Cavs Off-Season Outlook

The 2014-15 season is over and the Cleveland Cavaliers exceeded expectations. That was hard to do, since they had a lot placed on their shoulders. There was a lot of expectation-shifting during the year. At first they were high. Then watching the Cavs struggle to gel as a new team, they went down. The trades happened (Mozgov, Smith, and Shumpert) and they went back up again. LeBron went down for two weeks and they got a little lower. They went on a big run towards the end of the year and they went back up. They slowed down at the end of the year...back down. They started the playoffs playing really well and they went back up. Love goes out; they go down a little. Irving goes down...they go down a little more. Cavs lose game 1 of the NBA finals; they go down. They win the next two...some people switch their finals pick. Then they lose the next couple games and they go back down.

That's a lot of ups and downs. This off-season may be even more interesting than the last one. Injuries usually create that for any sport. Look at the QB position at Ohio State. Now there are three heisman-caliber candidates vying for one spot. I don't envy Urban Meyer...I'm just happy we have him. With injuries come doubts, questions, benefits and empathy. Would they have won with Irving? What about with Love? What about both? What holes do they have if Love and Irving are both back? Lots of questions to ask and answer going into the off-season.

Before discussing the players, let's start with the coach David Blatt. He was hired before LeBron decided to come back to Cleveland. So this coach was meant to build up a team, not manage a bunch of all-stars. He's never coached in the NBA before, not even as an assistant. This is such a unique situation. He's obviously not a great coach, no arguments there. I don't think he's even a good coach. I'm glad that Brian Windhorst from ESPN said this recently because it's what I've felt going into the playoffs. Blatt is not a great coach and will be on the chopping block unless LeBron feels he should stay. Why would James feel that way? Because with Blatt as the head coach, LeBron runs the team. Bring in a more experienced coach, and LeBron loses some of that control and power. If they hire a Thibbs or Scott Brooks, guys who are good coaches who believe themselves to be great, the dynamic of the team changes. If LeBron doesn't want that, it's up to Blatt if he wants to stay. My gut tells me that he stays at least another year.

It just so happens that almost every player will be a free agent this summer. There are a few players locked up for at least another year: Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Brendan Haywood, and Anderson Varejao. Irving is locked up at max money for multiple years as is Varejao. Harris has a couple more as he's on his rookie contract. This is Haywood's last year, but his contract is very interesting. Basically these types of contracts are rare in the NBA these days. He's got about $10 million on it for next year but it's non-guaranteed. This would allow the Cavs to trade him for a player worth $15 million a year and allow the team that gets Haywood the chance to cut him, saving themselves $25 in cap room. It would be a team such as the Pelicans who have a superstar or at least a star but want to rebuild. I'm 99% positive the Cavs aren't trading for Davis, but that's what the contract would allow them to do.

Irving deserves max money and Harris deserves his rookie contract. Harris may not be around very long. I think they'll try to move Haywood as they thought he'd be better than what he was this season. Varejao is interesting. Because of the emergence of Mozgov (they really only got him because Varejao got injured) and Thompson along with the need to pay Love max or near-max money, they may decide to re-structure Varejao's contract. He is scheduled to make $9.6 million this upcoming season and $10 million each of the following two seasons. He's getting older and more injury-prone. What the Cavs would like to do is pay him a little less so they can make some room for Thompson, Mozgov, and Love. If they could get Varejao down to around $6 million, that would easily allow the Cavs to pay Thompson close to $10.5 million without taking on additional salary. Whether or not Varejao does that will be up to him. They could offer him a 1-year deal and probably be able to pay him more after the 2015-16 season when the salary cap goes up.

So those are the non-free agents this off-season. Now let's take a look at the free agents, and there are a ton of them: (UFA = unrestricted free agent; RFA = restricted free agent meaning the Cavs can match an offer if the player accepts it from a different team)

LeBron James - UFA with a player option. If there's one player who's not going anywhere, it's LeBron James. He is basically setting himself up to get a raise every year because he deserves it. At least for the next few years. He will be a Cavalier for life, which is good news for Cleveland fans. The interesting part will be to see when and to who he passes the torch. I'm guessing Kyrie Irving in about 3 years. LeBron will keep getting raises in and around $22 million starting next year.

