The Cleveland Cavs have had quite the interesting offseason and their squad will be wild this season. They shipped their second biggest star out of town and have welcomed a whole slew of new and old players to the team. The starting lineup possibilities are almost limitless with their versatility. Imagine a lineup where Kevin Love plays the center position and Dwayne Wade and JR Smith fight over the starting shooting guard spot.
Sure, they sent starting point guard Kyrie Irving to the rival Celtics for an injured Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and a first-round pick, but that shouldn’t make Cavs fans worry. They somehow amassed an all-star team from 10 years ago, so they should be ok. The Cavs picked up former All-star point guard Derrick Rose and former all-star shooting guard Dwayne Wade, although both of these players are showing their age and wear and tear.
I wouldn’t expect much out of these two veterans as the team will once again rely heavily on possibly the greatest player in NBA history, LeBron James. The trade that shocked the NBA wasn’t totally one-sided, Jae Crowder is a nice role player and a great defender. They also acquired tiny sparkplug point guard Thomas who is revering from hip surgery in the offseason. He should return by Christmas time and his scoring ability is second to none.
The word on the street is that the team is still dangling the first round pick they got from the trade with the Celtics for another veteran player.
As of now, the starting lineup most expect on opening night is Kevin Love at the center, moving Tristan Thompson to the bench, Jae Crowder at the 4 spot, LeBron at 3, either JR Smith or Dwayne Wade at the shooting guard and Derrick Rose at the point. That small lineup will be able to compete with both the Warriors and the Thunder, but I’m not sure if they can hang in a seven-game series.
This Cleveland Cavs team has the same feeling of that failed Lakers 2003/4 Dream team with Karl Malone and Gary Payton. That team won 56 games on the way to the NBA finals, but were almost swept by the Detroit Pistons and basically embarrassed on National TV. This Cleveland team is on a collision course with disaster as they attempt to put a geriatric basketball team on the court with straight killers in the Western Conference.
I see Dwayne Wade and/or Derrick Rose going down with injuries and Isaiah Thomas’ hip issues lingering all throughout his career. LeBron may be the greatest of all time but he isn’t big enough to carry this past its prime team.
No matter how funky the starting lineup may end up being, they still have to go through either the Warriors or the Thunder and both of those teams are stacked with players in their prime.