The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Golden State Warriors, 129-120, in Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals to lose the series four games to one.
Kevin Durant showed why his addition was the difference in this rivalry and the series exposed some of Cleveland’s roster flaws.
Rather than get into too deep of specifics or jump on the ESPN Trade Machine and play fantasy GM, let’s just take a look at what this series revealed about Cleveland’s roster makeup.
Too Many One-Way Players
Whether it’s Channing Frye, Kevin Love, Deron Williams or Kyle Korver, Cleveland’s roster featured several players who were below average on the defensive end.
Trying to match up with Golden State’s offense, unless those guys were going to provide a significant boost on offense, why would any of them be expected to provide more positive contribution than negative, particularly in this matchup against the Warriors’ personnel?
Sure, guys like Frye and Korver can make a big impact in Eastern Conference Playoff rounds, but the Cavs could breeze through the East without either of them on the roster.
The sole focus at this point for the foreseeable future has to be building a roster that can counter Golden State’s on both ends of the floor.
Frye is currently under contract for one more season and will make $7.4 million in 2017-18.
If you mean to tell me the Cavs can’t find role players who match up better against Golden State for $8 million worth of salary than what Frye provided (11 minutes in 5 games – four DNPs), something isn’t adding up.
Korver had an underwhelming 2017 in Cleveland and although he had his moments, the free-agent is not trending upwards and Cleveland would be better suited to add an athletic defender who can at least keep up with Golden State’s speed.
Williams was a complete bust after signing with Cavs in March. Was this just a case of expecting guys past their primes to produce at a higher level because of being surrounded by LeBron and Kyrie? The Cavs had that happen with other role players in the past, but it can’t turn up roses every time you hope for a low-risk/high reward acquisition to work out perfectly.
The Cavs were behind the eight ball at the backup point guard spot due to the Mo Williams drama that played out in the summer of 2016, but there’s no excuse this offseason to not do a better job to sure up that position heading into 2017-18.
Whether it’s via trade or free-agency, Irving and LeBron need someone who can make a positive impact when they’re off the floor, whether it’s regular season or brief spurts in the Playoffs. So many times we saw Cleveland’s leads disappear when LeBron and/or Kyrie came off the floor. That wasn’t really the case with their opposition because guys like Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala (among others) kept the ship above water when they were relied upon to give the stars a breather.
From an injury standpoint, it was far from an ideal situation for Cavs GM David Griffin and company to piece together a bench, but there are quite a few spots that will need addressed.
No More Wasted Roster Spots
We’re looking at you Frye, Dahntay Jones, James Jones and possibly a couple other guys.
First and foremost, the (relatively) old guys who can’t contribute on the court against Golden State need to go.
As much as we love Dahntay and Champ, the Cavs can’t afford to go into a battle with a talented roster like Golden State without having contributors at every spot on the bench.
The core of this Cavs team is made up of veterans who have been to three straight championships. I can’t see any argument to why “veteran wisdom” would outweigh the need for tangible contributions on the floor going forward.
One guy whose future in Cleveland is going to have to be examined is Kay Felder. He has tons of upside, but how far away is that upside from making a difference in winning a championship? Is it next year? The year after?
If the answer is no, then what are we doing here? Cleveland’s window is now. LeBron is not getting any younger. If the Cavs can move Felder for a piece that allows them to maximize that window, it’s going to need to be considered.
The Non-All-Star Core
Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith showed up in the final two games of the series, but their rough starts to the series cannot be ignored. Thompson and Smith both proved they have roles to play in the matchup with Golden State, but if acquiring another All-Star means parting with one or two of them, the Cavs will have to take a long, hard look at it.
As for Iman Shumpert, he may have some trade value, as he’s young and still in the prime of his career. However, he’s also one of the few guys on this roster who matches up well with Golden State on defense.
It wasn’t a great series for Shumpert, but he may still prove to be a valuable piece in this chess match, in which it’s not easy to find young, athletic defenders to keep up with the Warriors’ wings.
Richard Jefferson continues to look like a guy who discovered the fountain of youth. His energy and hustle in the last three games of the series played a big factor and assuming he doesn’t retire, it appears RJ will still have a meaningful part to play in this rivalry going forward.
A couple guys who could make a big impact next season are Derrick Williams and Edy Tavares. Tavares missed out due to injury and Williams didn’t really get a chance to shine, but both of these guys figure to see much more playing time in 2017-18 and perhaps could jell into the rotation for next year’s Finals.
Tavares is signed for next season and Williams should not be hard to re-sign this summer should the Cavs choose to retain him. Williams won’t have a ton of teams knocking on his door in contract talks and he’ll have the chance to contend for a championship.
Both players appear to be trending upwards on a bench that had mostly players heading the other direction in 2017.
Even if the Cavs don’t make a trade, Korver, Deron Williams, Dahntay Jones and James Jones are all free-agents (along with Derrick Williams). It’s safe to say this bench will look drastically different a few months from now, even if there are no big trades moving members of Cleveland’s core.
The Question of Love
Any way you project it, it’s difficult to see how the Cavs can add a star-caliber player without trading Love. It’s not that he’s a bad player. It’s the exact opposite. It’s because he’s so good that he can get you a star in return. Throw out a name of an All-Star the Cavs would trade for and I don’t see any way that team doesn’t ask for Love in the trade.
Love had a productive 2017 postseason and an All-Star 2016-17 campaign. But a couple things stood out most about why dealing him for a star is the right move.
First and foremost, he doesn’t match up well with Golden State. You can’t hide him on defense and he’s not able to create his own offense.
That problem of his lack of playmaking ability may have an even bigger impact on LeBron and Irving’s fatigue, both from the regular season and Playoffs.
These two ran out of gas in Game 5. During the regular season, they looked out of gas in March.
The fact that LeBron and Kyrie can’t spend a minute off the court without seeing the Cavs cave in is all the evidence you need to know that a significant boost is needed in that regard.
In my opinion, a solid backup point guard and a couple solid role players is not enough to make up for that. I’m of the belief it will take an All-Star who can create his own shot and run the offense in the absence of the two superstars.
Preferably, that player should be able to will his way to the basket, create his own shot and generally be a “go get me a basket” type of guy.
There are a bunch of names we can throw around, but we’ll have all summer to go over those guys.
Plain and simple: the Cavs were overmatched and every option will have to be examined this summer to bridge that gap.
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