Official Offseason News and Rumors

[WiggyRuss]

Expectations for the Cavs should definitely be tempered at this point. Rarely does a new core of players mesh well enough to contend in their first year together. There is complete uncertainty about how every player on that Cavs rosters (except LeBron) will perform in the postseason. There are a number of teams I would put ahead of the Cavs on my list of 2015 title contenders.


All that said, I do think that saying it will take them several years to contend is going a bit too far. Certainly possible, but not unreasonable to conclude otherwise.

The East is wide-open at the moment... I can see any of 6-7 teams, including the Cavs, coming out of the East. I certainly don't think its unreasonable to count the Cavs near or at the top of the list of eastern teams most likely to get to the Finals.

dude,

the first year together with their big 3 the celtics won it all

the first year together with the heats big 3 they got to the finals

-the only team that even has a prayer against the Cavs in a 7 game series is the Bulls- and that assumes Rose is fully healthy after not playing the last 2 years-

Cavs win 61 and go to the Finals year 1

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

LMFAO...I have not been to Ohio in over a decade.

Has it completely bottomed out and become the armpit of America?

Despite it being Embiid's first visit to Philadelphia, the organization did not formally introduce him to the city or Sixers' fans, but the 7-foot center posted plenty of tweets reflecting his stay in the City of Brotherly Love. "I wasn't expecting the city to be like that," Embiid said of his visit. "I was expecting it to be like Cleveland or Milwaukee, but it was way better. I got my first cheesesteak. I was visiting and it was great." Yahoo! Sports

That should get him the "Kiki Vandeweghe" treatment.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Durant won 20 games in his 1st year, and 23 games in his 2nd year.

Kyrie is coming into his 4th year, which is right around when most stars finally start to become the player they will be.

Great players take 3to4 years to hit their stride. Look at Kobe, Pippen, Durant, anyone other than LeBron. (And maybe magic and Duncan but they came into awesome situations)

thank you!!!

people act like Kyrie is not going to vastly get better-----CP3, Durant and LeBron in each of their first two years made ZERO combined playoff appearances- ZERO.....

the Cavs in my mind played it PERFECTLY - because however they finished- they ended up getting the #1pick- which will either give them wiggins- or net them Love....

if you were Dan Gilbert you literally could not have wrote this script better for the CAvs.....now they ar ready to roll


especially once MArion and Allen sign their vet. min. deals

 

[Andresrenee]

Expectations for the Cavs should definitely be tempered at this point. Rarely does a new core of players mesh well enough to contend in their first year together. There is complete uncertainty about how every player on that Cavs rosters (except LeBron) will perform in the postseason. There are a number of teams I would put ahead of the Cavs on my list of 2015 title contenders.


All that said, I do think that saying it will take them several years to contend is going a bit too far. Certainly possible, but not unreasonable to conclude otherwise.

The East is wide-open at the moment... I can see any of 6-7 teams, including the Cavs, coming out of the East. I certainly don't think its unreasonable to count the Cavs near or at the top of the list of eastern teams most likely to get to the Finals.

No...too easy of a cop out. If the great Lebron James gets two All-Stars then THEY SHOULD win. Why is everyone letting the pressure be taken off? He also has copied Riley's blue print and gone after 3 point shooters...all of which have played in a Riley system. So hell no, their expectations should not be lowered. This team should be the favorite and they should feel that pressure. Why is everyone cutting them a break!!! If they don't win, it should now be another EPIC Failure especially in the weak EAST!

 

[Andresrenee]

Well done, Scalabrine, well done.

[MEDIA=twitter]496388281555492865[/MEDIA]

Funny...people seeing through the BS and the silliness of it all. His PR people did not want LBJ to talk because it would have come off poorly, like... I had to correct the mistake at the lake and sow my royal oates......

 

[trojanfan12]

In case anyone didn't follow to the actual article. It's pretty darn good.


EXCLUSIVE: "I'm coming home" by Brian Scalabrine | Comcast SportsNet - CSNNE.com

 

[Hambombs]

thank you!!!

people act like Kyrie is not going to vastly get better-----CP3, Durant and LeBron in each of their first two years made ZERO combined playoff appearances- ZERO.....

the Cavs in my mind played it PERFECTLY - because however they finished- they ended up getting the #1pick- which will either give them wiggins- or net them Love....

if you were Dan Gilbert you literally could not have wrote this script better for the CAvs.....now they ar ready to roll


especially once MArion and Allen sign their vet. min. deals

Doesn't change the fact that irving is very overrated and you will win 56-57 I don't see 61. A potential great offense yes. But an average defense IMO

 

[WiggyRuss]

Doesn't change the fact that irving is very overrated and you will win 56-57 I don't see 61. A potential great offense yes. But an average defense IMO

as i have said before- I saw a Cavs team not nearly as talented win 66 games. 61 is in the bag

 

[bksballer89]

as i have said before- I saw a Cavs team not nearly as talented win 66 games. 61 is in the bag

That's irrelevant to the upcoming NBA season. All you need to know about that year is that only 4 other teams in the East finished over .500

Stop bringing up irrelevant stuff from 6 years ago.

