Don't Be Surprised If Cleveland Cavaliers Start Season with Post-Finals Hangover

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers will open the 2016-17 season as champions of the NBA, which apparently does not preclude controversy.

Two bodies were noticeably absent at the Cavs' media day. One, J.R. Smith, is still trying to get contract numbers right with the team. His return for the regular season is expected.

But Mo Williams will not return at all. General manager David Griffin announced Monday that the 13-year veteran will retire less than a week after Williams declared just the opposite. As top-heavy as the Cavaliers remain with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, there's now a significant hole in the backcourt and overall team depth without Smith and Williams.

New additions Mike Dunleavy, Kay Felder and Chris Andersen will shoulder more work than they should to plug holes while head coach Tyronn Lue figures out his backcourt rotation.

The parade is over. The work begins again.

Miss the Swish

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Like Tristan Thompson a year ago, Smith is still in the process of working out a new deal with the Cavs. 

"Well, obviously we’re not where we want to be at from a personal standpoint," Smith told Adam Caparell of Complex Sports. "But it’s more than just numbers. I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of the Cavs for everything they’ve done for me, and I don’t want them to feel like I’m taking advantage of them. It’s more of a mutual respect thing."

This "mutual respect" has resulted in Smith skipping the Cavaliers' voluntary workouts in California, the only member of the team to do so. With training camp opening Tuesday, we may not see him until the start of the regular season, a la Thompson last year.

Smith figures to very much be in the Cavs' plans. His 11.5 playoff points per game on 43.0 percent shooting from deep were critical in Cleveland ending its 52-year title drought. He is respected in the locker room and remains an athletic defensive force despite having just turned 31 years old.

"We think very highly of J.R. We love him as a member of our team. As a member of our locker room, he was essential to our success, and for that reason we've made an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer to re-sign him. We hope that gets done in very short order," Griffin said.

Smith started in all 98 of his regular-season and postseason appearances for the Cavaliers last season. He proved to be the perfect sniper sandwiched between Irving and James.

"J.R. is probably the most liked guy on the team," James said confidently. "I'm not going to get into their contract issue or if there is an issue at all between both sides. I believe both sides will get it done. But we all know from you guys and us in the locker room. J.R.'s a huge piece of our team, and without him we don't win a championship.

"He brings a dimension to our team that we just don't have," James said. "Hopefully we can get it done sooner if possible."

Who Backs Up Kyrie?

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Williams' agent told Griffin, the morning of media day, that his client was retiring, leaving the Cavs with just one experienced point guard on the roster.

"Throughout the summer it was in debate what Mo was going to do," Griffin said. "So we were planning for this eventuality throughout. We feel comfortable at the point guard position, the versatility in our lineup to absorb that.

"We have other people that can guard the position. Because of LeBron, we have other people that can play the position offensively, and frankly, we're really excited about finding out what some of the young players on our roster can do."

Primary backup duties will now fall to rookie second-round pick Felder, who last year at this time was getting ready for his junior season at Oakland University. Felder, the 54th overall pick in the 2016 draft, stands just 5'9" and weighs 176 pounds. Last year, he led all of Division I in assists (9.3) and was third in scoring (24.4). He trained with Williams in Dallas this summer and now steps into his former (albeit briefly) teammate's role. 

Last season, Irving was only called on to play 31.5 minutes a night, the lowest mark since his rookie year. With the now-departed Matthew Dellavedova playing a large role (7.5 points, 4.4 assists in 24.6 minutes) and Williams available in emergency, Irving's burden was considerably lower. Not anymore.

"I think this will be a different preseason for me coming in," Irving said. "I had plans, as well as me talking to Ty Lue as well as our medical staff about the amount of games and the amount of pounding I'm doing in training camp.

"We have to develop Jordan McRae and Kay Felder as much as possible until we can find a solution for giving me minutes on the side. But that's what this summer has been about. It's been about developing our young guys and coming in, ready to play."

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McRae is indeed the other option. Appearing in just 15 games for the Cavs last season, the 25-year-old split his minutes between both guard positions. More of a pure scorer, McRae never averaged more than 2.5 assists per game in any of his four seasons at the University of Tennessee.

Of course, James is a safety valve here. We know he can handle the ball and remains one of the best passers in the NBA.

How much does Lue truly want to heavily utilize James now, knowing he's been to the past six NBA Finals? The goal was to preserve Irving and James for April and beyond, but they instead may be forced into high-usage roles already this fall.

Felder, ready or not, may be used out of necessity, right out of the gate.

Media Day 360 

• Dunleavy is the Cavs' newest sharpshooter on the wing. Cleveland acquired him from the Chicago Bulls via trade exception when Chicago needed to clear salary-cap space to sign Dwyane Wade. "It was a scramble there for a while, trying with my agent to find a team," Dunleavy told Bleacher Report. "I knew Chicago was looking to move my salary. At the time there were lots of teams with cap space. I’m very happy we worked this out with Cleveland. It was like Christmas in July."

• In a light moment, Lue and Griffin were asked if there is a movie to describe the Cavaliers. "Movie for me, I think Remember the Titans. That's Denzel, right? Yeah, that was a great movie," Lue said. "We had as many guys in our locker room that can't sing," Griffin replied.

• Kevin Love traveled back to Park City, Utah, this summer for elevation training. He also sought the advice of former big man Kevin Willis. The 7'0" center played 21 seasons for eight franchises, all the way until age 44. "I ask some of the guys, like, for example Kevin Willis, I said, 'How did you stay so long in the league? How did you keep your body the way it is?'" Love said. "He said, 'I would eat that iron.' So he stayed in the weight room and continued to work on his body. So from a health standpoint, I feel great. It's maybe the best I've felt coming into a season health‑wise."

• Given his impressive defense against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry during the fourth quarter of Game 7 that's now become known as "The Stop," Love was asked if he's gunning for Defensive Player of the Year this season. "You know, I don't know if I'll ever be in that consideration," he said, laughing.

• James noted that he won't fully reflect on his career until it's over but did admit just how special winning a title in Cleveland was. "I think that moment will never be forgotten, obviously," James said. "What we were able to accomplish, what I was able to accomplish. My second year back here with the franchise will go down in history."

Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @CavsGregBR. Stats via Basketball-Reference.com. All quotes originally obtained unless noted.