Kevin Love -UFA with a player option. This is the wild card of the off-season. I don't think Love is a must-sign, but he's a great get if we can get him and at the right price. Whatever happens with Love will determine how the rest of free agency goes. If he leaves to go to Boston or L.A, then there will be a max player spot available. This could make it easier to re-sign Thompson or trade Haywood to bring in a higher caliber player like Lamarcus Aldridge. If Love doesn't re-sign, I don't think we'll get Aldridge and the chances of landing an actual max player through a sign-and-trade or free agency is slim. If Love stays, the question becomes for how much. Had the Cavs won the finals, Love may not be able to garner a max deal. I'm guessing they'll offer him something slightly less than Kyrie, maybe around $14 million. Other teams are going to offer him more money, and if the question becomes that if they do, will he leave a championship-caliber team to play with a different version of his old Minnesota Timberwolves?

Tristan Thompson - RFA. He was discussed earlier. The Cavs need to do everything possible to re-sign this guy. He's too valuable at the position and is the #1 offensive rebounder. He doesn't demand the ball a lot on offense and is good but can play great on the defensive end. I worry that, since he's a restricted free agent, another team will make him a huge offer that he and his agent feel that he can't pass up and the Cavs will either have to match or let him go. This happened with the Jazz a few years ago. The first year, Paul Millsap was a RFA. Portland made him a huge offer, very front-loaded. The Jazz were put in a bind because they couldn't really afford him, especially with most of the money needing to be paid up front. They also couldn't afford not to sign him so they did. The next year the same thing happened with Wes Matthews, same team. The Jazz this time learned from their mistake and let him go. Turns out he was a really good player, but the Jazz got him for a few years for a small amount of money since he went undrafted. It just depends on if he's the type of guy to take a little less than he could get elsewhere to play with a bonified championship-caliber team. It'd be nice to get him at around $10 million.

Timofey Mozgov - RFA with a team option. SIGNED. Need to re-sign. Varejao isn't quite the rim protector or the athlete that Mozgov is, plus Mozzy is younger. He is what made this team a defensive juggernaut and he's the second-most talented offensive big man behind Kevin Love. With Mozgov and Thompson defending the rim and grabbing boards, it allows LeBron to move to the wing/guard position which is what he prefers. There aren't too many big men like this. He's not the offensive rebounder that Thompson is, but I believe he's our best defensive rebounder. He's also mastered the offensive-rebound-tip-out where, rather than rebounding it, puts himself in a position on offense to slap the ball to a teammate. He needs a raise but hopefully not too much of one. I think he should get around the $8 million range. Lock him up for a few years if possible. 


Matthew Dellavedova - RFA. If there's a guy whose stock went up this off-season, it's Delly's. He'll probably get some offers from other teams, but I'd be shocked if he took any of them. I think he's okay with playing for less if he can stay with the Cavaliers. I don't think he can have the kind of output he did in the playoffs and sustain it for a whole season. Maybe he's willing to find out for more money, though. If the Cavs can get him around the $2 million mark, which seems low, they'll be able to keep him. There are a lot of good players playing for less than that out there. Cavs could match up to 3 or 4, but this is still your backup PG you're paying for on most teams.If he's offered and takes a contract for more like $4 or 5 million, then the Cavs probably don't keep him.

Iman Shumpert - RFA. This is the guy that I want the Cavs to re-sign the most, not counting LeBron who isn't even a question at this point. More than Love, more than Thompson and Mozgov. Iman still has some improving to do and he's pretty good where he's at. He's very similar to Kawhi Leonard. He's a great defender, on-ball and help-side. Defensively he has great instincts. He can guard positions 1-3. He's tough. Offensively is where he needs most of his work done but he's got some skills. He's a decent ball-handler, could be a really good one. He's not gonna back up Irving, but if Irving and LeBron are out for whatever reason, he can help out Delly or whichever backup PG we have. You can't have too many ball-handlers on the team. He's a good spot shooter but he can be really good. He's okay at driving but he can take it up a level. I don't think he's going to be great at anything except defense, but he can be really good at almost everything else. He can backup LeBron or play the two. He's the perfect starting two because he doesn't need the ball a lot but can put up points and can play the other team's best player for a majority of the start. LeBron usually guards the best player down the stretch, it helps to have a guy like this guarding him at the beginning. This should be the easiest match if he accepts a qualifying offer somewhere else. I would give him $6-8 million easy.

J.R. Smith - UFA with a player option. J.R Smith could opt into another year of his contract, but until he does, he's considered a free agent. I never thought I'd say this...the Cavs should bring J.R Smith back. If they can do it for $5 million that'd be even better. He'd make just over $6 next year if he opts in. He's a really good shooter, streaky, but he stayed relatively consistent throughout the playoffs. He can create some offense, he's a better defender than people give him credit for. He's got a different attitude playing in Cleveland with LeBron. The King can keep guys like this in check. Having Smith as not only a shooter but someone who can take some pressure off of LeBron, especially in big moments, is something that's worth having. I don't think Smith is willing to go somewhere else to who's not a championship contender, and I don't know if there's a better fit among the championship teams for him. It's in everyone's best interest for him to stay in Cleveland.

