Cleveland Cavs (2016 NBA Champions)

[tsteele316]

Lord Jeff--The Cavs' rosters as it currently stands, ranked in order of importance: red text are NJ changes

01. Lebron James
02. Kevin Love
03. Kyrie Irving
04. Tristan Thompson
05. Iman Shumpert
06. Timofey Mozgov
07. Anderson Varejao
08. Mo Williams
09. Jamal Crawford
10. Delly
11. Jones
12. Joe Harris
13. Mike Miller
14. JR Smith or Draftee A
15. Draftee B

Question...if somehow Cavs did get Johnson, would he be the 'Heywood' of next summer.. with a trade/contract value of $26M or higher??

Would we rather have Crawford or Nick Young?

no, he wouldn't be. he's a free agent after this season. he would be trade deadline fodder during this coming season at best. but with that deal, nobody will touch him, period.

 

[exhawg]

I am stretching to find SF candidates and I just don't see it. No clue the availability or feasibility of obtaining some of these players but some mid-level names on my wish list-

Gerald Green (UFA)
Alonzo Gee (UFA)
Wilson Chandler (DEN)
Terrance Ross (TOR)

Not sure why the last 2 teams would need to dump more salary but throwing them out there. Green is out of the Cavs price range so it'd be a sign-and-trade, I believe. Again not sure why Phoenix would do that. Gee...I mean, I guess. Of course there's the Vet Min options (Tayshaun Prince or Caron Butler). I hope Griffin has better some options, but I'm struggling to see where/how he pulls anything off.

In the modern NBA I think you could add a guy like Crawford, bring back the rest of the team and be ok. Noted you'll never roll out the whole second squad at once, but Mo, Crawford, Smith, TT, and Andy aren't bad. 3 guys that will chuck some shots and 2 guys to PnR and rebound. I would take a flier on Prince with a minimum contract at the end of the bench. If they did trade for Crawford that would give them a handful of guys that could run the point between Kyrie, Mo, Lebron, Crawford, and Delly (I guess). I feel a hell of a lot better with Delly being the 5th point rather than the 2nd like he was in the Finals.

 

[ethan]

I'll admit its kind of nostalgic to get Mo Williams back.
Kind of like, the old crew coming back together to finish what they started. LeBron, Mo, Varejao.

I would rather get Crawford and keep Varejao. That's better than losing him for Johnson in my mind.
Still hoping we get JR back as well. We need leathal shooters. Miller and Jones are too old to depend on now.

I'd like to see the Roster finished off with Crawford, JR, and Christmas for the last spot.

 

[NFBuck]

Crawford can't defend at all, but he'll light it up from the field more than Johnson ever could.

Don't look now, but it looks like the Cavs are destined to be Eastern Conference Champs in perpetuity and nothing more. The Spurs getting West and Aldridge is bad, bad news. Duncan still plays like he's in his prime, and he now has replacements to pass to torch to. The only real advantage the Cavs would have in a Finals matchup is Kyrie over Tony Parker's rotting corpse. Danny Green is a better Shumpert, Kawhi Leonard nullifies LeBron, Love is better offensively but worse defensively than Aldridge, and obviously Duncan has a huge advantage over Mozgov. We had better hope someone knocks the Spurs out of the playoffs next year.

Well, shit. Guess there's no point in even lacing them up next year.

 

[tsteele316]

Well, [Mark May]. Guess there's no point in even lacing them up next year.

i'm going to assume this guy didn't watch the spurs during the post season last year. duncan has been reduced to a 25 mpg guy that simply doesn't have much in the tank anymore. ginobli has fallen off a cliff, and parker can't stay healthy. diaw has regressed as well. their core unit is aging rapidly, which is why they made the moves they did. they still have no true center. despite cleveland's injury woes last year, I'd still feel more confident with them making it through 4 rounds in the playoffs healthy than the spurs. in case folks have forgotten, LMA has had his share of injuries as well, and now he's being asked to play the 5 more than he ever has.

