Is Cleveland Cavaliers Roster a Finished Product or a Work in Progress?
The Cleveland Cavaliers underwent a major transformation this offseason.
The question is, are they complete?
One would think the acquisitions of LeBron James, Kevin Love, Shawn Marion, Mike Miller and others would be a good enough group to build upon. This is of course coupled with the Cavs' young nucleus of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson.
General manager David Griffin would easily be named Executive of the Summer, should such a thing actually exist.
Despite all of his work overhauling the franchise, Griffin may not be done.
Here's why the Cavaliers roster is far from a finished product.
Team Needs Still Exist
James and Love are great, but neither are rim-protecting centers.
Looking over the Cavaliers roster, the main weakness is indeed the 5 spot where oft-injured Anderson Varejao and Brendan Haywood represent the team's two best options.
Cleveland is so thin at center that coach David Blatt is even considering using 6'9" forward Tristan Thompson as his starter, according to Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.
No matter what their size, no Cavalier is a proven shot-blocker.
Varejao led the team with 0.6 blocks per game a season ago. Thompson shrunk to just 0.4. Haywood, 34, owns a lifetime average of 1.4 blocks per game but is recovering from foot surgery that should limit his leaping ability.
The Cavs could still use a rim protector, especially after finishing 29th in blocks a season ago.
Waitin' on Ray
Ray Allen remains a free agent, now just weeks before the regular season starts.
Despite signing veteran sharpshooters Mike Miller and James Jones, Griffin insists the Cavaliers would welcome Allen with open arms should he decide to push back retirement, per Bob Finnan of The Morning Journal and The News-Herald:
"Until he signs, that’s going to be a target for everybody. Ray is someone who fits us as a shooter. His championship pedigree fits us at a really high level. With James, Mike and LeBron here, I think he’d feel comfortable with our group. At the same time, it’s possible he’s not sure he wants to keep playing. He’s in no hurry to make a decision. We’ll play that out as far as we can.
"
It's clear Griffin isn't settled on the roster being finalized and that Allen could still very well be in the mix.
Griffin Piling Up Assets
Buried beneath all of the LeBron and Love headlines this summer are some sneaky good deals the Cavs have made.
The first was on draft night, when Griffin sent Alonzo Gee (who would have likely been released) to the Charlotte Hornets for Brendan Haywood and the draft rights to Stanford forward Dwight Powell.
Haywood's contract stands at just $2.2 million this year but balloons to $10.5 million next season, per Spotrac.com. The second year is completely non-guaranteed, meaning the Cavs could flip him for roughly $12 million worth of salary.
The receiving team could then release Haywood without paying a dime, therefore saving a substantial amount of cash. Cleveland, on the other hand, could land an impact player without having to give up a core player in return.
Griffin's next move was to trade 2013 second-round pick Carrick Felix to the Utah Jazz for John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas and Erik Murphy. While Felix is due just over $800,000 this year, the three players the Cavs picked up made a collective $3.3 million in non-guaranteed money, thus improving the team's trade flexibility.
As it turns out, Griffin was just getting started.
His next order of business was to package Powell, Lucas III, Thomas and Murphy to the Boston Celtics in exchange for 11-year veteran guard Keith Bogans. While Bogans is well past his mediocre prime, like Haywood, value exists in his contract.
Griffin loves his non-guaranteed deals, especially ones like Bogans' $5.3 million for 2014-15.
To ensure the team falls underneath the luxury-tax threshold this season, and to create an additional roster spot, Griffin turned around and dealt Bogans to the Philadelphia 76ers for nothing more than a trade exception, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
While the Cavs can't combine Haywood's $10.5 million and the $5.3 million exception from Bogans, the two give Cleveland some nice options to improve their roster if necessary.
Sit Back For Now, Be Ready to Pounce Later
The unfortunate side effect of assembling a contender is that cap space and trade assets can disappear quickly.
For the Cavaliers, this may not be the case.
Yes, money will be an issue.
Irving signed a $90 million extension this summer. James and Love can each opt out and sign massive new deals in 2015. Cleveland will also need to make contract decisions on Thompson and Waiters in the near future.
While the payroll rises, the Cavs have done an excellent job of keeping their options open to improve the team if needed.
Griffin's foresight has given the Cavaliers a unique edge, one that so many other "superteams" before them were unable to do.
Should they be exploring more roster shakeups and possible midseason trades already?
No, but for Griffin and the Cavs, it's nice to know that they can.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010. Connect with him on Twitter for more basketball news and conversation.
All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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