When LeBron James decided to leave the Miami Heat this summer, some still questioned if the Cleveland Cavaliers would be good enough to make serious noise next season with the current roster. James himself hinted a cast of doubt in his official letter, saying “we’re not ready right now”.
Do they have the necessary veterans and role players it takes to be contenders? Can the young players on the team put aside their pride and mature quickly enough? The latter remains to be seen, but the answer to the former was always this: with James’ arrival, others would surely follow his lead.
Indeed, James was quickly able to recruit the likes of Mike Miller and James Jones to the Cavaliers to help spread the floor as they once did with the Heat. Ray Allen will take some time off to decide whether he wants to retire, but Cleveland will be one of his strong options should he play another year – a scenario that wouldn’t be possible without James on board. Even Chauncey Billups met up with the front office. And of course, the team is in the process of trying to trade for Kevin Love.
If they manage to acquire Love this summer, the Cavaliers will become the instant favorites to win it all next season. There will be no time for a “long process”, as James called it in his letter. Even if something unexpected happens and Love ends up elsewhere, though, the Cavaliers still look to be a scary team as they continue to find strong veterans to fill out the roster. The latest word is that Shawn Marion – still a world-class defender at his position – is leaning towards joining James in Cleveland, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Free-agent forward Shawn Marion is leaning toward signing a deal to join LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Marion, 36, has yet to formally agree with the Cavaliers on a deal, but that could come soon, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Indiana Pacers wanted to pursue Marion as a short-term replacement for injured forward Paul George, and will likely soon be armed with a $5.3 million disabled player exception that would allow them to trump the Cavaliers’ offer of the veteran minimum of $1.4 million per season.
The Pacers are applying for the exception in the wake of George’s broken leg, sources said. Nevertheless, Indiana has started to move on from Marion, believing he’s headed to the Cavaliers, and search elsewhere for a free agent, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
If they do acquire Marion, what are they missing? Currently, the Cavaliers have multiple ball handlers, defenders, shooters and finishers with a blend of strong veterans and energetic youth. Just about the only thing they may be missing at this point is legitimate rim protection (although Anderson Varejao is no slouch as a defensive pest) and a better power forward, which again, is currently being worked on. At this point, it would be a surprise if this team is anything less than second best in the East, with or without Love.
Speaking of energetic youth, the outspoken Dion Waiters has made headlines this offseason by saying he wants to be a starter in the upcoming season. In his interview with Brendan Bowers of SLAMOnline, Waiters explains his thought process, what he’s ultimately willing to do and how much he knew about James’ decision before it was actually announced:
“You dream about being a starter in the NBA your whole life. I’m right here with a chance to do that and I’m not backing down from the challenge. So when somebody asks me if that’s my goal, I’m going to just answer truthfully. I don’t mean any disrespect to anybody. I’m just trying to compete. Anybody in my position would think the same way. I worked hard to get where I’m at today. I haven’t reached my peak. I feel like I’m still getting started. But as a man, in the NBA, if you don’t have confidence in yourself nobody else will.”
“I’m willing to do anything for the team at the end of the day,” Waiters added. “If that’s coming off the bench, I’ll come off the bench. Coach knows that. He knows I’m just being myself as a competitor. That’s the only way I can succeed is by being myself. I can’t try to be somebody I’m not. I’m maturing as a man, I’m growing as a player and person, but I’m always going to give it to you straightforward. I’m not going to hide. The only way I know how to be is real.”
[…]
“We’ve talked,” Waiters said of his new teammate. “I actually talked with LeBron before he made his decision. He called me and just told me to be ready. Be ready. I talked to him four or five days before he made his decision. He just got on the phone and said I haven’t made my mind up yet but be ready.
I told him that I’m already working hard. I’ll be ready. And he said, I know, I know you are. Then a few days later I read the letter. I was just really excited for the city of Cleveland. I think the city, more than anybody, deserves this. They deserve to have LeBron coming back. I think the excitement is really back in Cleveland and I’m looking forward to being a part of that.”
Although Waiters is perceived as an immature player who can’t get along with teammates at times, the interview certainly reveals a bit more about who he really may be and how a bad reputation from certain incidents are hard to shake.
