Quantcast
Channel: Ohio.com Most Read Stories
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 7876

Jason Lloyd: LeBron James, Cavaliers entering pivotal playoff push with future of franchise at stake

$
0
0

CLEVELAND:

On the same night Kobe Bryant was saying farewell to the NBA and the Golden State Warriors were marking their place in history with the league’s first 73-win season, LeBron James sat idly at the end of the bench while the Cavaliers quietly closed their regular season Wednesday night.

That’s the way it has been most of the year. For once in his career, James was not the focal point of the NBA this season. In fact, he and the Cavs lived mostly off the grid. Of course, James doesn’t quite see it that way. Perhaps still stung from the biting criticism he endured following David Blatt’s firing, coupled with the recent scrutiny over his social media habits, James still feels the spotlight squarely on him.

Asked if he felt like Bryant’s farewell tour and the Warriors’ march to history finally pushed him to the periphery, James offered only, “I would have to agree to disagree with that.” Yet as he begins his 11th postseason journey on Sunday when the Cavs open the playoffs by hosting the Detroit Pistons (3 p.m., ABC), he isn’t favored to win a championship. Most gambling sites don’t even list the Cavs second. They are typically third behind both the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.

Similarly, despite ending the season by winning the last three player of the month awards in the Eastern Conference, James is an afterthought in Most Valuable Player voting. He seems destined to finish a distant third — at best — behind the Warriors’ Steph Curry and the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard.

Dismissing James and the Cavs’ odds of winning a title, however, is gravely dangerous. Despite battling physical issues most of the season, James

dragged a wounded Cavs roster within two victories of a championship last season. Now that he’s healthy and feeling better than he has in years, James at 31 is still capable of dominating. Now he has help, too, with a healthy Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love flanking him.

“We definitely still want him to be what he’s capable of and that’s playing in a whole different stratosphere like he did in the playoffs last year,” Love said. “We think if we’re healthy, we can help complement that.”

One rival general manager, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the topic, privately declared the Cavs the most talented team in the East and James still the best player, but warned that this team is “fragile” entering this postseason.

The problems between James, Love and Irving are well documented. Their games have clashed at times and so, too, have their personalities. Folks around the league are questioning how cohesive this team is and what will happen when adversity inevitably strikes in this postseason: Will they bond together or splinter apart? Truthfully, no one knows.

The idea of blowing up the roster — and the entire organization — remains a distinct possibility if this thing unravels during the course of the next two months. Owner Dan Gilbert isn’t spending the second-most money in the history of the sport for a second-place finish … or worse.

“The expectation is to win,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “The way the organization and [David] Griffin assembled this team, it’s to win and make it to the NBA Finals. That’s the expectation that we have.”

Lue is well aware of the Cavs’ penchant to fire coaches and knows he is assured of nothing beyond the next two months. The same is true of Griffin as general manager.

Gilbert has privately coveted former Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau for years and even asked the Bulls for permission to speak with him before hiring Blatt. They declined.

With Thibodeau now a coaching free agent and seeking full control at his next stop, it’s in the Cavs’ best interest to make this a lengthy and successful postseason journey or risk another upheaval.

James has entered the postseason in various years trying to repeat, three-peat and coming off NBA Finals losses. They all feel different, he said, and no two postseasons are alike.

“But the great thing about my career so far since I’ve been in the playoffs,” he said, “I’ve always felt like I had a chance to win it. So that’s a great feeling.”

A better feeling is actually winning it. The Cavs’ future stability might depend on it.

Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 7876

Trending Articles