CLEVELAND: It’s only one week into the season and already LeBron James has been the de facto point guard and center. He’s more versatile than Andrew Miller and he’s dominant even without a slider. As the Cavaliers begin their title quest, here is what we know and what we don’t know about the 2016-17 season.
What we know: This team is better than the team that won the championship. At least they think so. Matthew Dellavedova is a big loss, but he’s the only key player they lost. Mike Dunleavy is a better 3-point shooter than Delly, but the Cavs will miss his defensive tenacity and (perhaps overlooked) the lumber he would bring to practice. Kyrie Irving has often talked about he and Dellavedova would get into it sometimes at practice. Without Delly, Cavs practices might lose their edge. But this is still a better team because they have stability and comfort after spending a year together last year and they’re healthy. “Shump and Ky [Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving] missed the first 30 games [last] season,” said Richard Jefferson, who was emphatic in his belief that this team is better. “Overall with the health to start the season, and the additions that we have … we won 57 games last year with two key guys missing 60 games [combined].”
What we don’t know: Who is the backup point guard? It’s a key concern and really the only one this team has. Iman Shumpert is not a point guard and Kay Felder might not be ready. They don’t need much out of the position. If Irving averages 35 minutes a night, they only need someone to fill in for 10-13 minutes since James can also handle the load. In fact, come the postseason, James is probably the backup point guard, anyway. But you don’t want to play 82 games that way. The Cavs have a $9.6 million trade exception to use on a point guard. Some names that fit into it: Jerryd Bayless, Jose Calderon, Patrick Beverley and Ramon Sessions.
What we know: The Cavs basically chose to keep J.R. Smith over Dellavedova. They had the money to keep one and chose the 31-year-old sharpshooter over the 26-year-old Delly. It’s clear Smith was exactly what they need right now and a perfect fit for this offense. It was the right move for a team trying to win now, but it will be interesting to see how these contracts look three years from now.
What we don’t know: If James can reclaim his Most Valuable Player award, but this seems to be the year to do it. James’ historic NBA Finals performance will certainly earn him a few votes this season, when Steph Curry and Kevin Durant likely cannibalize each other. Russell Westbrook has a clear path to the award now if the Thunder win enough. The same is true of Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard. But James proved again in the Finals he remains the most dominant player in the game today. His last MVP award was 2013. James will be 32 next spring. Only four players in history have won an MVP at age 32 or later: Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Steve Nash and Karl Malone. Jordan is the only player to win multiple awards with a gap of more than three seasons in between, so history isn’t exactly on LeBron’s side. But that talent certainly is.
What we know: For the first time in years, there is stability within the organization. All of the key pieces are under contract for the foreseeable future, Tyronn Lue proved himself with last season’s championship and General Manager David Griffin’s job is safe. Remember: The Cavs haven’t had a coach last even two full seasons since Byron Scott coached three seasons from 2010-13. Lue should break that trend.
What we don’t know: Whether this team will repeat. That’s what the next eight months are for. Enjoy the ride.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.