 

[jlb1705]

As long as the balance of power between East and West remains, any given team in the West will have a tough road to the finals and the Cavs will have a relatively clear path with at worst a puncher's chance in any potential finals matchup.

 

[ethan]

To be fair...Year before last, that same Spurs team megatron stomped Miami...without LMA.
We had better hope they don't get to the Finals healthy.

 

[AKAK]

To be fair...Year before last, that same Spurs team megatron stomped Miami...without LMA.
We had better hope they don't get to the Finals healthy.

Or younger.

Once the Finals start, Duncan, Parker and Ginobli will be a combined 112 years old.

 

[MaxBuck]

Kawhi Leonard nullifies LeBron

Nothing outside of the Terminator is capable of "nullifying" LeBron.

 

[BuckeyeMafia]

i'm going to assume this guy didn't watch the spurs during the post season last year. duncan has been reduced to a 25 mpg guy that simply doesn't have much in the tank anymore. ginobli has fallen off a cliff, and parker can't stay healthy. diaw has regressed as well. their core unit is aging rapidly, which is why they made the moves they did. they still have no true center. despite cleveland's injury woes last year, I'd still feel more confident with them making it through 4 rounds in the playoffs healthy than the spurs. in case folks have forgotten, LMA has had his share of injuries as well, and now he's being asked to play the 5 more than he ever has.

Did you see Duncan in the playoffs last year? He looked like he was still in his prime. I didn't even mention Ginobili in my post because he's not the player he used to be. I mentioned Danny Green who is, as I said, a better Shumpert. I didn't mention Diaw because they won't need him except when Leonard comes off the floor. Duncan was their center last year, and I'm sure he'll continue to play that role with Aldridge as the stretch four. Basketball is the most predictable game and nothing I'm saying is beyond reason. The Cavs should hope the Spurs run into a freight train in either Golden State or Oklahoma City. Cleveland could beat San Antonio, but I don't like their chances.

Nothing outside of the Terminator is capable of "nullifying" LeBron.

That's fun to say and all, but did you see Kawhi play him in the Finals? He's probably the best wing defender since Scottie Pippen.

 

[exhawg]

Did you see Duncan in the playoffs last year? He looked like he was still in his prime.

Sorry I didn't pay much attention until after the first round.

It doesn't really matter for the Cavs. The Spurs need to get past the Warriors, Clips, Mavs, Thunder, etc before the Cavs even have to worry about them. I didn't see anyone in the East improving this off season so the road to the Finals shouldn't be very difficult for the Cavs. Let the Spurs play a couple brutal series to get to the Finals and we'll see how geriatric Duncan holds up trying to keep TT and Mozzy off the board.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Crawford can't defend at all, but he'll light it up from the field more than Johnson ever could.

Don't look now, but it looks like the Cavs are destined to be Eastern Conference Champs in perpetuity and nothing more. The Spurs getting West and Aldridge is bad, bad news. Duncan still plays like he's in his prime, and he now has replacements to pass to torch to. The only real advantage the Cavs would have in a Finals matchup is Kyrie over Tony Parker's rotting corpse. Danny Green is a better Shumpert, Kawhi Leonard nullifies LeBron, Love is better offensively but worse defensively than Aldridge, and obviously Duncan has a huge advantage over Mozgov. We had better hope someone knocks the Spurs out of the playoffs next year.

Did you see Duncan in the playoffs last year? He looked like he was still in his prime. I didn't even mention Ginobili in my post because he's not the player he used to be. I mentioned Danny Green who is, as I said, a better Shumpert. I didn't mention Diaw because they won't need him except when Leonard comes off the floor. Duncan was their center last year, and I'm sure he'll continue to play that role with Aldridge as the stretch four. Basketball is the most predictable game and nothing I'm saying is beyond reason. The Cavs should hope the Spurs run into a freight train in either Golden State or Oklahoma City. Cleveland could beat San Antonio, but I don't like their chances.

