Forever a Bridesmaid? Cavaliers Whiff on the Bouquet in Another Bad Offseason

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With James, the Cavaliers will be a perennial playoff contender. Without help, they’ll be a perennial disappointment.

James is constantly compared to Michael Jordan. But Jordan had a slew of contributors with defined roles. Though Scotty Pippen was one of the NBA’s top 50 players—at least in the eyes of the voters, it was guys like Steve Kerr, Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc, John Paxson, and Luc Longley that helped the team sustain success.

Apart from Rodman, none of those players offer any threat to take up space with a plaque bearing their name in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

But role players need a role, not just minutes or shots.

Each one had a defined role, and fulfilled every aspect of that role to a necessary extent.

Not every king needs a prince, but every successful government needs dukes and lords, or at least their modern equivalent.

Granted, the business model of the pre-lockout Bulls dynasty was quite impossible in today’s NBA, but that seems like all the more reason to pick players with an actual position, with a tangible ability to contribute, not just a lot of potential to be very good.

Imagine if the Red Sox acquired Ryan Howard to play shortstop, simply because he’s a better offensive player than the team’s other shortstops.

Imagine if the Bears decided that they’d convert a cornerback into a wide receiver to give them an explosive offensive threat—whoops, sorry Devin Hester. Hello mediocrity.

At least the team found a player with a position in the second-round. Danny Green is a small forward and won’t be mistaken for anything else.

But therein lies the problem: What position is James? Is he a shooting guard or small forward?

The team mixes and matches James wherever it is convenient. It isn’t atypical for a team to ask a player, even their star player, to man a different position for a stretch of a game, or perhaps a few games during a season. But James has played different positions for full seasons at a time.

Take a look at the last two NBA champions.

The Celtics threw together a team of All-Stars, but those All-Stars: Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, all have a position of their own. Both Pierce and Garnett were asked to play multiple positions early in their careers with limited team success.

In Los Angeles the structure is the same, essentially. The team could use improvement at the point guard position for the long term, but roles are defined from top to bottom in the starting lineup.

Maybe O'Neal's $20 million coming off the cap will bring Robin, or Pippen, or whoever you want to call him to Cleveland after next season, one of the most anticipated offseasons in NBA history.

The team has only $35 million committed in that offseason to present players. But is this front office really equipped to make the right decision when the time comes?

Greatness is a terrific spectacle, but even the greatest need facilitators to achieve elite success.

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