The Cleveland Cavaliers won’t have LeBron James to save them this season from the Indiana Pacers.
When a team loses its best player, you expect that team to significantly regress in the win column. When said team loses the best player in the world for the second time in less than a decade, you’re looking at a potential dumpster fire. Still, even after losing LeBron James to the glitz and glam of Hollywood, all hope is not lost for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that knocked the Indiana Pacers out in the first round last season.
Their streak of four straight finals appearances will come to an end, sure, but it’s too early to throw away the 2019 season outright. If things don’t go well, Cleveland will be in a position to pick near the top of the NBA draft next summer.
However, there is a world where things go right and the Cavaliers sneak into the playoffs in a weak Eastern Conference. There’s a real possibility that enough teams flame out that the Cavs can net a low playoff seed.
Cleveland’s rotation projects to look like this:
PG: George Hill/Collin Sexton
SG: Rodney Hood/J.R. Smith/Jordan Clarkson
SF: Cedi Osman/Kyle Korver/David Nwaba
PF: Kevin Love/Sam Dekker
C: Tristan Thompson/Larry Nance Jr./Ante Zizic
For the first time since the 2013-14 season, Kevin Love will be the focal point of his team’s offense. During his last season in Minnesota, Love was an offensive force and a dangerous player, posting elite splits of 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 45.7% from the field and 37.6% from three. The Wolves ran their offense through Love, feeding him post-ups and generating open three-point looks.
When he joined LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, his new circumstances forced Love to evolve his game. He became more of a complimentary player to LeBron James, acting as a floor spacer and a rebounder primarily, along with a tertiary option on offense. Love lost weight and became more mobile to fill the role he was asked to fill. Over the last four seasons in Cleveland, Love averaged 17.1 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.1 assists shooting 43.3% from the field and 37.7% from three.
Playing alongside James allowed Love to play as an off-ball player quite often, using screens and cutting to the rim for easy finishes:
James’ gravity, especially in transition, routinely created open shots for Love, which he converted at a high success rate:
Love now lacks an elite playmaker to get him easy shots often. The Cavaliers don’t have anyone who I would consider an above average playmaker on the roster, personally. George Hill is probably their best passer (sans Love) and even he isn’t prolific in that department. Because of this, Love will have to create for himself more frequently than in the past few seasons. He will see his touches in the post increase, where he can do major damage with his strong right-handed hook and fade away:
Thaddeus Young should be able to handle Love down low due to his strength and competitiveness on the defensive end of the floor. We have seen him handle the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo adequately. He can get the job done on Love.
The x-factor on this Cavaliers roster is Collin Sexton, the eighth overall pick in the past NBA draft. The 6’1 point guard is an explosive athlete and a fierce competitor who projects to score well at the NBA level.
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Sexton attacks the basket relentlessly and displays a solid pull-up mid-range jump shot. He is tenacious as an on-ball defender but lacks in defensive IQ and as a team defender. “Young Bull” showed flashes of playmaking ability at Alabama but still has a long way to go before he is ready to reliably create for his teammates. He will certainly get his chance to star on a talent-deficient Cavs team without many guys who can get their own shot consistently.
Sexton and Aaron Holiday went blow for blow in the Summer League with both showing ability to beat the other on both sides of the floor. The matchup between the two exciting rookies will be one to watch when the Indiana Pacers and Cavaliers match up.
The Cavaliers’ roster is filled with role players that can’t really do much on their own without a guy like LeBron creating for them. Rodney Hood and Cedi Osman are two guys who potentially break that mold. Hood, although not present for much of the season in 2018, has the potential to be a potent scorer in the NBA due to his size and shooting ability.
A player I’m intrigued by is Cedi Osman. The Turkish scorer has amassed a large following of adorers on the internet for whatever reason. Despite his low usage, Osman has flashed real scoring potential. He could change the Cavalier entire outlook.
Working out of the pick and roll, Osman is comfortable with his pull-up jumper, a crucial skill for any NBA scorer:
Osman isn’t the most gifted athlete but uses craftiness to create openings for himself. A quick crossover gets him past Markieff Morris and he displays excellent touch with the scoop lefty finish over Marcin Gortat’s extended arm:
If Osman impresses early, he could see him thrust into a starting role sooner rather than later.
One main way the Indiana Pacers can exploit the Cavaliers on defense is to attack them in the pick and roll, specifically Kevin Love. On defense, Love has slow feet and poor instincts, leading to opposing teams picking on him in these actions.
Love looks unsure what he is supposed to be doing on this one. Iman Shumpert clearly wants to go over the screen but Love seems stuck in-between a weak hedge and a drop. Shumpert is attached to Harden but Love still stays attached to Harden anyway, completely neglecting Clint Capela and leading to a wide-open lob:
Love completely misses on the hedge here, allowing Harden to go right around him, opening up an easy dunk when Jeff Green has to rotate to stop Harden:
Kevin Love gets caught ball watching here and standing too far in the paint. Because of a bad James Harden pass, he actually gets a chance to close out well on Trevor Ariza but the effort here is horrible. Love then inexplicably fouls on the three, giving up an easy four-point play:
The Indiana Pacers can exploit Love with virtually any pick and roll pairing, ideally the Oladipo-Turner duo. Oladipo’s explosiveness and vision combined with Turner’s scoring ability could cause fits for Cleveland on defense.
The Cavaliers certainly have talent on their roster and are an intriguing unit. Still, there are way too many holes for me to consider this roster anywhere near a playoff team. The poor defense and lack of creators will make the Cavaliers a weak team this season. The Indiana Pacers should have no problem beating them a couple of times this season, which should feel great for fans after last seasons’ playoffs. It’ll be different this time.