He also touched on his relationship with Kyrie Irving and how a lot of the stories out there about the two and their dislike for each other are bogus. We’ll never know for sure what the real truth is in terms of what happened last season, but the bottom line for Waiters is this: if the Cavaliers thrive next season and he is a part of it, that’s all anyone will care about. Reputations are easily healed when you’re a part of a winning organization, and that’s what looks to be in store for the young shooting guard.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Greg Monroe and the Detroit Pistons still haven’t come to an agreement on a new deal, from Vince Ellis of Detroit Free Press: “Teams around the league just don’t view Monroe as worthy of a max offer sheet —— especially with the perceived notion that the Pistons would just match. Despite a productive four seasons, stretch power forwards are high valued and inside players like Monroe have become devalued. The Pistons have moved from the initial five-year, $60-million offer and an offer that’s slightly better on a per-year basis than the four-year, $54-million deal that Josh Smith signed last summer is on the table. But the offer to make him the highest paid player on the roster hasn’t brokered an agreement. And negotiations aren’t ongoing. The impasse could last into next month unless a sudden sign-and-trade materializes.”
The New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings made what is widely considered an “interesting” trade on Wednesday, from Sam Amick of USA Today: “The New York Knicks will trade guard Wayne Ellington, forward Jeremy Tyler and a 2016 second-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for forwards Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw, people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet announced.”
In what has become a common saying for Eric Gordon, the guard says the New Orleans Pelicans are a playoff team if healthy. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders has details: “If we’re healthy, we’re for sure a playoff team,” Gordon told Basketball Insiders. “It’s all about us getting together and playing because the West is tough. We know that and realize that. It’s all about having a full season together. … That’s what we got to see this year; we’ll have a fully-loaded team and it’s about all of us being healthy. It’s crazy to see how many guys were injured this past year. “We never got a chance to play a full season together. We know we’re a very talented team and [have] a lot of talented individuals, but we just have to put it together and have a good healthy season.”
Mason Plumlee rejected the notion that he has an advantage with Team USA because of his relationship with Coach K, from Mike Mazzeo of ESPN NY: ““At the end of the day, [the critics] just don’t know,” Plumlee told reporters Wednesday at the Brooklyn Nets’ practice facility. “If anybody knows Coach K, he didn’t get to where he is by doing favors for people. He’d be the first person to get me out of there if I wasn’t cutting it. He’s all about winning, and by playing for him for four years, I know that. Now, I have an advantage in knowing what he’s looking for from me, but he didn’t win gold medals, he didn’t win world championships by doing favors for people. It’s just that simple.”
MarShon Brooks may play overseas next season, according to Shams Charania of RealGM: “Unrestricted free agent MarShon Brooks is progressing toward finalizing contract terms with Olimpia Milano Armani of the European League, a source told RealGM. Brooks had been in dialogue with NBA teams before advancing in negotiations with Olimpia Milano on Tuesday night. For Brooks, the Italian club holds great appeal for its financial stability and opportunity to play significant minutes in a supreme overseas league. Brooks previously received interest from the Indiana Pacers this offseason.”
- Who will be next season’s ROY? Who will likely be the most successful from the class of 2014? Which rookie is being overlooked? The rookies themselves answered these questions in a poll, from John Schuhmann of NBA.com.
Brian Scalabrine explained why things didn’t work out with Mark Jackson last season, from Diamond Leung of Mercury News: “Mark gave me a great opportunity to be on the bench, and then when I got there, I think to win in this league you have to drive and push, and I feel like the players will respond to that,” Scalabrine said. “And I think that was the biggest thing about this disappointment in our staff as a staff, right? We could have done more, and we didn’t, and I think he kind of sensed that. “At the end of the day, to say it was a difference of philosophy, a difference of opinion, I mean, that’s really what it was. And I’m so used to seeing like a Doc Rivers and a Tom Thibodeau (his former coaches), and it kind of threw me for like kind of a loop and a surprise that it was not as hard-pressing as I thought it was going to be.”
Marreese Speights has been charged with DUI, according to Leung of Mercury News: “Warriors center Marreese Speights was arrested on a second-degree misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence early Tuesday in Tampa on the morning after his 27th birthday, according to the Tampa Police Department. Speights was arrested at 3:31 a.m. ET and later submitted to two tests showing breath alcohol content levels of .103 and .106 percent, according to the incident log. Florida’s unlawful breath alcohol level is .08 or above.”
Contrary to previous reports and rumors, Blake Griffin does not have a fractured back, from Broderick Turner of LA Times: “It’s less than a hairline and my back is not fractured. Everything is still intact,” Griffin said. “I can still come out here and I can do my workouts and I can do everything I used to do. I just shouldn’t be playing and practicing everyday this early.”… “My whole thing is that I didn’t want to go into [Clippers training] camp and put myself in a worse position,” he said. “It’s not that my back is broken and I’m walking around with a broken back, or I’m in so much pain. “But if I start playing basically two months earlier than everybody else and then go through all of next season and the playoffs, then I’m probably going to put myself in a bad position. I couldn’t do that.”
- Jeremy Lin decided to have a little fun at home with his family members. Well, fun for him, at least. Here is the clip.
James Park is the chief blogger and deputy editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.