That's fun to say and all, but did you see Kawhi play him in the Finals? He's probably the best wing defender since Scottie Pippen.

Haven't we heard this doom and gloom nonsense before? Oh yeah, it was last summer, when the "unbeatable" Spurs were going to cruise to another NBA title. Here are your posts from last July:

Grabbing Love puts us in the situation that Miami was in during their first season together. There is no time to grow organically because you have to win THIS YEAR. Plus I don't think ANYONE can beat the Spurs while their current core is still around, so unless OKC manages to sneak into the Finals I would bet against the Cavs, even with Love. I'd rather let this team grow with Wiggins so that they're ready to win by the team the Western powerhouses aren't as good. Do you honestly believe we'd be San Antonio with no depth and little to no defense?

For the record, San Antonio lost in the first round of the playoffs, and OKC didn't even get in.

This is exactly it. Irving isn't close to Wade's level 2-3 years ago. Love will be better on offense than Bosh was, but he won't be nearly as good defensively. The Heat didn't have any trouble scoring in the Finals this year, even with D-Wade's corpse and no point guard. Their problem was the inability to stop San Antonio, and I still don't know how anyone sees Cleveland doing that with or without Kevin Love. I think the best course of action is to grow this roster from where it's at now, because until the Spurs stop winning the Western Conference I don't know how anyone could beat them. The Cavs need OKC, the Clippers, or someone else to win the West. In which case they'd have a great chance to win a title, and in my opinion, with or without Love.

Well, the Spurs have stopped winning the Western Conference. Maybe they aren't as mighty as some of us pretend them to be.

 

[tsteele316]

Did you see Duncan in the playoffs last year? He looked like he was still in his prime. I didn't even mention Ginobili in my post because he's not the player he used to be. I mentioned Danny Green who is, as I said, a better Shumpert. I didn't mention Diaw because they won't need him except when Leonard comes off the floor. Duncan was their center last year, and I'm sure he'll continue to play that role with Aldridge as the stretch four. Basketball is the most predictable game and nothing I'm saying is beyond reason. The Cavs should hope the Spurs run into a freight train in either Golden State or Oklahoma City. Cleveland could beat San Antonio, but I don't like their chances.



That's fun to say and all, but did you see Kawhi play him in the Finals? He's probably the best wing defender since Scottie Pippen.

tiago splitter was their center last year, not duncan. and duncan had a good first round of the playoffs because blake griffin is a terrible defender and let him get whatever he wanted. and that still doesn't address the primary fact that getting through 6 playoff games is not the same as 4 playoff series, at age 39. and of course you didn't want to mention diaw or ginobli, because both have fallen off considerably, but at this point, are still considered to be part of the spurs primary rotation. and this doesn't begin to address the fact that tony parker can't stay healthy.

 

[MaxBuck]

That's fun to say and all, but did you see Kawhi play him in the Finals? He's probably the best wing defender since Scottie Pippen.

Kawhi plays exceptional defense. But he does not in any way "nullify" LBJ.

I keep hearing all the NBA talking heads claiming the Spurs to be the "best team in the NBA" now that they've signed LaMarcus Aldridge. But I don't buy it; Duncan, Ginobli and Parker should be at Sunset on the Scioto rather than in the NBA. Golden Buckeye cards for all of them.

 

[CFPBuckeye]

I believe the word "Cleveland" on the front of the Cavs jerseys is the biggest threat to them winning the finals next season. Not the Spurs. Not the Warriors. Not the Thunder, Clippers or Rockets. The laws of the universe have me the most worried. I believe that if I put together a 12 man squad of myself and some buddies, and the NBA said "All other western conference teams are ineligible for the postseason. You, 12 man squad of average Joe's are awarded the western conference title and a berth in the NBA finals," that we would be the favorites with God, Allah, Xenu, Al Gore or whomever you believe in, on our side.

And that's real.