• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Buckeye737 said:
Strictly from a business standpoint, I think the Cavs organization would want to keep their team relevant for as long as possible, and that would be keeping Wiggins and other young talent.
Click to expand...

The best way to keep the team relevant is to assemble a championship caliber starting five that are all under 30, then have aging specialists beating a path to your door to sign for vet minimums for one more shot at a ring.

When Love is starting fast breaks with 3/4 court outlet missiles to LBJ and Kyrie, I think a lot of people will forget about Wiggins and his 'potential.'
 
Upvote 0
Buckeye737 said:
From a business standpoint, winning a championship is good, but it's probably more important to consistently keep a competitive team on the court.
Click to expand...

Love at 25 with Kyrie keeps them relevant even w/o Lebron.
That said, this is about as organic as putting a championship team together works. Pretty much every team tries to take the 2-3 pieces they have and use whatever leverage they can find to bring in that last piece they need through trades or FA.
One only has to look at what the Tigers and Athletics did a week or so ago in their bids to build championship teams. Maybe if the 97 Indians had made good trades, or got a guy like Counsell we wouldn't be wondering if Cleveland will ever have another championship again. Not trading didn't keep them relevant either; they all scattered to the wind within a few years.
 
Upvote 0
kujirakira said:
Love at 25 with Kyrie keeps them relevant even w/o Lebron.
That said, this is about as organic as putting a championship team together works. Pretty much every team tries to take the 2-3 pieces they have and use whatever leverage they can find to bring in that last piece they need through trades or FA.
One only has to look at what the Tigers and Athletics did a week or so ago in their bids to build championship teams. Maybe if the 97 Indians had made good trades, or got a guy like Counsell we wouldn't be wondering if Cleveland will ever have another championship again. Not trading didn't keep them relevant either; they all scattered to the wind within a few years.
Click to expand...

Agree.

Some perspective: Cleveland's roster was so talented they've had the first overall pick in 3 of the past 4 drafts. A month ago this team officially became Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and eleven guys that aren't Kyrie Irving or LeBron James.
 
Upvote 0
Dryden said:
Agree.

Some perspective: Cleveland's roster was so talented they've had the first overall pick in 3 of the past 4 drafts. A month ago this team officially became Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and eleven guys that aren't Kyrie Irving or LeBron James.
Click to expand...

Some further perspective, one of those picks came with about 1% odds, and was a direct result of the buffoon that was the former head coach.
 
Upvote 0
Dryden said:
The best way to keep the team relevant is to assemble a championship caliber starting five that are all under 30, then have aging specialists beating a path to your door to sign for vet minimums for one more shot at a ring.

When Love is starting fast breaks with 3/4 court outlet missiles to LBJ and Kyrie, I think a lot of people will forget about Wiggins and his 'potential.'
Click to expand...

My concern with Love is that he'll want to bolt as soon as Lebron's skills deteriorate. A drafted player like Wiggins, who is also 6 years younger, is more likely to feel loyalty to the organization. I don't think the aging specialists are anything more than a band-aid, although a band-aid is better than nothing.
 
Upvote 0
Buckeye737 said:
From a business standpoint, winning a championship is good, but it's probably more important to consistently keep a competitive team on the court.
Click to expand...
It is practically impossible in "flyover country." Look at the NBA landscape over the last 20-30 years and show me one small market team that has been "consistently competitve." If you consider San Antonio "small market", that's the list. Cleveland, Milwaukee, Indiana, Minnesota, Charlotte, Orlando, New Orleans, Seattle, Portland. They've all had some good years, but it's usually followed by a down period. The Cavs will have another one once this run dries up. The best bet, right now, is to amass as many assets as possible to give them the best shot at winning a title or titles in the next 5-6 years. Because LeBron's gonna get old and decline. If they can keep LeBron, Love, and Kyrie together for five years, that gives them the closest thing to a guarantee. Hoping that Wiggins becomes a superstar is not in their best interest in capitalizing on what they have right now. Guys like Waiters and TT are better complimentary pieces than Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem.

At first I was in the "do not trade Wiggins" boat. But, looking at the big picture, it's the best move, IMO. Three months ago, this team was coming off it's fourth straight dreadful season. Nobody thought Kyrie was going to be here long term. They were looking at picking somewhere mid lottery this year, and Bennett was a huge question mark. We sit here today with Kyrie locked up long term, we have the best player on the planet, are about to trade for a top-10 player in Love, have kept solid complimentary pieces, and have added some vets that can shoot. The Cavs will have short odds on winning not only the East, but the whole thing next year. I have a hard time complaining about that, and I'm a hardened Cleveland sports fan that always expects the worst. This is a best case scenario. Stuff like this doesn't happen in Cleveland...but it has. Just enjoy it as long as you can.
 
