LeBron James: I'm coming back to Cleveland (OFFICIAL)

[cavsfan2]

Quote: Originally Posted by The 24th Letter

I just wonder how long he can stay reletively injury free.... besides his annual sprained ankle or playoff cramps, lol

Well if they trade Wiggins and force Lebron to guard the other teams best player the whole game that inevitability will come a lot sooner.

Lets project how many PPG guys on the Cavs will score this upcoming season. For the sake of argument, I'll make these projections on the conservative side.
Lebron: 24 ppg, Kyrie: 18 ppg, Waiters: 14 ppg, Wiggins 9 ppg, Tristan 9 ppg, Varejao: 6 ppg, Bennett 6 ppg, Dellevedova 5 ppg, Miller 4 ppg

That comes out to 95 points per game, but lets remember that this is slightly low balling players considering that these projections have everyone with lower ppg than they scored last year with the exception of Bennett, who will be better and Dellevedova who will have a bigger role this year. Also, this only accounts for the first nine players on the roster, it doesnt include what minor contributions the 10-12 guys on the bench might provide.

My point here is that the Cavs will be fine on offense. People will say that since Lebron is back there wont be the same amount of shots for everyone else, but the fact is Lebron will improve their efficiency while being extremely efficient himself.

As for spot up shooting, the Cavs guards are actually pretty good at that. Wiggins for all his offensive flaws is actually a pretty good spot up shooter.
Via Synergy Sports
Wiggins shooting good.PNG
His weakness is mid range and shooting off the dribble, which wont be a huge problem while he's playing with Lebron.

Dion Waiters shot 41.6% from deep while catching and shooting, which is better than 73 percent of the league.

Kyrie was bad last year at spot up shooting, but in his rookie year he shot 47 percent in those situations from deep. Why did those number drop off? My guess is because in his rookie year he played off the ball more and he prepared more for that role. When he became the main ball handler, he probably didnt focus so much on this aspect of his game. Now that hes gonna be off the ball more, I bet those number will go back up.

So once again, the Cavs as currently constructed will be good on offense. My main concern with this team is defense. Kyrie is a poor defender, Dion is a below average defender, Tristan is an ok defender but is not a shot blocker, and Varejao gets bullied by bigger players and is not a shot blocker. It doesnt get a whole lot better when you get to the bench with the exception of Dellavedova. Wiggins is a bright spot on this side of the ball because he can actually be a good defender right off the bat and he can relieve Lebron of the responsibility of guarding the other teams best player. This will result in less wear and tear on Lebron's body, which will mean a fresher Lebron come playoff time. Last year Lebron was clearly tired in the Finals, and he isnt getting any younger.

As for Kevin Love, I am not going to bash him. He is a great offensive player and rebounder. However, we cannot ignore his defensive flaws. For PFs and Cs in the NBA, Kevin Love ranked worse in opponent FG percentage at the rim with 57.4% out of players who give up more than 6 shots per game at the rim. Also, Love ranked 11th in the NBA in FGA at the rim with 9.1 per game. This essentially means he gives up alot of easy shots while not properly defending them. As for help defense, he does not have the length, lateral quickness, or the instincts to be an adequate help defender.

If you trade Wiggins Waiters, and Tristan for Love, not only will you lose alot of depth, but you will also create a really, really bad defensive team.

My point is, Love is a really good offensive player, but a poor defensive player. The Cavs are good on offense, but not really good at defense. Why would you trade one of your few good defenders for a good offensive player but a poor defender for a team in that situation? It only makes your flaws more severe while not affecting the offense nearly as much.

In my opinion, the Cavs should use some of their assets that isnt named Andrew Wiggins, Kyrie Irving, or Lebron James and look for a good defensive big.

EDIT: One more thing. The Cavs deoth chart at the center position currently consists of Anderson Varejao and Brandon Haywood, neither of whom have been healthy recently. Varejao will be injured by January as the trend has been the last three seasons. Thats another argument for going after a center who can play defense.

[jeebs9]

The way he scores.... lol.... What else does the man have to do? His catch and shoot game is the best it's ever been. His pull up jump has been just as good. He gets in the lane still and he still making the right pass. And he still going in the post up and taking guys out for lunch.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeebs9

The way he scores.... lol.... What else does the man have to do? His catch and shoot game is the best it's ever been. His pull up jump has been just as good. He gets in the lane still and he still making the right pass. And he still going in the post up and taking guys out for lunch.

