Jordan McRae And Kay Felder Can Be Crowned In Cleveland

Jordan McRae and Kay Felder have been impressive enough for the fans to consider them the future of the team. Can they be crowned in Cleveland?

As the Cleveland Cavaliers prep themselves up as a potential dynasty, the future of the team lies outside of the King, LeBron James.

Kyrie Irving is poised to be LeBron’s heir to the throne. His tremendous potential has been on display for years and he’s delivered one of the two biggest moments in Cleveland’s sports history.

Kyrie’s eventual ascension to the throne is nothing like LeBron’s, the Chosen One. The unreal, extraordinary expectations heaped upon LeBron won’t be the ones he has to bear during his rule. Kyrie will rule with magical handles and sorcery, a shot as pure as gold.

The Cavaliers want to build a dynasty, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Twins Remus and Romulus, raised by two wolves, were the founders of the Roman Empire.

Like Remus and Romulus, Jordan McRae and Kay Felder can be crowned princes in Cleveland. Raised by two wolves, McRae and Felder will round into form as a two-headed monster ready to destroy all those who oppose their rule.

Jordan McRae, a 6-foot-6 guard with an attacking mentality, is the team’s Orange Mamba. There’s always talk about the Cavaliers’ inability to score without LeBron. Not with McRae as a part of the rotation. No player on Cleveland’s bench, including the professional scorer Mo Williams, can score like this guy.

McRae gets it done off the dribble, where he uses his length and slight frame to squeeze through defenders on his way to the rim, and from 16-23 feet. He’s an able three-point shooter who has a nice stroke and, with his length, a high release.

McRae’s able to finish and drive from both sides and with both hands with equal proficiency. Though a determined scorer, he doesn’t let the ball stick to his hands every possession, and uses the attention he draws from defenses to work a man open from the outside. With great length and solid athleticism, he’s dangerous on cuts, on lobs, in transition and when gathering an offensive rebounding.

Kay Felder, the team’s 5-foot-8 floor general, also has a scorer’s mentality but his anticipation and awareness offensively allows him to execute at a high level as a distributor as well.

Felder’s advanced as a ball-handler and scorer using counter moves to get himself more space to shoot or get a shot for a teammate. Combine that with his lightning quick speed, the way he rocks defenders side to side and bursts to the rim, and his ability to make shots everywhere on the court, making him worthy of a look as a rotation player.

Defensively, Felder has shown intensity and a knack for jumping passing lanes. When taller players try to post him up, he isn’t backed down easily. When he’s guarding on-ball, he’s shown the ability to slip over and under screens and re-attach himself to the ball-handler quickly. In switches, he can be effective as a weak side rim-protector as well.

This is due to a 44-inch vertical leap that symbolizes the amount of explosion Felder produces in his legs and realize the Cavaliers may have found the next Isiah Thomas, not Isaiah Thomas.

If Summer League is a level of competition high enough to gauge players’ abilities for coaches and front offices, then take the dominance of the duo of with a grain of salt, but acknowledge the talent that is there.

For a team that lacked this high of an upside and this level of offensive playmaking from it’s bench backcourt, the numbers that McRae and Felder are putting up are a welcome sight.

Now, there are still kinks to be worked out in their games.

McRae sometimes has tunnel vision, not a catalyst of winning basketball. As a guard as capable of distributing the ball as he is, he has to occasionally remember he has other capable teammates. On an elite Cavaliers team though, that feature of his game will be enhanced as he willingly passes to great shooters or all-time greats on his forays to the rim.

Defensively, his level of intensity and activity has to be greater. He knows how to use his size offensively, but defensively he’s a lanky defender that should blanket defenders on-the-ball and disrupt passing lanes off-the-ball. He has shown the aptitude to make game-changing blocks with his length, and he can change the game with his length in other areas as well.

More from King James Gospel

Felder is ahead of his years offensively but, defensively, he must show more intensity as well. The times when Felder is blown by are completely a byproduct of his effort and his lack of willingness to get into the air space of the ball handler. As he stands back giving space, perhaps trying to play the passing lanes, he’s giving high-level athletes the opportunity use their size and athleticism to get by him.

Felder also must show more intent to get through double screens or make a quick decision to switch. Learning to thoroughly communicate on defense will help as well. The film junkie will have to do his scouting reports on other guards in the league, but with Felder it starts with intensity and the intent to get into the ball-handlers body.

Yet, again, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It was, however, built.

McRae and Felder have the potential to take over in Cleveland. When the throne is passed to Kyrie, when he’s just entering his own prime at 27, he too may have crowned princes with whom he can rule Cleveland.

There’s no way to say with certainty but three-guard lineups are becoming more prevalent. Felder, Irving, and McRae are a trio that would devastate defenses.

Next: LeBron James 10 Best Playoff Performances

Perhaps, 2016 is too early to expect that from the trio.

In the future, though, it could be all the Cleveland Cavaliers expect.