King James Gospel
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4 changes the Cavs should consider making to jumpstart their starting lineup

By Quenton S. Albertie

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 17: LeBron James
CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 17: LeBron James /
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BROOKLYN, NY – OCTOBER 25: Kyle Korver
BROOKLYN, NY – OCTOBER 25: Kyle Korver /

Starting Kyle Korver in place of J.R. Smith

Say that the Cleveland Cavaliers want to continue playing Kevin Love at power forward, the position he feels most comfortable playing. If that’s the case, then the Cavs are bound to a starting frontcourt of Love, LeBron James and Tristan Thompson. Derrick Rose is also another player bound to the starting lineup until Isaiah Thomas returns.

With that said, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ change needs to come from somewhere and if they’re unable to make changes elsewhere, they should consider making a change at the shooting guard position. Well, another change.

After starting Dwyane Wade beside Rose at the beginning of the year and determining that the floor balance and floor spacing warranted a change to the starting lineup, J.R. Smith returned to his regular role as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ premier three-and-D guard. The only problem is that he’s been anything but stellar from three-point range, making just 17.1 percent of his three-point attempts after seven games.

The Cavs thrived as a three-point shooting team last season, making 13.0 three-point attempts per game (2nd in the league), taking 33.9 three-point attempts per game (2nd in the league) and making 38.4 percent of their attempts (2nd in the league). Smith, who made 2.3 three-point attempts per game, made 35.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

This season, the Cavs have made 10.5 three-point attempts per game (9th in the league) and taken 29.7 three-point attempts per game (8th in the league). However, they’ve only made 35.4 percent of their three-point attempts (13th in the league). The Cavs need to be a bigger threat from three-point range to perform at an optimal level and they can’t do that by shooting the ball like an average team.

Luckily for the Cavs, Kyle Korver has taken nearly as many three-point attempts as Smith (4.8 compared to 4.7). He’s made 51.7 percent of his three-point attempts. If the Cavs want to get off to a faster start, they should consider starting Korver and making use of his deadly shooting stroke earlier in the game. Defensively, it may be tough to play Korver and Rose at the same time but Korver’s experience and length allow him to make up for his lack of athleticism.

Starting lineup: Isaiah Thomas, Kyle Korver, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson