs to starting the season 19-20. That led to GM David Griffin to make 2 huge moves to transform the roster.
The additions of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov not only gave the Cavs far more depth but gave the Cavs a balanced squad of offense and defense. Shumpert and Mozgov were primarily brought in to add their defense while Smith has been surprisingly helpful on that end of the floor as well. With Irving, LeBron and Love, as well as JR, provided the dominate offense while Thompson, Shumpert and Mozgov, along with LeBron, were the defensive backbone. That team dominated from January 15th on.
Then the Big 3 became the Big 1.5 with Love being out for the season and Irving limited with leg injuries. The Big 3 has been replaced by LeBron surrounded by shooters, defenders and athletes. There is no longer a Big 3, this Transformer Cavs team is the “Big 3 and D.” The Cavs have dominated on defense with amazing perimeter play and Thompson, Mozgov and LeBron inside. They have suffocated the Atlanta Hawks great ball movement offense. Offensively the Cavs thrive on drives by LeBron sucking in the defense which leads to open 3 point shots. JR, Shump, Jones and Matthew Dellavedova all position themselves well around the 3 point line ready to shoot.
The Cavs transformation from what was to be an all time offensive team, to a balanced team to now the Big 3 and D has been astounding. Credit goes to LeBron for his leadership but the coaching staff deserves their fair share. David Blatt and Tyronn Lue in particular have changed the motor in the car while still driving it down the road. Their ability to take the best of what their players have to offer and make something out of it is down right amazing.
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This never happens in the NBA. Offensive teams are offensive teams. Isolation teams are isolation teams. Defensive teams are defensive teams. Improvement and development always happens during a season, change does not. That is generally left for the off-season. Not for this Transformers Cavaliers team. They have made major changes twice during the season, 3 significantly different iterations of the Cleveland Cavaliers have led them here. 2 wins away from the NBA Finals. What an amazing success.
What do you think about the Cavs Transformers like season?