08-09 Team Preview: Cleveland Cavaliers edition

The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off of a successful season that ended at the hands of the (eventual NBA champion) Boston Celtics in a tough 7-game series. Lebron James put himself in high-contention for the MVP award, and will be looking to build onto his ever-dominant status this season. What's different now is, he actually has some help.

Key Additions
Mo Williams (from Bucks)
J. J. Hickson (drafted no. 19)
Tarence Kinsey (FA)
Lorenzen Wright (FA from Kings)

Key Losses
Devin Brown (to Hornets)

Joe Smith (to Thunder)
Damon Jones (to Bucks)

What to be excited about:

Being witness to Lebron James
When you have Lebron James on your team, the possibilities are endless. Spouting off about James' importance to the Cavs is certainly redundant, but I don't think it can be said enough. Lebron James IS the Cavs. Last season James put up staggering numbers at around 30 ppg, 8 rpg and 7 apg. This summer, James was a team-voted captain of the USA's gold medal "Redeem Team" in Beijing. Cavs fans are hoping that James will be able to bring some of his winning ways to Cleveland this upcoming season.

Lebron has help
The Cavs made a key offseason deal that ultimately sent the aging Joe Smith and sparsely used Damon Jones packing, and brought in Mo Williams from the Milwaukee Bucks. Williams provides James with something he has never had in his 5 year career - a legitimate perimeter scoring threat. Williams is an aggressive point guard who can score in a variety of ways, and has averaged 17 ppg over the last two seasons. The hope is that Williams will help spread the floor, relieve defensive pressure on James, and provide the Cavs with an offensive force when James is out of the game or deferring. Let's hope that Williams does a better job of playing James' sidekick than Larry Hughes did.

The Cavs run deep
The Cavs will have a much deeper team than they have in years past. A key acquisition was the internal one of retaining swing-guard Delonte West. West will provide the Cavs with versatility and stability in the backcourt alongside Williams and Daniel Gibson. The Cavs should also be a more cohesive unit this season, as they went through some growing pains after their midseason trade that brought in West, Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace. It's not too bad when you can bring in a second unit that features Gibson, West, Szcerbiak and Anderson Varejao. In addition, rookie J.J. Hickson should also provide some athleticism from off the bench.

Areas of concern

Will Mo Williams be the "right" fit?
No one questions the ability of Mo Williams, but it has yet to be seen how his game will mesh with that of Lebron James. James has been the primary playmaker on the Cavs for the past few years, so the Cavs will have to adapt their style of play a bit with the addition of Williams. That being said, is a scoring point guard really the "right" kind of player to put alongside James? The Cavs certainly added talent in Williams, but the jury is still out on how much better of a team this will make them.

Can they stay healthy?
Sure, health is an important area of concern for every NBA team. However, there are some reasons why the Cavs might be even more susceptible to the injury bug. Lebron James has been playing non-stop for nearly the past year, as his team went deep in the playoffs, and then he has been training for and playing in the Olympics. Despite his uncanny athletic ability, it isn't beyond ones imagination that he could start wearing down throughout the season. Then there is Zydrunas Ilgauskas. While he is still an effective scorer in the post and has a solid mid-range shot for a big man, you always get the feeling that he is a play away from a season-ending injury from the way that he uncomfortably lumbers up and down the court. And Szczerbiak? He hasn't been remotely healthy during the past two seasons. It will be interesting to see if he can be a consistent contributor for the Cavs.

Overall Verdict

Health permitting, the Cavs should be a major force to take over the Central Division. The addition of Williams should give the Cavs the extra boost that they have been missing, and defenses will not be able to completely key in on James game-in and game-out. James should only get better, and I'm not one to bet against the King. Look for the Cavs to put together another solid season and finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference's playoff picture.


Up next in the NBA Noise 08-09 Team Preview: Dallas Mavericks