Cavs fans, “we’ll be back”
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be back in the NBA Finals next year and will be better than ever.
After taking a moment to decompress after the 2017 NBA Finals ended, I was wondering if I would feel any different if I waited a couple of days to write this. I don’t. The Cleveland Cavaliers will be back next year, better equipped to take on the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 NBA Finals.
I don’t know if Kevin Love will still be a Cav, though my intuition tells me he’ll be a Cav for a long time. I don’t know if Kyrie Irving will take the next step forward, playing more under control and showing real improvements on the defensive end in terms of both his effort and awareness. I don’t know if LeBron James will continue to be as athletic as he just looked last season, at 32-years-old.
I do know that the Cleveland Cavaliers are led by greatness in an ever-evolving James, whose nearing omniscience as a basketball god.
I do know that Irving is one of the best scorers in NBA history and the best ball-handler in the NBA. I know he’s committed to the process of growing as a a player and learning from James.
I know that Love is one of those “unicorns” that the pundits and fans like to talk about; you’re not going to find many other true power forwards who can both shoot from three-point range and rebound at an elite rate, while having a consistent impact as a passer as well. I know he’s ultra-focused on his diet and his improved physique is having a positive impact on his defensive abilities.
Beside them are two emotional leaders in J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson.
Smith made 17 total threes and scored 18.7 points per game from Games 3-5. Smith had an up-and-down season between injuries and serious medical issues with his newborn daughter. However, he persevered and after shooting 43.4 percent from three-point range in the playoffs prior to Game 3.
Fans will never forget how he kept the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 with timely shooting. The shots that left his hands were shots that perhaps only he would be brash enough to take.
Thompson has been a rock for the Cleveland Cavaliers all season long. Besides making his presence felt on the offensive boards and making their offensive virtually unstoppable with second possessions, he developed his offensive capabilities in the pick-and-roll showing off a floater and the ability to make quick passes to shooters in the corner.
From there, it gets dicey.
While Channing Frye have been solid contributors, this is the second postseason in a row where Frye hasn’t gotten much run in the Finals. Richard Jefferson has had moments as a slasher this season but hasn’t been able to capitalize on open threes, shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range in the regular season and 26.3 percent from three-point range in the playoffs.
Kyle Korver will be a free agent and at 36-years-old and just a few months removed from foot swelling that lingered for half of a month, repaying Korver may not be worth the risk. As evidenced by Smith’s injury-marred season, it may not be. Still, it’s hard to ignore what he brought to Cleveland’s offense with a lightning-quick release reminiscent of Ray Allen.
If Iman Shumpert performance was a line graph his nickname would be Jagged Edge. He’s pretty inconsistent and when things go well you’re happy but when they don’t you shake your head. His defense is the best part of his game but he can be inconsistent in that area as well. To be frank, the Cavs shouldn’t look at how much they like Shumpert. They should look at the fact that there are better players.
Deron Williams won’t be back but it was an interesting ride. He was averaging 6.1 points and 3.3 assists per game after his first 22 appearances with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He then had a 35-point explosion against the Miami Heat at the end of the regular season and shot a startling 62.1 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from three-point range in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Then he shot 42.1 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals missed his first 11 shots in the NBA Finals. He made his first shot of the Finals in Game 4, going 2-3 from the field, before going 0-2 in Game 5. In all, Williams went 2-16 from the field in the NBA Finals.
Tyronn Lue is great at making adjustments after the game but in the game he shows little to no use of his timeouts. If he did, James wouldn’t be so tired at the ends of games with so many timeouts left. The Cavs don’t always seem to adjust well in-game either. For instance, the Cavs never made any adjustments to Draymond setting screens just outside the restricted area or the Warriors running the 1-3 pick-and-roll with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
Improvements along the coaching staff should be considered. With multiple defensive-minded coaches on the team in Lue, Larry Drew and Mike Longabardi, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have had better defensive habits. While it’s understandable that there were injuries, the Cleveland Cavaliers waited until it mattered to play aggressive defense and display good defensive habits. It’s a coach’s job to instill good habits in his team, no matter what the talent looks like. If the player doesn’t have the effort, you bench them. Even an All-Star. I learned that from Gregg Popovich.
It’s also a coach’s job to recognize mismatches for either team and adjust accordingly.
In any case, this offseason is sure to be interesting with David Griffin’s future in Cleveland (or Milwaukee) looming over the Cavs head. In any case, fans should have faith in the front office to get all that for the Cavs even if Griffin doesn’t return because his colleagues, Trent Redden and Koby Altman are qualified for the job as well.
Related Story: If he leaves, who can replace David Griffin?
While many fans are waiting out a trade for Paul George, Jimmy Butler or Carmelo Anthony, the Cleveland Cavaliers will be able to contend with the Warriors with or without a trade for one of the best forwards in the league. If the bench had played better, this would be a different series. The Cavs also need a dependable player to put in the game if any player not named LeBron isn’t producing.
I’m sure the Cleveland Cavaliers know this and are going to work on acquiring the right players in the offseason to remodel the second unit. The regular season will need to be taken seriously moving forward but with the talent the Cavs are expected have in their starting lineup, the growth Cavs fans should hope to see from Irving and the fact that the best player in the world plays for their team, I’ll just leave Cavs Nation with these words from the King:
“We’ll be back”.
We’ll be back and better than ever.