Cleveland Cavaliers' Biggest Red Flags Entering This Season

The Cleveland Cavaliers, despite owning a 5-1 preseason record, have not been without their faults early on.

The Cavs knocked off coach David Blatt's former Maccabi Tel Aviv squad while also defeating the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls. Their lone loss was to the Dallas Mavericks.

Cleveland tips off the regular season on Oct. 30 against the Carmelo Anthony-led New York Knicks.

Before they begin counting the games for real, the Cavaliers have some fine-tuning to do.

Here are five of Cleveland's biggest concerns heading into the 2014-15 regular season.

Dion Waiters' Shot Attempts

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Waiters has never been shy when it comes to shooting the ball. That skill has proved valuable the past two years on a rebuilding Cavaliers team.

Besides Kyrie Irving, the Cavs had few other offensive options to go to. They needed Waiters to score whenever he was on the court.

Now, times have changed.

When the Big Three in Cleveland is mentioned, Waiters is regularly left out. When you look at the box score, however, you wouldn't know that was the case.

In six games, Waiters has led or tied for the lead in shot attempts every single time.

Again, this is a team with LeBron James, Kevin Love and Irving. All three scored more than 20 points per game last season, with James (27.1) and Love (26.1) ranking third and fourth in the NBA, respectively.

Not only does he lead Cleveland with 13.2 attempts per game, but Waiters is seventh in the entire league with 90 total shots.

Clearly, this trend just can't continue for the Cavs to perform at an optimal offensive level.

Coach David Blatt acknowledged as much to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, saying,  "I don't think he should lead the team in shots."

While some believed Waiters was destined for a sixth-man role once again, this hasn't been the case. Blatt has started Waiters at shooting guard every single game this preseason, although a bench role may be forthcoming if he continues his shooting barrage.

Cleveland needs Waiters to develop into a solid off-ball guard and not rely on isolation and pick-and-roll sets for his scoring.

Waiters needs to accept that he's the fourth-best player on this team, which certainly isn't meant as criticism considering the talent around him.

Defending Derrick Rose

When the Cavs and Chicago Bulls faced off in their Oct. 20 preseason game, it was clear who the best player on the court was.

Derrick Rose looked simply unstoppable for Chicago.

Despite playing just 10 total games the past two seasons following knee surgeries, Rose very much resembled the 2011 MVP award winner many of us remember.

In only 24 minutes, he racked up 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-5 from deep.

He was especially impressive on the fast break, blowing by defenders and finishing at the rim, at times collecting an and-1 in the process.

Cleveland tried Irving, Waiters and Matthew Dellavedova against him, all with similar results. Had this been a playoff game, Blatt may have been forced to use James against Rose instead.

So why is finding a way to stop Rose so important?

Despite his 30-point performance, the Cavaliers ended up beating Chicago 107-98. Outside of Rose, no other Bull topped more than 12 points, with the team shooting just 35.2 percent overall.

The Cavs and Bulls meet up four times in the regular season. While four games out of 82 don't seem like a big deal, one or two wins could make the difference in the Eastern Conference playoff seeding. Cleveland and Chicago are pegged by many to finish first and second in the East, so their regular-season matchups could determine home-court advantage in the conference finals.

The Cavaliers have to do a better job of containing Rose.

Use of Kevin Love

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As unbelievable as it may sound, Love has disappeared from the Cavaliers offense at times this preseason.

He is arguably the best power forward in the game who can score from nearly anywhere in the half court. His passing is also a thing of beauty, as he led all 4s with 4.4 assists per game last season.

So, why is Cleveland using him as a glorified stretch forward?

Love is a strong three-point shooter (37.6 percent last year) but provides so much more on offense. His spacing of the floor should just be an added bonus, not the main part of his game.

So far this preseason, Love is taking nearly 49 percent of his shots from beyond the three-point line. Last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he only attempted 35.7 percent of his attempts from deep.

The Cavs need better balance out of Love. As nice as it's been having him knock down open shots from the outside, Cleveland could use him to draw defenders into the paint and create those same open looks for others.

It's also up to guys like Irving and James to establish Love early in the game. Against the Bulls on Oct. 20, Love turned into a non-factor on offense. He managed just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field, including 0-of-5 from deep. Too often, Love would camp out at the three-point line instead of fighting for position in the paint.

Love is just too talented to be used as a role player. The Cavaliers need to rely on his scoring, rebounding and passing ability to help facilitate their offense on a nightly basis.

Who Starts at Center?

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While Blatt has relied on the same four starters elsewhere throughout the preseason, center remains somewhat of a mystery.

Anderson Varejao has started four games for the Cavaliers at center, compared to just two for Tristan Thompson.

Still, Blatt hasn't committed to either thus far, according to Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "I don’t think we have to choose anybody. They are both equally effective. We’re in pretty good shape. They both mix and match with the other players. We need both of those guys to be significant players. I see two guys who can really play major roles on the team."

The good news for Cleveland is that both have been playing excellent in the preseason.

Varejao has averaged 11.0 points and 7.4 rebounds, while Thompson is putting up 13 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson has looked noticeably bigger this fall and is listed at 6'10" and 238 pounds.

Even with this increase in size, Varejao remains the larger of the two at 6'11" and 267 pounds. His body is better suited to guard the league's traditional centers.

So, who wins the starting job?

Really, Blatt can't go wrong either way.

Varejao is bigger, more experienced and has already played with James in the past.

Thompson is younger, more durable and a better athlete than Varejao. His development as a low-post defender will be key to Cleveland's interior defense this season.

Whatever Blatt chooses to do, Thompson (23) should get a greater portion of the minutes over Varejao (32) due to his age and ability to stay on the court.

Rim Protection Still an Issue

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Last season, the Cavaliers were next to last in the NBA with just 3.7 blocks per game.

The only team worse was the Minnesota Timberwolves, who would proceed to trade their best player to Cleveland this offseason.

For all of Love's strengths, shot-blocking isn't one of them.

Through five games this preseason, Love has exactly zero blocks. Varejao and Thompson have been slightly better, but neither is considered to be a rim-protector by any means.

Surprisingly, Cleveland as a team hasn't been that bad so far. Its 4.8 blocks per game rank 16th in the preseason.

While some would be satisfied with that, one has to look beyond the raw numbers.

Of the Cavaliers' 29 total rejections, eight have been by guards. Another eight were recorded by Brendan Haywood, Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk—bigs who will be fighting just to get playing time when the regular season starts.

Can Cleveland really get by with Love, Varejao and Thompson in the post, or will a trade for a true rim-protector prove necessary somewhere down the line?

Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010. Connect with him on Twitter for more basketball news and conversation.

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