Let’s be honest, once the news broke that LeBron James would return to Cleveland, high expectations were set. Why wouldn’t they be sky high when players like Kevin Love, Mike Miller and Shawn Marion are acquired? On paper – in addition to Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao and LeBron James – that roster looks intense. However, let’s keep things in perspective. With this new roster, only three members of this Cleveland Cavaliers team have been to the playoffs and are familiar with that road. I don’t have the heart to count the ’06/’07 Cavs, which included Varejao. Then-coach Mike Brown led the 50-and-32 Cavs to the championship against the San Antonio Spurs. It was a painfully embarassing sweep with the Spurs winning four straight games. What I am getting at is the fact that people tend to forget that this team is rebuilding and will continue to do so until they find their dream team.
Speaking of rebuilding, it was recently announced that J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert will be rocking the wine and gold. In a three-team trade, the Cavs sent Dion Waiters to Oklahoma City Thunder. This trade raised many questions. The Cavs decided to trade away one shooting guard for two shooting guards who average close to about 10 points per game, which is also Waiters’ average. This one had me scratching my head and checking ESPN every five seconds. I kept saying, “it can’t be true! It doesn’t make any sense!” I guess the Cavs front office thinks otherwise. J.R. Smith made his debut Wednesday as a Cavalier against the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, it was pretty pathetic going 0-for-5 from the field, one rebound, 0 assists and three personal fouls in 18 minutes off the bench. Iman Shumpert’s debut? Well, he’s still injured so he watched from the bench. Only time will tell, which guard will help make the difference for the Cavs and which will be possible trade bait for the future. Yet again, even this situation boils down to attempting to find the right pieces for this team.
A huge missing piece to this puzzle is Anderson Varejao who suffered a torn Achilles tendon on December 23rd, ending his season. Management expects PF Tristan Thompson, who averages 9.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game, to fill that void. The Cavs are currently weak off the glass and struggling defensively. Varejao averaged 9.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, but Thompson just doesn’t have the same presence as Varejao. Enter Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov, who the Cavs acquired on Wednesday.
Mozgov averages 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. I like this, I like another big body in the post. He’s someone to make other teams think twice about driving inside and force them to take shots they may not normally. The Cavs need that going into the rest of the season.
The 2014-2015 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers is about finding chemistry and rebuilding. I wasn’t one of those people who expected a championship. I was more realistic. I thought, wow, this is a solid place to start fresh for this organization. And that is what this is, a start. There are going to be growing pains, there are going to be terrible losses and frustrating defeats, but it’s the process of a franchise rebuilding.
LeBron’s honesty in his Sports Illutrated announcement was true. He said it best when he said,”I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way.”
LeBron’s honesty in his Sports Illutrated announcement was true. He said it best when he said,”I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way.”
When the Cavs are ready, the city will be ready and our patience and dedication will have been worth it.
Let’s go wine and gold!
The post The Cleveland Cavaliers: Attempting To Build Their Dream Team appeared first on Sideline Pass.