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Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

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At a glance: This is one totally insane turnaround. Cleveland’s front office and ownership have taken their fair share of lumps over the last five years or so, but Cavaliers GM David Griffin deserves to be named 2015 Executive of the Year. At this time last season, we were busy chronicling Anthony Bennett’s atrocious rookie season, wondering whether Kyrie Irving had regressed, speculating about Dion Waiters’ whereabouts (remember when he literally just disappeared for a few days?) and counting down the days until coach Mike Brown got fired (again).

Since then, the Cavaliers have added LeBron James and Kevin Love, resuscitated Irving’s game, somehow traded Waiters for a first-round pick (Griffin might be worth the Executive of the Year award for that alone), added key pieces in Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, and resisted the urge to fire coach David Blatt after a rough start to the second James era in Cleveland. After four straight lottery trips, the Cavaliers will enter the postseason as the East’s No. 2 seed and the conference’s favorite to advance to the Finals. Even if James deserves a lion’s share of the credit, given his MVP-level play over the last few months and his orchestration or key role in many of the events, Griffin deserves the hardware. That’s true despite the fact that the decision to trade away Andrew Wiggins could lead to years of second-guessing.


The Cavaliers possess the fourth-best winning percentage, third-best point differential and third-best offense since the All-Star break, and it’s hard to remember the last time so many moving parts fit together so quickly on the fly. The new go-to lineup of Irving/Smith/James/Love/Mozgov just wrecks opponents, posting a 115.7 offensive rating, 97.6 defensive rating and +18.1 net rating. Good luck to whomever draws Cleveland in the first round. You’re going to need it.
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SI grades the NBA's regular seasons, giving the Cavs a B+ after grading them a D+ in the season's first half. Can't argue with anything they say, really. Still don't think they are quite there yet, so not expecting a title this year, but things look promising going forward if (and yes, I still think that's IF) Love sticks around past this year.
 
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NFBuck said:
SI grades the NBA's regular seasons, giving the Cavs a B+ after grading them a D+ in the season's first half. Can't argue with anything they say, really. Still don't think they are quite there yet, so not expecting a title this year, but things look promising going forward if ...
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Hmmm.. sound identical to 'the folks in the know' about our Buckeyes.. D+ after VT; getting up to a B+ by BiG Championship.. and look at us now

Stay tuned
 
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Cavs first round schedule against the Celtics:

Game 1 (CLE) - Sunday, April 19, 3:00 p.m., ABC
Game 2 (CLE) - Tuesday, April 21, 7:00 p.m., TNT
Game 3 (BOS) - Thursday, April 23, 7:00 p.m., TNT
Game 4 (BOS) - Sunday, April 26, 1:00 p.m., ABC
Game 5 (CLE) - Tuesday, April 28, if necessary
Game 6 (BOS) - Thursday, April 30, if necessary
Game 7 (CLE) - Saturday, April 2, if necessary, TNT
 
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NFBuck said:
SI grades the NBA's regular seasons, giving the Cavs a B+ after grading them a D+ in the season's first half. Can't argue with anything they say, really. Still don't think they are quite there yet, so not expecting a title this year, but things look promising going forward if (and yes, I still think that's IF) Love sticks around past this year.
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In terms of winning the title this year and playoff seeding, the end of the season shook out as badly as it could have for Cleveland. Toronto had the #3 seed locked up until Tuesday night--the Cavs now have to go Bulls and Hawks instead of Raptors and winner of Bulls and Hawks. Also, the Pacers, who I think really could've given the Hawks a series in the first round, lost last night to miss the playoffs (a win would've put them in the playoffs and in a series against the Hawks).
 
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buckeyesin07 said:
In terms of winning the title this year and playoff seeding, the end of the season shook out as badly as it could have for Cleveland. Toronto had the #3 seed locked up until Tuesday night--the Cavs now have to go Bulls and Hawks instead of Raptors and winner of Bulls and Hawks. Also, the Pacers, who I think really could've given the Hawks a series in the first round, lost last night to miss the playoffs (a win would've put them in the playoffs and in a series against the Hawks).
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On the bright side they probably have the easiest matchup in the first round. If they want to win a title a second round series with the Bulls won't be bad. I'm not sure if the best thing for this team would be to cake walk to the East Final and face a Hawks team that they really haven't had an answer for this season.
 
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LordJeffBuck said:
Matthew Dellavedova with 18 points, 12 assists in regular season finale against the Washington Wizards.
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The more I see of Delly the more I like him especially for the money that he is getting. Sometimes he makes some pretty stupid passes but he works his ass off on defense and is a pretty good shooter from deep. I will admit that he lacks athleticism to say the least but he just plays so hard that it is difficult not to like the kid.
Now just give him Shumpert's athleticism and we might have something. The last couple of games he has shown some fairly athletic skills except for his 2 missed break away dunks:smash:
 
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I know I'm in the minority here, but I think Boston could give the Cavs trouble. If Boston can clog the paint I think we're looking at a 5 game series for sure, and possibly even 6. I know that's not outrageous, but many people are thinking sweep. Boston is 24-12 in its last 36, and that's not nothing.
 
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