James Jones - UFA. Jones was lured by LeBron at the beginning of the season. I think everyone's happy that he came. Jones is a year younger than Mike Miller and two years younger than Shawn Marion. He's 34. I think he has another year or two left in him if he wants it. He signed a 1-year contract for $1.5 million but I think based on what we saw in the playoffs, he gets a little raise. He'd be happy to take $2 million, so I think barring some unprecedented event, he'll be a Cavalier next season. Keep shooting, James!

Mike Miller - UFA with a player option. Miller played a lot less than I thought he was going to. He's a good shooter, but Jones really took his minutes. Maybe he didn't want them. He is 35 years old. He has the option of opting into a $2.85 million contract next season. If he's not going to play as much this upcoming season, it'd be nice to get him at about half of that price, especially at a year older. Miller will decide whether or not to remain in the NBA. If he stays, he'll play in Cleveland with a small chance he goes back to Miami. If he goes, he goes out into the sunset.

Kendrick Perkins - UFA. At only 30 years old, he's got some years ahead of him. He just looks like he's 40 years old. He's the same age as LeBron, though. I don't know about Perkins. He may not like it in Cleveland despite their success. Maybe he'd go back to Boston. Maybe he'll retire since he didn't play a ton this year. He's a question mark, but really it wouldn't be a huge loss if he didn't come back next year. I'd love to see him knocking more people down, though. If he stays, he'll need to take the veteran's minimum of around $500,000. Unless he plans on playing a lot more, he shouldn't get paid a lot more.

Shawn Marion - UFA. This may be the guy to retire as he's the oldest at 36 and has already verbally acknowledged his desire to retire. He hardly played at all this year. His leadership was valuable this year, especially for a young team. This past season he made $1.5 million. If he can take a small pay-cut, the Cavs would probably be willing to keep him around. Most likely Marion calls it a career and gives the Cavs an extra million dollars or two to work with in signing others. 


Here's the free agent math:

Irving -      $15 million
Harris -       01
Varejao -     10
Haywood -  10*
LeBron -      22
Love -          14
Thompson - 10
Mozgov -     08
Delly -         02
Shumpert -  07
Smith -        06
Jones -         02
Miller -        03
Perkins -      0.5
Marion -      00
_______________

Total            $110.5 million

The salary cap for 2014 is $63 million with the luxury tax kicking in once you hit $76 million. Next year it is scheduled to go up slightly, maybe up to $90 million if we're lucky, but in 2016 it's scheduled to go up a lot due in part to the new TV contract the NBA is going to sign. The NBA is revenue-sharing, so when they get more revenue as a league, the salary cap goes up since the players are to get 51% of the revenue from the CBA agreement. I'm guessing it doesn't go much higher than $80 million next year. So either the Cavs are willing to pay the luxury tax, they're not willing to keep everyone, or some combination. If Love really wants out, and the Cavs are willing to part with him, they could do a sign-and-trade which would allow them to get something back that would be a lot less costly and possibly dump Haywood's $10 million in the process. They could realistically cut Haywood as well since his contract is non-guaranteed. If Varejao would be willing to take $5 less and re-structure his contract, then we get closer to $80 than $110. The two biggest money-makers, LeBron and Kyrie, aren't going anywhere so keep $37 million on the books. Oh, and they're worth it.

If players are willing to sign a 1-year contract for less money to keep everyone together and go for another NBA finals appearance, they could probably keep it under the cap assuming they drop Haywood's contract and probably re-negotiate Varejao's. They'll need at least 13 players on the active roster, although they will be able to sign two draft picks this year. Since they're low picks, they'll probably be under $2 for the pair next season.

Let's assume they keep everyone except Haywood. That means they'll have the following positions locked up:

• Post - Varejao, Mozgov, Love, Thompson, Perkins
• Can play Post or Wing - Jones, Miller, James
• Guards/Wings who aren't PG's - Shumpert, Smith, Harris
• Point Guards - Irving, Dellavedova

They are very post-heavy so my guess is that they'll grab a PG and a SF, someone who can replace LeBron once he gets good enough. They'll most likely send at least one to the D-league for a while. With LeBron who likes to handle the ball as much as he does, they should take a SG or SF with their first pick. They have a need at point, but with two very good to elite PG's on the roster, they'd do better to find another wing. Shumpert and Smith will both split time at the two, playing together a little when the Cavs go small. They'll need a legit 3 who can guard some of the longer wings out there.


