3 weaknesses of the Cavs roster

Questionable temperaments

J.R. Smith, Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson are the players in the rotation with questionable temperaments and while their issues are all different, they’re all issues.

Smith’s mercurial personality has been well-documented. He was the NBA’s resident “bad boy” in Denver and New York, seen as a player wasting what could have been an exciting career for what he did (with a basketball) on the court.

From shoe-tying incidents in New York to shaking Jason Terry’s hand in the middle of a game to throwing soup at an assistant coach, Smith’s lack of focus, immaturity and moodiness looks like it comes in waves.

With issues spanning the course of his career, it’s honestly just fair to say that while he’s matured tremendously over the years, he still has a questionable temperament and one that could cost the Cavs a game.

Hood’s issues with showing his frustration, slapping phones out of a fan’s hands and refusing to enter a game during garbage time, have a tint of Smith in them. However, Hood’s incidents have been rare, just noteworthy.

The bigger question for Hood will be the question of his mental toughness, with the pressure obviously effecting his performance in the postseason. In order to be viewed as and considered an upper echelon player, he has to rise to the circumstances.

That said, the jury is still out on it the pressure to be great will make or break Hood’s career.

The pressure also got to Jordan Clarkson, whose desire to play hero-ball when he couldn’t buy a bucket was baffling.

All Clarkson has to do is show that he can be more than a one-track mind when the game is on the line. The confidence is nice to have in a player but the absurd levels of selfishness he had shown in the postseason wasn’t; he totaled 13 assists in 19 games.

There might not be enough vocal leadership on the team to combat all three of these wing players having a bad game or week but the other players — Kyle Korver, George Hill, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr. and Kevin Love — will lead by example.