Cavs' Weaknesses vs. Warriors Should Dictate Offseason Decisions
As LeBron James sat and processed another hurtful NBA Finals loss, he was reminded of his age, wear and tear and the unbelievable juggernaut the Cleveland Cavaliers had just battled, which will be around for years.
One of the most cerebral, well-spoken players in the league, James stumbled for a second before admitting, "I need to sit down and figure this thing out."
This "thing," of course, refers to the Golden State Warriors, James' greatest test. While the Cavaliers sat above the rest of the NBA just a year ago, the Warriors' historic 16-1 run through the playoffs has put them on their own level.
Before Cleveland dives into free agency and the trade market, James and the rest of the team need to be honest and ask themselves: How far away from the Warriors are they?
A 4-1 decision in the Finals indicates a chasm between Cleveland and Golden State, especially given that the Warriors' regular-season and playoff record of 83-16 far exceeds the Cavs' 64-35 mark.
Despite Golden State's near sweep through the playoffs, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue doesn't seem fazed.
"I don't see a big gap," Lue told reporters after Game 5.
After losing Games 1 and 2 by 41 combined points, Cleveland let a fourth-quarter lead slip in Game 3 before handing the Warriors their only loss of the playoffs, a 21-point beating in Game 4. In what could have been a 2-2 tie heading back to Oakland, the Cavs dug themselves an insurmountable 0-3 hole.
The Warriors roster won't change much, either. Former MVPs Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant will be free agents this summer, but the entire Golden Gate Bridge is more likely to pack up and move locations before either star does. This, combined with the long-term contracts previously handed to Klay Thompson and likely Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green, means the Warriors are keeping their core together for years.
"But as far as that team, they're going to be here for a while," James told reporters.
He continued:
"Pretty much all their guys are in their 20s. Pretty much all their big-name guys are in their 20s, and they don't show any signs of slowing down. So there's going to be a lot of teams that's trying to figure out ways to put personnel together to try and match that if they're able to actually face them in the playoff series, both Eastern Conference and Western Conference. Because they're built for—from my eyes, they're built to last a few years."
Despite becoming the first player in Finals history to average a triple-double and first to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in any playoff series, James knows Father Time is watching.
With James, 33 this December, coming off seven consecutive Finals trips, the Cavaliers can't take any chances with him and their ability to compete for more championships. The title window for everyone outside of Golden State appears closed, but that doesn't mean Cleveland can't pry it back open with a successful offseason.
The Cavs are still in the Warriors' ballpark but need to act fast to correct James' lack of help.
Cleveland's Biggest Needs
Even with a payroll approaching $130 million, the Cavs fell short on talent when stacked up against Golden State. Resting James, even for a minute, could cost them a game, given Cleveland's tendency to collapse with him off the floor.
James averaged 42.4 minutes per game in the Finals, playing 212 of the possible 240. No Warrior even hit 200.
With him on the court, Cleveland was only outscored by seven total points in those 212 minutes. In the 28 he sat? The Cavs were minus-27.
This is a direct result of the Cavaliers' inability to replace any part of James' game. They had no one who could guard Kevin Durant, no pass-first players to keep the ball moving and no reliable second scoring option through all five games.
"To make Bron be in that position and say, 'We need you to guard maybe the second-best scorer on the planet and then we need you to facilitate everybody and go get 10 or 12 assists and we need you to go score 30? It's unfair. It's unfair," Richard Jefferson told Jason Lloyd of The Athletic.
James is one of the NBA's best two-way players, but guarding Durant and doing everything else offensively proved too much.
James held opponents to 41.9 percent shooting in the regular season, an excellent mark considering the wide variety of players he guarded. In the Finals, however, James' defensive field-goal percentage sky-rocketed to 57.8 percent, per B/R Insights.
While Jefferson tried his best to guard Durant in spurts to give James a break, Cleveland needs to find someone better than the 36-year-old forward to slow down the Finals MVP. It can't go into another Finals asking the same workload of a 33-year-old James and expect better results.
JR Smith and Iman Shumpert were supposed to fill the role of three-and-D wings, but both proved one-dimensional this season.
Shaking off a rough first two games, Smith finished the series with an average of 11.8 points on 54.1 percent shooting, including 58.1 percent from three. Unfortunately, a lot of those shots were given right back as the Warriors shot 51.2 percent when Smith was defending, per B/R Insights.
Shumpert was the opposite. Despite being locked in defensively (Warriors shot 34.8 percent when guarded by the 26-year-old), Shumpert made just four of his 17 shots (23.5 percent) in the series. Smith's 25 points in Game 5 were more than Shumpert's series total of 18.
Cleveland needs someone who can not only handle Durant for spurts, but also knock down shots.
It needs a better bench, as well.
On paper the unit of Kyle Korver, Deron Williams, Shumpert and Channing Frye looks tremendous. All nearly disappeared or didn't play against the Warriors, however.
One of Golden State's greatest strengths is its ability to plug and play reserves to get stars proper rest. Andre Iguodala, the 2015 Finals MVP, was a series-best plus-60 in the five games. Of their regular rotation players, Jefferson led the Cavs' reserves at minus-three.
Looking ahead, the Cavs will have no cap room and instead must rely on their projected mid-level exception of $5.2 million to land bench help. A trade is the only other fixer here, with Bleacher Report's Howard Beck stating that Cleveland would "surely consider" dealing a core player.
As it stands, the Cavaliers are the NBA's biggest hope for ending a potential Warriors dynasty. Accurately deciding how close they were this year will dictate how they shape their roster this summer, and ultimately prepare for Round 4.
Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Stats provided by NBA.com unless otherwise noted.
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