Here's a look at some of the players they could take in the first round:


Rashad Vaughn - 6'6" SG from UNLV. Raw, has a lot of potential, NBA body but will need some help with fundamentals. Decent mid-range shooter. Would be a great addition to a team where he didn't have to play right away.

Jerian Grant - 6'5" SG from Notre Dame. Can play point as well. Not a great shooter, but has some length and plays well on defense. Great passer and with the pick & roll.

Terry Rozier - 6'2" PG from Louisville. Great scorer, finisher, and defender. Long and athletic. Turns it over and doesn't have great court awareness for a PG.

R.J Hunter - 6'6" SG from Georgia State. A cheaper Mike Dunleavy. He's a great shooter, long, good passer and high basketball I.Q. Not very athletic, struggles against more athletic players.


Here's a look at the guys they could take in the second round:


J.P Takoto - 6'5" SF from UNC. Not a great shooter and doesn't create offense, he's a long, athletic defender with a lot of upside. 

Timothe Luwawu - 6'6" SF from France. I don't know a ton about him, I don't know if anyone does. It says he's a long, athletic wing who can shoot but who needs to add strength. He's a typical Euro player. The Cavaliers have taken a lot of chances, a lot of them paying off, with Euro players.

Aaron Harrison - 6'6" SG from Kentucky. He seems to have an "it" factor despite his inconsistency. He's not as great a shooter as his twin, Andrew, but he's a strong, capable defender. He's also a combo guard which may be appealing to the Cavs considering their lack of PG depth. Cleveland would be a good enough situation for him to come in and get in line.

Aside from the draft, there are some intriguing free agents out there the Cavs could take if they don't keep the team intact. It's pretty hard to keep everyone around, even going as far as they did. Here are some players the Cavs could take a look at and possibly make a run for:

• Dorell Wright, SF Portland
• K.J McDaniels, SG/SF Philadelphia
• Gerald Green, SG Phoenix
• Norris Cole, SG New Orleans
• Mike Dunleavy, SF Chicago

There's been some chatter in the NBA world that Dwyane Wade is unhappy with his contract negotiations with the Miami Heat. It looks like Pat Riley wants Wade to take another pay-cut in order to make some room for players like Kevin Durant. Wade doesn't want that. A lot of Cleveland fans are already convinced that Wade is headed to Cleveland. First of all, this is far from a sure thing. Cleveland can't afford to pay Love, Irving, James, and Wade all max contracts. Irving already has one and James is getting one. Love may or may not get one and Wade is looking for one. If Love doesn't stay, there's a long shot that Wade signs for a year just to get LeBron a ring in Cleveland. It wouldn't be long-term and it wouldn't solve Cleveland's needs. It would be a fun story.

A lot is going to depend on who they keep and who they don't. If they're able to re-sign everyone, I think the Cavs need to draft a true PG. It's still a hole. They also need a SF to fill-in for LeBron. He's got to be able to play multiple positions just like James does. Wing players are more the weakness, especially since this year they'll not only have Love, Mozgov, and Thompson potentially back but also Varejao. That's a legitimate front line.

A side note to Cavaliers fans. We need to manage our expectations better. We've never won an NBA finals in the history of our franchise. Until these playoffs, we'd never even won a finals game. We haven't earned the right to say "LeBron, if you don't win with this team, you suck." We can't go calling for people's heads when things don't go our way. There are reasons nobody has wanted to come to Cleveland...some of it has to do with the fans. Let's not bail on our teams when they aren't as successful as we want them to be. It usually happens with the Browns, but it's happened when LeBron has played for us. He doesn't give up at the end of games, and even if he does, he's the reason we're in them in the first place. We need to recognize who butters our bread. Think we'd even be in playoff contention without James? Don't be so quick to kill him on social media. Let's try and actually support our teams instead of holding out hope and judging teams when they don't win it all.

The Cavs have a lot of work to do in the off-season. It's miraculous that they were able to gel and make the finals while bringing in new players all throughout the year. They have a completely new roster than they did last year when only Irving, Dellavedova, Thompson, and Varejao were here. While they don't need a ton of time to make things work, they'll need support and understanding. We have the best player on the planet leading us, so let's just have some faith and get amped up next year for what could be our first championship year ever!

Defending Home

I can't wait to get myself a Dellavedova jersey. Hopefully they spell it right.

I also can't wait to see how many "expert" analysts change their mind on who they think is going to win this series. Most predicted a sweep or the Warriors in 5 once Irving went down. We know now it has to go at least 6 games. Outside of Cavalier fans, no one thought this team had a chance. Most of us are from Cleveland...we don't care about that.