 

[Hambombs]

as i have said before- I saw a Cavs team not nearly as talented win 66 games. 61 is in the bag

It's not in the bag.. That team was one of the best defensive teams in the league. Unlike this one

 

[bksballer89]

Also that year the West only had 9 teams with a winning record with the other 6 teams finishing with 29 wins or fewer including 2 finishing under 20 wins. Compare that to last season when only 3 teams in the West finished with under 29 wins and I can easily see the Lakers/Kings winning 33-36 teams.

The league as a whole is just better than it was 6 years ago when they won 66 games

 

[Hambombs]

as i have said before- I saw a Cavs team not nearly as talented win 66 games. 61 is in the bag

Also that year the West only had 9 teams with a winning record with the other 6 teams finishing with 29 wins or fewer including 2 finishing under 20 wins. Compare that to last season when only 3 teams in the West finished with under 29 wins and I can easily see the Lakers/Kings winning 33-36 teams.

The league as a whole is just better than it was 6 years ago when they won 66 games

Yup

 

[WiggyRuss]

That's irrelevant to the upcoming NBA season. All you need to know about that year is that only 4 other teams in the East finished over .500

Stop bringing up irrelevant stuff from 6 years ago.

i dont see how its irrelvant to comment that the last 2 seasons Lebron was in Cleveland that during the regular season- which is what we are talking about, the team won 66 and 61 games- with a team that was substantially less talented.

especially seeing LeBron lose some weight- it would seem to me that he looks extremely motivated to go at it from start to finish, and has the youth and athletes around him so he wont be worn down on a nightly basis doing all the dirty work himself.

Varejao and Thompson will both crash the boards so LeBron does not have to lead the team
Kyrie and Waiters can make plays with the ball so LeBron does not have to freak out and take the ball from Mario Chalmers when he pisses down his leg
and when Love drills three's on the perimeter instead of staying out there and being afraid of contact- he will go down there and board and get dirty unlike bosh of the clipped testicles

put in a couple eager to please rooks like Powell and Harris and a super-scrapper like Delledova....

and leBron has all the ancillary tools he needs to once again become the guy that makes those crazy chase downs, and jumps passing lanes, and generally has fun instead of wondering if he is gonna get any help that night and if the batman to his robin is gonna sit out with a sore pussy

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

That 2009 66 win Cavs team had some of the best defenders in a long while....a bunch of them
They were a very smothering defense. Everyone could play defense on that team.


I think they were 1st overall in defense with an extremely deep bunch of individual defenders.
This current version looks like a "defense optional" bunch.


Irving and Love might be the two of the worst in the league at their positions.

 

[bksballer89]

The league is better.....Much better at that.

When there are 6 teams under 30 wins out west you know it was a bad year.

The East had 7 teams over .500 last season (only 5 in 2009) and should've had 8 if Horford didn't get hurt and this year they should have 9-10 teams over .500

11 of the 15 teams out West last year had 36+ wins with only 3 of them finishing below 30 wins.

It is quite obvious the league has improved drastically from 2008-2009

 

[Hambombs]

That 2009 66 win Cavs team had some of the best defenders in a long while....a bunch of them
They were a very smothering defense. Everyone could play defense on that team.


I think they were 1st overall in defense with an extremely deep bunch of individual defenders.
This current version looks like a "defense optional" bunch.


Irving and Love might be the two of the worst in the league at their positions.

Irving is harden esque I agree. But loves defense isn't that bad if you actually watch him on league pass. But cavs are average on defense on paper. The cavs defense back then was #1 btw

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

That's irrelevant to the upcoming NBA season. All you need to know about that year is that only 4 other teams in the East finished over .500

Stop bringing up irrelevant stuff from 6 years ago.

Lebron didn't hit 60 with the prime Heatles.

The Heat nor the Pacers sniffed 60 last Season and the gap has closed significantly between the top 2 teams in the East and the next 3-4 teams.

Way too much parity this Season.

 

[bksballer89]

They won 66 in 2013 but that version of Wade is better than what Kyrie will be this year and they also were a very good defensive team that year

 

[WiggyRuss]

That 2009 66 win Cavs team had some of the best defenders in a long while....a bunch of them
They were a very smothering defense. Everyone could play defense on that team.


I think they were 1st overall in defense with an extremely deep bunch of individual defenders.
This current version looks like a "defense optional" bunch.


Irving and Love might be the two of the worst in the league at their positions.

the guys with the most minutes on that team in order

LeBron 37mpg
Mo 35 mpg
Delonte i banked your mom West 33 mpg
Varejao 29
Z 27
Boobie Gibson 24
Big Ben 24
Wally World 21
Sasha the human charge pavlovlic 16
hickson 11

THAT TEAM won 66 freaking games ...yah....lol.....thats LeBron trying all 82...well, he sat out game 82 when the cavs lost the last game at home in OT to lose only 3 games at home al lyear

 

[bksballer89]

Also this is their first year together. This is basically a new team with the exception of Kyrie, Waiters, Varejao, & Thompson.

There will be some growing pains