The Cleveland Cavaliers lost the NBA Championship to the Golden State Warriors in 5 games, despite their star player LeBron James being the first player to average a triple double in the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant, who the Warriors added in the offseason, won Finals MVP, and rightfully so. As of now, no team looks close to this Warriors team with 4 all stars and two MVPs. No team looks as though they can challenge the Warriors (if they keep the team together) for the next 4 or 5 years. Many believe that the Cavaliers are the closest team to the Warriors, yet still very far away, so what must the Cavs do in the offseason to get closer to Golden State?

Upgrade the Bench-With the 2017-18 NBA salary cap projected to be $101 million and the luxury tax line at $121 million, it’s pretty clear the Cavs are already WAY over both projections. Cleveland’s bench failed to make an impact for the majority of the Finals. This was quite glaring in Game 5 as Golden State’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 35-7. Even though they are way over the cap, they must try to improve their bench. They need a sixth man facilitator, someone who can come off the bench and create for teammates, similar to what LeBron can do. This is why Deron Williams was brought in, but he showed us in the Finals his career is coming to an end. They need someone like Ty Lawson or Rajon Rondo, who can create off the bench, and maybe move Kyrie to shooting guard, where he can focus on scoring.

Dump Salary for Non-essential Pieces- With the Cavaliers way over the cap and luxury tax line, they might need to create some cap room for other signings. Non-essential players may need to go. Kay Felder and Edy Tavares, who are both earning about 1.5 million, may need to be cut. Richard Jefferson (2.5 million) is nearing the end of his career, and although he was decent in the Finals, it may be time to let him go, as well as his best friend Channing Frye(7.4 million) who played just 11 minutes in the Finals. If the Cavaliers could somehow find a way to trade/dump Frye, Jefferson, Tavares, and Shumpert, they could let go of 21.7 million, which would put them at around 104 million guaranteed money. It still will not get them under the salary cap, and this is assuming no additional salary is brought in with trades. It’s a long shot, but it is a step towards the Warriors.

Get some defenders– This might be the biggest issue for the Cavaliers: their defense. They ranked 22nd in defensive rating last season, which is just not good enough against the Warriors. Their transition defense was horrible in the Finals, giving up about 10 transition buckets per game. They need someone who can shoot the ball, so he will not be a liability on offense, but is mainly in the game to defend. Some names that the front office may look to are Thabo Sefalosha or Tony Allen. Tony Allen cannot shoot, but he has a terrific defensive upside. He may be aging at 35 years old, but he can still provide good defense for 20-25 minutes a game. Thabo Sefolosha. Sefolosha can shoot the 3, although not very well, at 34.5% for his career, but he can play solid defense, and try to guard Kevin Durant. He would be better than Shumpert on both ends of the floor.

Trade for a Superstar– This might be the only way the Cavaliers can catch the Warriors, and that would be to trade for a superstar. The only problem is that the Cavs may need to give up a star to get a star. They definitely will not give up the best player in the world, LeBron James, or 25 year old Kyrie Irving, who could be a potential superstar. The odd man out is Kevin Love, and there are many trades the Cavs front office could explore in return for Kevin Love. The first one they must try is Kevin Love for Paul George. The Pacers will be losing Paul George to free agency in 2018 anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to at least get Kevin Love in return this year, rather than to get nothing in return for 1 more year with Paul George. For the Cavs, Paul George is perfect. It gives you another playmaker, a defender to put on Kevin Durant, another scorer who can put up 30 in his sleep, and you can put LeBron and Kyrie on the bench together without the game getting out of hand. Another player to trade for might be Jimmy Butler. This could happen in a 3 team trade or just a 2 team trade. Jimmy Butler would provide similar impacts to Paul George, as it would give the Cavs another scorer, and worthy defender, and a decent 3 point shooter. Lastly, a controversial trade would be Kevin Love for Carmelo Anthony. There has been a lot of trade talk about Carmelo Anthony, and how the Knicks want him out. There are pros and cons to Anthony on the Cavs. Some pros are that he is another unstoppable offensive force, and he can carry a team with LeBron and Kyrie on the bench. Some cons are that the defense does not get any better, and the team just gets older and older. It seems as though Paul George, Jimmy Butler, or Carmelo Anthony will make a huge impact on the Cavs.

 

 

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