Upvote 0
NFBuck said:
It is practically impossible in "flyover country." Look at the NBA landscape over the last 20-30 years and show me one small market team that has been "consistently competitve." If you consider San Antonio "small market", that's the list.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. San Antonio is definitely a small market, but they are the exception rather than the rule. They were fortunate enough to get a franchise player like David Robinson and then an even better franchise player years later in Tim Duncan. I look at Lebron as our David Robinson and was hoping Wiggins would become our Tim Duncan. Lebron is better than a great player in Robinson, but we would've been lucky if Wiggins came close to Duncan's success.

I saw Wiggins as giving us relevance for the next 15 years, with some seriously strong teams in 2 - 5 years. Now, I see us as having VERY strong teams for the next 5 years, with a lot of unknowns after that.
 
Upvote 0
Like NFBuck was saying, this is a 5 year window that could dry up afterwards.
Kyrie(23) can potentially stay and be great for the next 10 years. Same with Love(25).
The big question is weather either player would want to stay after LeBron has declined, in 5 years.

The best outcome after 5 years is that the Cavs will have won a couple championships,
LeBron takes a huge paycut at 35 and the Cavs can attract another top Free Agent,
or at least a really good Free Agent, to keep the team in contention.
If the Cavs don't win a championship I don't think Kyrie or Love will want to stay in 5 years.

Personally I don't really care about sacrificing the next 15 years if it means winning a championship or two, right now.
As they say the future is NOW. If the Cavs can add Ray Allen and a decent backup Center, this team should be Finals bound.

The alternative would be Irving, Wiggins, LeBron "maybe" being a really great team in 3 years for only a length of 2 years, until decline.
With Love we have a really great team now for a length of 5 years. You have to make that trade.
 
Upvote 0
NFBuck said:
It is practically impossible in "flyover country." Look at the NBA landscape over the last 20-30 years and show me one small market team that has been "consistently competitve." If you consider San Antonio "small market", that's the list. Cleveland, Milwaukee, Indiana, Minnesota, Charlotte, Orlando, New Orleans, Seattle, Portland. They've all had some good years, but it's usually followed by a down period. The Cavs will have another one once this run dries up. The best bet, right now, is to amass as many assets as possible to give them the best shot at winning a title or titles in the next 5-6 years. Because LeBron's gonna get old and decline. If they can keep LeBron, Love, and Kyrie together for five years, that gives them the closest thing to a guarantee. Hoping that Wiggins becomes a superstar is not in their best interest in capitalizing on what they have right now. Guys like Waiters and TT are better complimentary pieces than Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem.

At first I was in the "do not trade Wiggins" boat. But, looking at the big picture, it's the best move, IMO. Three months ago, this team was coming off it's fourth straight dreadful season. Nobody thought Kyrie was going to be here long term. They were looking at picking somewhere mid lottery this year, and Bennett was a huge question mark. We sit here today with Kyrie locked up long term, we have the best player on the planet, are about to trade for a top-10 player in Love, have kept solid complimentary pieces, and have added some vets that can shoot. The Cavs will have short odds on winning not only the East, but the whole thing next year. I have a hard time complaining about that, and I'm a hardened Cleveland sports fan that always expects the worst. This is a best case scenario. Stuff like this doesn't happen in Cleveland...but it has. Just enjoy it as long as you can.
Click to expand...
Also Detroit. Winning 1 title and choking away a 2nd title, along with going to 6 straight ECF. But yes, your point is still valid considering there is a list of 2 out of let's say 20 small market teams. And really the only team to do so without any superstar whatsoever.
 
Upvote 0
stowfan said:
Going forward, the Cavs have to start doing a better job of evaluating talent later in the draft. I know, I know, that's like praying for a miracle. For years the Cavs have just thrown away second picks with nothing to lose by trying. The picks aren't guaranteed, just cut the guy if he doesn't work out.

http://www.si.com/nba/point-forward...am-second-round-picks-marc-gasol-paul-millsap
Click to expand...

This is where Griffin will make his money. The Spurs have done well with late picks. Have to pick the right projects and MLE guys.
 
Upvote 0
ethan said:
The best outcome after 5 years is that the Cavs will have won a couple championships, LeBron takes a huge paycut at 35 and the Cavs can attract another top Free Agent,
or at least a really good Free Agent, to keep the team in contention.
If the Cavs don't win a championship I don't think Kyrie or Love will want to stay in 5 years.
Click to expand...

I think Kyrie would probably feel some loyalty to the organization if we win a couple of championships over the next 5 years. I think Love would jump ship to a team like the Lakers, assuming they have something built by then.

In addition to the "best outcome" situation you mention, it would be great if Dion Waiters really ups his game. I think the upside is there to be an occasional all-star. Add in some good draft additions and maybe the team stays strong for a longer stretch.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top