This was such a great game for the Cavs to win. Even more importantly, it would've taken the wind out of the team if they would've lost. I've been waiting for someone to step their game up...Shumpert, Smith, Mozgov, Thompson... I don't think even Cavs fans thought it was going to be Matthew Dellavedova.

When the Cavaliers made the switch to give more minutes to Delly due to the injury of Kyrie Irving and with the absence of Kevin Love in the lineup giving Tristan Thompson more minutes did something to the Cavs: it made them a better defensive team. Obviously Irving and Love are better offensive players, but as long as Delly and Thompson can provide a little bit of offense, then you can look at it as an upgrade. They're providing more than just a little offense.

The Cavs are obviously better with Irving and I'm pretty sure with Love, but they're being forced to play differently with those guys out. It may be just what they needed to do...they're more physical, better defensively, and with their pace of play, all of it has taken the Warriors out of their rhythm.

Here's a little recap of game 3 with some insights as to what can happen moving forward.

This game's tempo was set early from the most unlikely of heroes. James Jones, Mike Miller, LeBron, and Delly all hit the floor tonight to grab loose balls with Delly doing it all over the place. That's what you need to do every game, which is one reason why having Delly in there is a great thing. Honestly, Delly is not a great offensive player. He never will be. If he was playing anywhere else, he may not even get playing time. The only reason he's getting the time he is now is because of Irving's injury. Throughout this whole year, Cleveland was picked to take a PG with their first round pick as a decent backup to Kyrie. I don't think they have to worry about that anymore. Get a wing player who can take some time off of LeBron. And what a pass to LeBron for the alley-oop dunk!

Stephen Curry was bad for game two and most of game 3, but has finally found a rhythm. Delly has been able to take him out of it a little with his physical play. Plus we didn't know how Curry was going to respond to playing at this level. Remember OKC when they went to the finals? They had James Harden. He never showed up for the finals...a big reason they lost. You never know who will step up at the highest level and who just can't seem to do so.

For as much crap as Cavs legitimately gave the refs in game 2, game 3 went the Cavs way. We got some calls and no-calls that we didn't get in game 2. Mozgov did have some nice blocks when he went straight up, but the Warriors weren't as fortunate as they were the previous game. Then there was the review at the end of the game that shouldn't have been reviewed. It should've been Warriors ball, but oh well. How's it feel, Golden State?!

With Curry back in a little bit of a rhythm, it makes game 4 interesting. If they can continue to frustrate him and keep him under his season average, they'll be fine. So far, only one splash brother has gone off per game: Curry, then Thompson, then Curry. It'll be a lot more difficult if both eventually put a game together.

After a game, I like to look at stats. Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green combined to go 2-18 in game 3. That's a little worrisome to me because that means they can do better next game. Of course, the others went 18-39 including 9-20 from 3-point land. That's not easy to duplicate, either. Meanwhile the top Cavs went 21-51 so they have some improvement to do as well. If the Cavs were barely winning these games and shooting high percentages, it would mean that they were playing near-perfect basketball and would have to do that every game to win. They're not, and they're still winning. That's a good sign.

In fact, the Cavs had a great lead. They've outplayed the Warriors for 13 of the 14 periods including overtimes. They only lost the 4th quarter of this game and they were still able to hold on at the end. They were able to withstand a Curry comeback as he found his groove in that last quarter. Also a positive sign.

The Warriors have some hope with the lineup change that Kerr went to at the end. David Lee i a good player and gives them a different rhythm than with Ezeli. They'll look to do that again, although I don't think Lee will be as effective as he was in game 3. That'll be something the Cavs will need to game plan for the next game.

Iman Shumpert has to stay healthy. He brings so much to this team. Amongst all the trades, he was the one I was most excited for. He was an up-and-coming young player with some handles, ability to shoot well and score slightly better, but is a defensive lock-down. Watch him during the game. There was a play where he just stripped a guy to get a steal for someone else. He was the one who made the play at the end of game 2 to win the game. He can cover Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Livingston...basically positions 1-3. That's not easy to do. LeBron can play 1-5 but he's a freak of nature. For anyone else, playing 3 positions on defense is amazing. He needs to stay healthy, so watch it around those Draymond screens.

The Cavs have such a great team when Irving and Love are on the floor. Kyrie can drive and score...he can drive and dish. LeBron gets to slash if Kyrie handles the ball. Love can play down-low. He can pop-out and hit a 3. LeBron can handle the ball and drive. It's limitless on offense when everyone is healthy. That was the one thing the "experts" were saying about the Cavs before the season started...this could be the best offensive team ever, but they were worried about their D. Well, Mozgov and Shumpert changed their defensive mentality, but losing Love and Irving hurts offensively.

