King James Gospel
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Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned from LeBron’s 30,000 point night

By Jackson Flickinger

SAN ANTONIO,TX - JANUARY 23 : After scoring his 30,001 point against the San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James
SAN ANTONIO,TX - JANUARY 23 : After scoring his 30,001 point against the San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James /
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CLEVELAND, OH – JANUARY 18: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Isaiah Thomas #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers react to a foul against the Orlando Magic at Quicken Loans Arena on January 18, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – JANUARY 18: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Isaiah Thomas #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers react to a foul against the Orlando Magic at Quicken Loans Arena on January 18, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

The Cavs are broken.

The Cavaliers are currently one of the worst teams in basketball and it really isn’t up for debate. They have lost 10 of their last 13 games and are showing no signs of improvement.

Fingers can be pointed in almost every direction. You can blame the lack of shooting, the defense, effort, game-plan, rotations, rebounding, etc. The list is seemingly endless. However, if I were to blame one thing for all their issues I would blame their starting lineup.

The starting lineup of Thomas, Smith, James, Crowder, and Love have been awful together. They are one of the worst five-man units in all of basketball, let alone among starters. In the 100 minutes they have played together, they have posted an offensive rating of 95.0, a defensive rating of 117.7, and a net rating of -22.8.

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Isaiah Thomas has struggled severely in his eight games back. The starting lineups biggest problem is their lack of defense, and Thomas has not done enough on the other end of the floor to justify him being out there. Cleveland doesn’t have the defensive players good enough to cover up for him on that end of the floor.

The Cavs have a big decision coming up with Thomas. It’s hard to give up on someone just eight games into their tenure, but things appear to be beyond repair. JR Smith has looked awful on the floor, but replacing him with a guy like George Hill doesn’t cure all ills. Neither does inserting Thompson back into the starting lineup. The Cavs may be forced to find a replacement for Thomas, or at the least move him to the bench. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that he doesn’t work with this starting unit.

I’m not sure what Cavs’ General Manager Koby Altman will do. I’m not even sure what I think he should do. All I know is that he has some important decisions to make in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that there’s a move he can make that puts this team back on track.