NBA PM: Cavaliers Overcame Many Obstacles

Cavaliers Overcame Many Obstacles to Make Finals

When LeBron James announced his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in his Sports Illustrated column last July, he tempered expectations and acknowledged that he didn’t think the team would contend for a title right away.

“I’m not promising a championship. I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way,” James wrote in SI. “Of course, I want to win next year, but I’m realistic. It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. My patience will get tested. I know that. I’m going into a situation with a young team and a new coach.”

Some felt that he was just trying to take the pressure off of his young teammates and first-time NBA coach David Blatt, while others believed this was his honest assessment of the team. It seemed more like the latter several months into the season, when Cleveland had lost 19 of their first 39 games and the squad was struggling mightily.

Their key players were having trouble figuring out how to co-exist, they needed defensive help on the perimeter and interior, their lack of depth was an issue and Coach Blatt seemed in over his head at times as he adjusted to the NBA. And like all teams featuring LeBron, the Cavaliers had a target on their back and were put under the microscope, so every loss and issue was blown out of proportion.

Several trades were made, which required even more adjustments to get everyone on the same page. And as if things weren’t already difficult enough, James got hurt and took two weeks off to get his body right. Then, later in the year, Anderson Varejao and Kevin Love each sustained season-ending injuries that depleted their frontcourt, and Kyrie Irving also missed games and was limited by a right foot strain and tendinitis in his left knee.

Yet despite all of the struggles, injuries, transactions and scrutiny, the Cavaliers have advanced to the NBA Finals in James’ first year back with the team. At this time last year, all Cleveland fans had to celebrate was an NBA Draft Lottery win, but now the Cavs are just four victories away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Looking back on the season, James admits he is surprised with what they accomplished.

“At one point during the season, we were 19‑20,” James said. “[I was] watching my team struggle and sitting out two weeks; they wanted Coach Blatt fired [and] saying we needed another point guard. ‘Will LeBron and Kyrie be able to play together?’ So many story lines were happening at that point in time. For us to be sitting at this point today, being able to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals, this is special. This is very special.

“Could I foresee this? At the beginning of the season, I couldn’t. I couldn’t foresee us being in the Finals at the beginning of the season because I just knew that we just had to get better and I just saw how young we were and how young‑minded we were at that point in time. But I knew I had to lead these guys, and if they just followed my leadership, I knew I could get them to a place where they haven’t been before.”

That’s exactly what James has done, lifting the Cavs to the Finals despite numerous obstacles. Cleveland started playing better in mid-January and, despite having to adjust to the personnel changes and injuries, they finished the season 46-11 (including their postseason wins).

In the last two rounds, the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks thought they had the Cavs right where they wanted them since they were without Love, Varejao and Irving (for some games). In fact, many analysts predicted that Cleveland would be eliminated in either the Conference Semifinals or the Conference Finals. However, the Cavaliers have lost just two games all postseason and their sweep over Atlanta was extremely impressive.

“One thing we haven’t gotten caught up in is feeling sorry for ourselves,” James said. “It doesn’t matter if someone is out, the next man is up. If someone is not 100 percent, then as a brother, you pick that guy up. That’s what it’s about. That’s what teamwork and trying to accomplish a dream is all about, being able to sacrifice yourself and what you can do for the better of the team. That’s what’s got us to this point.”

James is proud of what the Cavs have accomplished, regardless of what happens in the Finals.

“Where this ranks as far as my last four Finals appearances, I mean, it’s special… to know how unexperienced we are as a unit playing together, I think that’s special in its own right,” James said. “No matter what happens from here on out, to see what we’ve accomplished being a first‑year team together that’s had different changes throughout the course of the season, that’s faced so many obstacles throughout the season – injuries here, transactions here, lineups here ‑ it’s something we can be very proud of to this point.

“I hope everyone here understands that it’s not easy; it’s not easy to even get to this point. It’s so hard just to win an NBA game, and the fact that we’ve won three playoff series so far, it is very, very difficult. And if you’ve never been in this situation, you don’t know how difficult it is.”

So, how have the Cavs managed to play at this high level despite everything they’ve dealt with?

While playing in the weaker Eastern Conference has certainly helped them (and, as I wrote yesterday, other stars may soon be bolting to the East as well), their players deserve a ton of credit for stepping up and beating every team put in front of them.

It’s no surprise, but the main reason for the Cavs’ dominance has been James. He has played out of his mind this postseason, averaging 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks. He has put the Cavs on his back, and while he’s still struggling with his shot a bit (shooting just 17.6 percent from three-point range), it’s hard to criticize anything he’s doing right now since he has filled the stat sheet on a nightly basis, played great two-way basketball and provided excellent leadership. The fact that he’s been injured and playing through pain makes his performances even more impressive.

But while James is clearly the team’s catalyst, others have played well too. The team’s acquisitions before the trade deadline have been crucial. The roster looks very different from when James penned that article for Sports Illustrated last summer, as Cavaliers general manager David Griffin did a great job addressing Cleveland’s weaknesses throughout the year.

Shortly after signing James, the Cavs obviously traded for Love and also signed a number of veterans like Shawn Marion, Mike Miller and James Jones (with LeBron helping to recruit them). But perhaps even more important were Cleveland’s midseason trades for Timofey Mozgov (the rim protector they desperately needed) and the backcourt duo of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert (giving them more depth on the perimeter). All three of those players have done a great job for the Cavs in the postseason and played a significant role in the team’s success.

Three players who were on the Cavs’ roster before the return of King James have been huge too. Irving, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova are three of the youngest players on the team, but they deserve a ton of credit for the way that they’ve stepped up and shined on the NBA’s biggest stage despite entering the postseason with no playoff experience.

Irving has had some excellent games and has averaged 18.7 points this postseason and really helped spread the floor with his 48.1 percent shooting from long range. He’s continued to contribute even though he’s clearly hurting too.

Thompson has been one of the Cavs’ most important players since the team lost Love and Varejao, and he has provided excellent rebounding and defense. He’s averaging 9.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in the playoffs, and he has been great on the offensive boards to give the Cavs extra possessions. He knows his role and will get a big pay day this summer when he hits restricted free agency.

Dellavedova has played well too, going from a seldom-used reserve to the team’s starting point guard in the Eastern Conference Finals due to Irving’s injuries. Some players would choke under those circumstances, but Dellavedova delivered by scoring in double figures in his last three games and doing a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score, such as making hustle plays and playing solid defense.

James has performed at a sensational level and made his depleted supporting cast better (which is his specialty), but those players deserve props for executing as well. While beating the Warriors at less than full strength will be difficult, this wouldn’t be the first time that the Cavs entered a series this postseason being doubted and seemingly outmatched.

“I can’t guarantee the championship; that’s not what I’m here for,” James said. “I’m here to lead. But I will guarantee that we will play our asses off. We will, from the first minute to minute 48 – or if it’s overtime, [minute] 53 – we will do that. At the end of the day, that’s all I can ask for. That’s all we can give.”

James wants to give Cleveland their first NBA championship and end the city’s 50-year title drought in the four major sports. That’s one of the reasons he returned to the Cavaliers.

“I’m a guy who believes in unfinished business, and I understood what these people were going through, the people here not only in Cleveland but in Northeast Ohio and all over the world who love and bleed wine and gold,” James said. “I think we all here know how long it’s been since a champion has been in this city. I mean, you can try and not focus on it. You can try to say, ‘Okay, well, it’s not about that.’ But we all know it. The one thing that we can guarantee as a team – our 15 guys and our coaching staff and people that travel with us on the road and work every day – is we will give our best shot.”