Because of these injuries, the Cavaliers have had to change the way that they run their offense. Let's look at what's going on. Varejao is out, Love, and Irving as well. Shumpert is banged up as is LeBron. The Cavs didn't have a ton of depth to begin with, especially with Perkins and Marion not really being able to play. I thought they were really gonna help in the finals since they didn't play a ton during the year or the playoffs. The Cavaliers have a small lineup: LeBron, Shumpert, Thompson, Mozgov, Smith, Delly, and Jones all get major minutes. Miller might get a few. Haywood and Harris aren't coming in unless absolutely necessary. Perkins and Marion will come in just before that. It's basically a 7-man rotation with Miller able to give a few minutes.

There's the small rotation. The Warriors have an 11-man rotation that they can use but normally use 9-10 guys. With Golden State having more guys and normally playing an up-beat tempo, what should the Cavaliers do? Slow the game down. This creates less possessions and less energy exerted then if they were running up and down the floor. A lot of free throws help to give short breaks as well. A lot of slack is being hurled at LeBron for playing iso-ball, and I admit I don't love it. But this is the most effective way to play right now since it gives extra breathers, slows the game down by causing there to be less possessions, and when he drives and gets to the free throw line, it stops the game again giving the Cavaliers a mini-break. It also creates less shots so not as much offense for the Warriors who are used to putting up a ton of points. Psychologically when you don't score as much as you're used to, it can have an effect on you.

Not only does this help with the lack of depth, but it also creates an interesting offensive strategy. Thompson is the best offensive rebounder in the league, period. Mozgov doesn't get a ton of offensive rebounds, but he is a master at the offensive tip back to a guard. So with LeBron isolating, he either drives and gets to the bucket (and potentially the foul line) or he draws a double-team and kicks it out to one of the many great Cavalier shooters this series (Smith, Shumpert, Delly is okay, Jones has been great, Miller is available) who put it up. Either the Cavs hit the 3 or something else happens. Thompson and Mozgov are really good at getting the rebound or tip-out. They haven't gotten a ton this series because Green and Bogut are struggling to box them out. So what's happening? Green in particular, but both of them are fouling Thompson and Mozgov. They're getting in foul trouble early. Fouling Mozgov is a good thing, too, because he's a good free throw shooter. When Green and/or Bogut has to exit earlier than expected, it throws off their rhythm with the new lineup.

Any coach can tell you, shooting teams like to stay in rhythm. They don't like change. Their goal is consistency, and when they get thrown off, it can affect them. That's one of the reasons I think that Curry hasn't been hitting as many shots as he's used to. Even shots in the paint he's missing. Delly is playing him really well, but the Cavs offense is playing in such a way that it forces Green and Bogut to foul or give up an easy offensive put-back. It forces them to the bench which changes Golden State's offensive options.

This series is shaping up to be a really good one. Close games, overtimes...it'll be fun to watch. If anybody thought the Cavs were out of this from game 1, they're certainly rethinking that stance now.

14 games down. 2 to go.

Down But Not Out

When the Browns hired Rob Chudzinski from Carolina, I didn't know what to make of it. It was okay I guess. I didn't know much about him. The Browns got to the game late and all of the guys who would've been home runs, or even solid doubles or triples, were taken. With Chud, though, came Ray Horton as defensive coordinator and Norv Turner as offensive coordinator. Turn out these were the better hires.

I remember when I got off the Chud train. There was an interview, and in the interview Chud was asked about halftime adjustments. His teams performed much worse in the second half than in the first. He said that he didn't believe in adjustments. You stick to the plan with your guys and go.

I was done. Sorry, but the great coaches are all great because of halftime adjustments. Urban Meyer is a great example, probably the best college football adjustment-maker alive right now. Ohio State has a leadership program that I wear on my arm: "E + R = O." This stands for "event plus response equals outcome." With this way of thinking, it's not so much what happens to you that determines your success but your response to that event. I really love that philosophy. Oh, and guys like Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich also make adjustments. Good company to be in.

For all my non-Browns fan who read this, sorry about the little detour. My point is that adjustments need to be made. In the NBA playoffs, and in basketball in general, adjustments are made all the time. Halftime, end of quarters, middle of games, to stop the other team's momentum, and then from game to game. I don't know what kind of adjustments Blatt is going to make. He had a good game plan but it seemed to be halted towards the end of the game. This is a chance for him to prove his "offensive genius" actually exists.