Honestly he can still be a much better post player and a much better spot up shooter. He's got some room for growth skill-wise and much more room for growth with decision making in both situations.

And yes, I realize he's already very good in both situations (to the "black/white" posters out there, lol).

[jeebs9]

Very good is an understatement.... I'm pretty sure I saw a stat where he was like 10 or 20 in both categories. The only thing I can think that he could work on. Was free throws... At this point.. I think LeBron needs an offensive system around him that will truly use all his skills. Basically something like the Heat had. *With the ball moving around like it did*.

But I'm get what people are saying though. His numbers will hopefully stay about the same.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeebs9

Very good is an understatement.... I'm pretty sure I saw a stat where he was like 10 or 20 in both categories. The only thing I can think that he could work on. Was free throws... At this point.. I think LeBron needs an offensive system around him that will truly use all his skills. Basically something like the Heat had. *With the ball moving around like it did*. But I'm get what people are saying though. His numbers will hopefully stay about the same.

Stats can never be used as a direct correlation to decision making... especially rankings (which is basically grading on a curve). It doesn't matter how good he is compared to everyone else, it's how good he can be period. Since the discussion is about whether or not he's reached his peak and how he'll start to decline, this part is even more important.

[23]

Love Riley going on about LeBron though

Quote:

"After 45 years, I think I’ve been around at least 15 transcendent players that have walked out the door -- either left the team, retired, got traded, went somewhere else -- and you move on," the 69-year-old Heat president said in a measured but firm tone. "We were shocked, but we recovered."

Quote:

"There wasn't anything in that meeting that told me that wasn't going to happen," Riley said of the anticipated return by James. "I've moved on quickly from that, 'We are going to build another championship team and that's it.'

Quote:

''I went into it with the thought and the notion that he was coming back," Riley said, "and I was selling that to players, I believed that firmly, so I was selling that to players. And that's the only way I went into it. I let him know that. He never said to me, 'No, don't do that.' '' "I don't think I was misled. But I don't think I was encouraged either. That's business." Instead, there was silence. "I sent him a lot of emails and texts," Riley said. "I was communicating a lot with him. No response."

You know you should've listenend to fake eMo Williams

Quote:

“Could care less where he goes, man.” When I express incredulity he puts one hand on his heart, and the other hand shoots skyward like a flare. “Honest to God! I just know wherever he ends up, I’ll cross that team off my list.” And with that he finishes the last bit of his lunch and hurries back to the gym. There are children to teach, and Williams is a loyal helper.

Quote:

“Bron had me blinded man. He wins you over completely. He makes you feel like you’re his best friend. He’ll party with you, train with you, dance on the sideline with you… Look, growing up I was obsessed with the Thundercats. Bron found out and he had this artist make me a painting where it was me playing basketball, but I looked like Panthro. He would call me Panthro all the time, and I called him Lion-O. We used to joke about how Dwight (Howard, then their nemesis with the Orlando Magic) was Mumm-Ra.” I ask Williams where that painting is now, and he crumbles his napkin and tosses it over his shoulder, then shrugs. “I couldn’t get Bron to pick up my calls for a week after ‘The Decision,’ so finally I just sent him a text, I just said, Lion-O would never leave Panthro out in the cold. Two days later I get a text back that says I’m a basketball player and a businessman, not a Thundercat. But that’s how he is… That’s who he is. He makes you feel like a million bucks and then steps over you like a bad penny on his way out the door.” “A man lets you know who he is by how he treats others. D. Wade, Chris, Heat fans, they saw how Bron did me and the Cavs, so they shouldn’t expect no sympathy from no one. You invite a vampire into your house, you gonna get bit. Simple as that.”

[ojandpizza]

So should he not act like his teammates best friends, should he be a dick towards them? We've saw how that worked out with Kobe lol.

[King_B_Mack]

Honestly, I think LeBron has done a whole lot of growing in the last few years. There's probably some things that haven't changed with him just because that's who he is, but I think he's a better dude than he was before he got to Miami at this point.

Having said that, I don't think Riley is looking for any sympathy with this stuff, which is good, because he ain't getting any from anybody. We saw how LeBron did Cleveland and there was more than enough people stepping up to say how Cleveland needed to get over what he did to them before the ball even tipped off that season. Riley was the other woman that had no problem with the way he did what he did to his wife/gf when he was benefiting from it, so no crying foul about having it happen you.