EnySpree wrote:Have you ever seen anything like what took place today? Never seen a team completely revamp itself like that. Incredible
Cavs helped themselves, somewhat, short term. Long term, they really hurt themselves.
Short term - They got younger, they got more length, they helped their long range shooting, they got more athletic
Long term - George Hill was, at best, just a shade under replacement level at the end in Indiana. He had a nice comeback with Utah, but he's owed 20 million for the next two seasons. Add in Tristan Thompson and that's going to get ugly for several years. Clarkson is a chucker. He also has a negative reputation of liking the celebrity athlete lifestyle a little too much. Hood is going to walk, he helps their shooting a ton, he's not that great a defender. Nance Jr gives them length and good defense/energy, the problem is he won't fit well on the floor with Thompson at the same time and he's a true power forward. The Cavs didn't need another PF, they need rim protection. And more wing defense.
While Crowder did not play well for them, he was one of the best wing contracts in the league. They also needed more of his defense, no subtracting it. The big man rotation is still a problem. Thompson is an energy guy who can't defend the rim/space the floor who gave up on energy to bang a Kardashian. Love is hurt and it's unclear what he will give and both have been roasted by the Warriors in the past. On a macro level, the Cavs traded Kyrie Irving and a first round pick for not all that much. They also cleared space for the Lakers to take LBJ from them in the offseason.
From a playoff standpoint, much is said about "team chemistry" but here is the troubling issue. With major roster turnover, those teams tend not to execute well with 5 seconds or less on the shot clock in the playoffs. This is where veteran teams like the Spurs shine in the playoffs. Having the rapport and time in with the team's core to execute well when the game changes. Playoff games require more ball security. More focus on maximizing each possession. Shorter rotations. Looking for matchup exploits.
The Cavs gave up a lot. It looks like they made huge moves to help themselves on paper, but they gave up assets for short term help that won't move the needle against the Warriors.
LBJ is no genius. He can't actually play real team basketball. It's why he needs to be surrounded by shooters instead of an actual free flowing offense. These moves are not as great as they might appear on the surface level. However these pundits in the media work for corporations and those corporations have a relationship to the networks and those networks want to make Nike happy, so more soft serve "LBJ is so awesome" narratives.
He's an idiot. If he was so smart, the Cavs wouldn't need to trade half their team to start.
