The Cleveland Cavaliers are slumping in the new year, and they had a frustrating loss last night to the New Orleans Pelicans. LeBron James had some choice words as a result.
After the Cavs dropped a game yesterday against the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans, this was warranted. LBJ had some interesting comments in a postgame interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. It’s clear that the Cavs are a bit thin from a personnel standpoint so far, as James, at 32, is leading the NBA in minutes per game. James had this to say about the lack of depth:
"It’s like when you don’t have bodies. It’s tough … The (expletive) grind of the regular season. We’re a top-heavy team. We have a top-heavy team. We top-heavy as (expletive). It’s me, [Kyrie Irving, [Kevin Love]. It’s top-heavy."
He and Kyrie Irving combined to play 86 minutes last night, to reiterate. The Cavs have had to have either James or Irving on the floor pretty much at all times for playmaking purposes offensively. Over the course of a long season and ensuing playoff run, that is a glaring concern. James weighed in on that, too:
“We need a (expletive) playmaker … I’m not saying you can just go find one, like you can go outside and see trees. I didn’t say that.”
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It’s been well-publicized that this team needs a legitimate backup point guard, and I trust that General Manager David Griffin will figure it out by the trade deadline on February 23. The offensive workload that is on James and Kyrie is never exactly going to be light; both guys need the ball in their hands for the Cavs to be successful. That said, with them having to do so much at the offensive end of the floor, it’s really hurt the team on defense.
LeBron had a tough matchup for much of the night against Terrence Jones, who can be an awkward cover at times, as he’s a tweener at 6’9, 255 pounds. That may have taken a toll on James as the game progressed. Not that there’s much to read into it but LBJ did have a -11 net rating last night, in large part to his six turnovers. The biggest take away, though, is that LeBron has called out the Cavs front office before, and that was the right move in this instance as well.
Griffin delivered a few years back when he acquired the likes of Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith, among others. I understand that many people are not the biggest fans of when LeBron tries to play GM in a public forum. However, he was right on the money in this instance. Kyrie Irving shouldn’t need to have 49 points to keep the Cavs in the game against the Pelicans without Davis.
Defense is another story here, as Cleveland has lost five of seven due to spotty defensive effort, but it’s clear that LeBron is on the money in saying the front office needs to find more help for the bench. The Cavs are third-worst in the league in bench points at only 28.7 points per contest. LBJ is right to not simply sit back and be complacent going into the All-Star break.
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McMenamin brought up a notable observation today in that the Cavs have lost two games recently to the two best teams in the league in the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. This displayed their glaring needs on both ends of the floor.
Hopefully Griffin and company got the memo. This team needs more bodies. Thank you LeBron for not being silent, and as one of my other favorite people in J Cole has stated, my intuition is telling me there’ll be better days.