There are a lot of thing to pull out of this game, Blatt's need to make adjustments are just one of them. Here are some other things to think about as the Cavaliers/Warriors series goes on:


How the Cavs will adjust, especially due to the loss of Kyrie Irving

 The biggest and most talked about adjustment will be how the Cavs handle replacing Kyrie Irving. Obviously Dellevedova will get the start and the majority of his minutes, but replacing an All-Star is about more than just minutes. His offensive production and underrated defense will need to be accounted for as well. Delly isn't as quick, and he had trouble staying with Curry in game 1. He also didn't get to play much because of Blatt's mishandling of Irving's minutes. I get it; he was available and you want to play your best players, especially in overtime. No way Irving should've played 43 minutes (he would've played more had he not gotten injured) and Delly only 9. Expect Delly to get more minutes.

If Delly can figure out how to guard Curry better, because Delly is a great defender but struggles against quicker guys, then that will really make a difference. He will give it his all, that's for sure. He can be more physical with Curry than Irving (and maybe inadvertently take him out maybe?) which may not only frustrate Curry but wear him down and affect his shot, maybe. Delly did well against Teague but not so well against Rose.

Offensive production and ball-handling will need to be addressed. Delly, LeBron, and Shumpert will all probably run point throughout the game. It's better if LeBron doesn't have to expend energy bringing the ball up, though. If he does, it will really affect their transition offense as LeBron is their best guy to get out and finish at the rim. Irving will be sorely missed, and the Cavaliers aren't better without him.

Role Players Need to Step Up

With Varejao, Love, and now Irving out, they'll need to get more production out of their other players. The media doesn't think this can happen. I think it can but it's going to be tough. I never bought into the whole 'the Cavs have finals experience and the Warriors don't have any.' No, LeBron, James Jones, and Mike Miller (who rarely plays now) has finals experience, not the Cavs. Irving, Thompson, and Love never made the playoffs. Mozgov is learning how to be a starter. Smith and Shumpert have playoff experience but not finals experience, and that playoff experience was with the Knicks. Delly is not only new to the playoffs, he's new to the league. The Cavaliers don't have much experience, just LeBron.

This was evident in watching game 1. Iman Shumpert had his talent stolen from the aliens in space jam. James Jones only got off 1 shot which he missed. JR Smith had 9 points but went 3-13 to do it. Those were the only guys off the bench for Cleveland along with Delly (Shumpert started). I don't know why. Their bench got outscored 34-9. Granted, Speights for Golden State had 8 points and played abnormally well. For Cleveland to win this series, they can't get outplayed by that much by Golden State's bench.

It's time for Marion and Miller to make their appearances. Perkins may get some time, too, if nothing else to push some people around. Jones, Miller, and Smith need to be able to hit some 3's. Jones will get some more playing time also.

The four guys I think this team will really depend on to step up are JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson, and Timofey Mozgov. Thompson will need to work the boards and grab some lobs. He did a good job of this in the first half but they collapsed the lane a bit in the second which prevented him from grabbing boards like he usually does. Mozgov will need to play big around the rim and continue to cut to the basket for easy dunks and layups. He also needs to make those and not go out of his comfort zone. That layup attempt in the fourth attempt trying to channel his inner Jordan needs to stop. Both will need to control the boards and the rim defensively.

This is a strategy the Cavaliers should employ, at least for stretches in the game. Golden State had a problem with Memphis because Memphis has a big frontcourt in Gasol and Randolph. They used that advantage to take a 2-1 series lead. Thompson isn't as polished offensively as either of those guys, but they can still get involved offensively, especially through rebounds. Thompson did such a good job against Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah in the Chicago series. These are three of the better frontcourt players in the NBA. He needs to play big against a smaller Warrior team.

They've seemed to figure Smith out. His last shot got blocked because everyone in the arena knew what he was going to do. Drive, pull back his dribble, step back with a little jump and throw it up. He needs to be a little more aggressive in driving to the basket for teams to respect his shot. Same thing with Shumpert, who is a more natural slasher. If Shumpert and Smith can take not only some of the scoring load but also the ball-handling and half-court-directing from LeBron, it'll free him up to cut as well. The Cavs looked too stagnant at times. They need to not only set pick and rolls, but move around when they don't have the ball. Mozgov should be the only guy timing his baseline rolls and slashes to the middle. Ideally, LeBron has the ball, Thompson sets the screen, Smith and Shumpert circle around the three-point line, Mozgov cut at the last second. LeBron will either take it in the paint or find the right guy who's open. Next play, same thing but for Shumpert, then Smith. The Cavs can play pick-n-roll basketball, just not so much iso-ball from James.

