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Why The Cavaliers Won’t Be A Sinking Ship Post LeBron
Kevin Love has signed a 4 year, $120 million contract extension with Cavaliers. He’s not going anywhere. After weeks of speculation that the Cavs would go full rebuild and trade their last star (sorry JR), Love has committed to the team, at a discount to not jeopardize future free agency and contract plans. He’s in for the long haul, and Cavs fans for rejoice. The aftermath of LeBron leaving won’t be as bad as last time, and here’s why.
Kevin Love
One man rarely makes a team, but more often than not that one man can have a profound effect on a team’s success. Kevin Love is a proven superstar, who sacrificed so many touches to Kyrie and LeBron to fit in and do what is best for his team. Let’s not forget, in a lottery bound Minnesota team he put up 26.1 points and 12.5 boards in 2013-2014, and 26.0 and 13.3 2011-2012. This man can flat out ball, as a spot up shooter, post scorer, elbow facilitator, you name it. He will thrive being back as an alpha dog, and he has a better supporting cast than he did in his Minnesota days.
The Supporting Cast
The team around Love, is infinitely better than the team that was left behind last time LeBron jumped ship. At every position there is potential. Amongst the guards, George Hill is solid, if unspectacular. Jordan Clarkson is an improving scorer, Collin Sexton showing great glimpses in the Summer League. Even JR Smith will serve as a handy streaky scorer off the bench. On the wing, Rodney Hood (who the Cavs intent to keep on the roster) still hasn’t hit his ceiling yet, Kyle Korver is still an elite shooter and Cedi Osman, like Sexton, has shown great promise in the pre-season. Tristan Thompson looks to have the starting center for now, however the Cavaliers love Larry Nance Jr, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Lue opts to run Love as the 5, with Nance at the 4. Even Ante Zizic as a depth big has shown some promise last year, posting a 20 point 10 board per 36 stat line. This roster is far from broken, and sure a lot depends on the improvement and impact of the young players, like Sexton, Osman, Clarkson and Nance. But don’t count them out just yet.
The East
The NBA’s weaker half proves incredibly helpful in the Cavaliers aspiration to remain a playoff team. With LeBron, the Cavs finished 4th behind the Raptors, Celtics and 76ers. There’s no reason to argue that that top 3 won’t remain intact, albeit in a different order. 5th through 8th consisted of the Pacers, Heat, Bucks and Wizards. Of those 4, only the Pacers through offseason additions, and the Bucks through internal improvement, are locks to climb a bit. That leaves the Cavaliers realistically fighting for a 6-8 seed. The Wizards nabbed Dwight Howard, notorious locker room cancer, and floor clogger supreme. The Heat need a lot out of their young players to improve, given no offseason acquisitions. The teams who didn’t make the playoffs last year, Pistons have major floor spacing issues, Hornets are a largely unchanged roster, Knicks have Kevin Knox but he is raw, and Kristpas Porzingis looks to miss a large amount of time still with his ACL. Being in the East is a blessing for Love and his Cavaliers. A tumble down is inevitable. All the way to the lottery though? Not a chance.
Through the superstar that is Kevin Love, a solid and improving young roster, and the famously weak Eastern Conference, all the media speculation of a lottery finish for Cleveland is baffling. They are more than capable of nabbing a bottom half seed, and with some of the wily veterans they have, could potentially be a team that people don’t want to face come playoff time.
