The Cavaliers are in the midst of another swoon during the 2017-18 season. After a rough 5-7 start, they rallied to win 19 of 21 games at one point and everything seemed to be back on track.
Ever since Christmas Day, and especially since the return of Isaiah Thomas, the Cavaliers have been struggling mightily yet again as losers of eight of their past 10 games.
They are clearly struggling to figure out how to incorporate Thomas on the offensive end and figure out their rotations. They have been absolutely atrocious defensively, as Thomas with his stature and effort level defensively at times, is one of the worst defensive point guards in the NBA. Not so great for an aging team already struggling to defend.
Apparently for what feels like the first time in the second LeBron era in Cleveland, there are some murmurs around the team that they think their issues are too great to overcome and seriously compete for a title in 2018.
Here is an excerpt from Dave McMenamin’s piece on ESPN:
“Following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 118-108 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday, multiple players acknowledged growing discontent and a strong sense of concern that unlike past seasons, the team does not have the capability to fix its problems and get back on a championship track.
Several prominent players, speaking on condition of anonymity to ESPN, Cleveland.com and The Athletic, expressed doubt that the problems — an aging roster, defensively challenged personnel and a glut of redundant role players — could simply be worked out through patience and a chance to coalesce when fully healthy.”
The Cavaliers are currently 29th in defensive efficiency, no team in NBA history has ever even made the playoffs being ranked that low, let alone the NBA Finals.
The Cavaliers do have one valuable trade chip should they choose to go all in what could be LeBron’s last year and use it: LeBron’s pick.
They may need to use it to try and pry a couple springy young defenders from a team in the midst of a rebuild or retooling.
Maybe a deal with Atlanta involving a Kent Bazemore?
Either way, they still have a few months to try and figure everything out and make their fourth straight NBA Finals.