LeBron's Final Shot

A lot of criticism has been heaped on LeBron's final shot. Question to those who question: did you also question this shot? It was the same exact shot over the same exact player in a very similar moment. It's not so much that it was a bad shot, it just didn't have the same result. Because he could've gotten a better shot, and for the record he could have, but then took the one he did and missed the way he did, people say it was a bad shot. Not only that, because it's LeBron, there are people out there (a lot of Cavs fans even) who blame him for losing the game.

You've got to be kidding me. James has 44 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists and he lost the game? Just because Jordan missed a game-winning shot doesn't mean he lost them the game. Derrick Rose missing his last 11 shots in a close game is a reason someone loses a game. If it wasn't for James, the Cavaliers wouldn't have been in the game to even have a potential game-winning shot. I had that feeling in the last game against Boston. Yes, he made a couple mistakes at the end of the game, but he was the reason we were in the position that we were. If you win with LeBron, you also lose with him. He gives you the best chance to win at any time in any game, period. For four years, Cavs fans (including myself) didn't want to admit that but it was true. 

Again, I think he could've taken a better shot. I would set up a pick-n-roll play against a bigger guy like Bogut or Green and have LeBron take it to the basket. Mike Greenburg had a great point this morning: when you let LeBron iso and not drive, you take away his best attribute: his ability to make the perfect play. Whether that is him shooting it or a kick-out to an open player, it's what LeBron does better than anybody. Blatt needs to remind him of that.

Get Big

As stated before, the Cavaliers are down a guard in which they were lacking depth in already. Delly, Shumpert, Smith, and Joe Harris (good luck seeing him in this series) are your guards. Shumpert is more of a small forward, but they have a few of those in LeBron, Jones, Marion, and Miller. Since they don't have a ton of guards, I say the Cavs just play to their strength: strength. They have Thompson and Mozgov on the front line but LeBron, Jones, Perkins (not an offensive threat but a big bruiser), and Haywood to play big. That will create some mismatches but as long as Shumpert, LeBron, Delly, Smith, or Marion are out there, they can cover positions 1-3 on Golden State. Shumpert, Delly, and LeBron will spend a lot of time on Curry while Smith, LeBron, and Jones will take shots at Thompson (Klay). If Thompson (Tristan) can play Green well, that takes care of their three most dangerous players. With Cleveland's star PG out, let's play big and get some easy buckets in the paint. Wearing Golden State out physically, especially their shooters, will also be really helpful.

LeBron Needs More Assists Than Points

The Warriors game plan was laid out quite simply: LeBron doesn't get more than 10 assists and they win the game. If he does, that means other players are hitting shots, getting into rhythms, and picking up the load for him. If LeBron scores that many points on that many shots every game after this, the Cavs will lose every game. If he gets people involved and distributes, that unity will become infectious and players will start to play up to their potential. If the Cavs are to win this series, it's going to take everyone contributing at a high level, not just LeBron showing how much he can score.

Win the 3-Point Game

This is easier said than done against Golden State, but they held them to 37% for the game including 33% by the splash brothers. The problem is that they only shot 29% themselves. LeBron went 25% shooting 2-8 as did Kyrie. Smith was 3-10 and Jones went 0-1. Maybe we should let Shumpert shoot more, who went 2-4. Delly didn't take a shot. Miller can help with that as well if he plays.

Let's not let Steph Curry shoot it from the corner. He's shooting better from the corner 3 than most NBA players are from the free throw line. With Mozgov and Thompson at the rim, let's take a chance with him shooting a jumper in the lane than one of his corner 3's. The game really has changed.

Take Away the Positives

There were some positives to take away from this game amongst all the negatives. I don't think they outweigh the negatives, but they're things to build on. First of all, on the road, Cleveland had two chances to win the game. We came up just short, but having ourselves in that situation, especially considering how poorly we played in the 4th quarter, is a good thing.

Another thing has already been mentioned: the splash brothers were held to lower production than their averages. So was Draymond Green. I was worried about the match-up with Green and Thompson, but Tristan played him well.

I like to look at the bad things we my team did as an opportunity to improve. So while they were negatives during the game, they're positives going forward. For example, if you lose by 8 points but shoot 20% from the field. That's a great thing because if you can manage to shoot a decent percentage like 30%, that means if you shoot 90 shots like both teams did, you'll make about 9 more shots or 18 more points. Free throws were about even, but the Cavs shot 68% compared to Golden State's 91%. If the Cavs had made just a couple more free throws or if Golden State misses a couple, Cleveland probably gets out of there with a win.


There are a lot of things that need to bounce Cleveland's way, so I don't think they're necessarily out of it. The whole world will jump back on board if the Cavs win game 2 and show they can compete. If they don't win on Sunday, I think Golden State will take it in 5 or 6. Don't lose hope, Cavs fans! You always have a chance when you have the best player in the world.