The Cleveland Cavaliers came out short once again as far as snagging the coveted NBA title though their rebound overall season is already a milestone in itself.
Even with Lebron James back in Cleveland, it would have been amazing if the Cavaliers had won the NBA title on the first year of the team’s new and revamped look. The manpower may be there as well as a new and well-regarded head coach but the fact remains that the Cavs were not as organized and fine-tuned if you compare them to the Golden State Warriors.
Aside from James, the Cavs did have a star-studded lineup. They had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in tow as well as the late acquisition of Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. Despite all that, it has been once again proven that talent alone does not win games.
Of course there is that dreaded injury bug who bit hard on the Cavs. Kevin Love was lost during the first round of the NBA playoffs and then Kyrie Irving followed during game 1 of the NBA Finals. With both players helplessly in the sidelines, James was left by his lonesome to hold fort while hoping that someone from the bench would step up and help.
Mozgov did that as can be seen in game 4 and 6 but unfortunately, coach Blatt’s strategy of sitting him in favour of a smaller lineup rendered him to the bench.
The only bright spot was Lebron James who had a monster series, reaching a point wherein people were debating if he should be the Finals MVP.
With that chapter over and done with, the best thing to do right now is look ahead. Recall that even when James left the Cavs and joined the Miami Heat in the 2010-11 season, the Heat rose but fell short to the Dallas Mavericks that year.
They did return the following season (2011-2012) and won it all and repeated as well on (2012-2013).
Could the Cavs take a cue from that?
The first thing that the Cavs must do is to re-check their roster. Kevin Love and Lebron James can opt out though both are most likely to return and try to rebound from the past season.
Love is being linked to various teams right now but he has said before that he is sticking it out in Ohio.
For James, the chance of him leaving is highly unlikely. Despite the disappointment, the challenge for him right now is to deliver an NBA title to his hometown.
Meanwhile, Mozgov has proven his worth and is someone that the Cavs should bring back. The Cavs will have a slew of restricted free agents to deal with soon (Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Delladedova) while J.R. Smith has a player option. Each had his shining moment but Mozgov definitely showed his worth.
But before anything is to be made by the Cavs, there is the matter of looking at their salary cap. While the Cavs don’t mind spending to get a championship, the point is that management will need to tinker around with their budget and make sure they are getting the right player/s at the right price.
Looking on to the next NBA season, it seems obvious that the Cavs will still be up there. When healthy they are a deadly team to face and hopefully with the right players in tow, that NBA title dream is still within reach and may probably be theirs as early as the next season.
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