By Larry Durstin
(WARNING: Cynics, doomsayers and “Only in Cleveland” sourpusses need read this column no further. Instead, please go lick your real and imagined wounds somewhere else.)
The Cavaliers are in the midst of Year Three P.Q. (Post Quitter) and the light at the end of the tunnel is finally coming into focus. It’s no secret that the Cavaliers front office has piled up so many first and second round draft picks over the next several years that the number has now reached double digits.
The team will also be significantly below the salary cap in the next year or so, making future trades and free agent signings much easier. Taken together, these two factors make the potential acquisition of top-notch talent practically a slam dunk. But just as important as the future assets that may be acquired via General Manager Chris Grant’s wheeling and dealing is the current state of the Cavs youthful roster.
Leading that roster, of course, is the mercurial Kyrie Irving, an acrobatic whirling dervish with a lights-out jumper and the heart of an assassin. The 20-year-old All-Star point guard entered the league last year with an offensive skill set that compares favorably to any point guard who has come into the league since Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson arrived over 30 years ago. Since then, he’s only gotten better and this year has a good chance to make the All-NBA third team (behind Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook) and should be a regular first-teamer and MVP candidate starting in the next year or two.
Irving is that rarest and most coveted of NBA commodities – a true closer who can win games by himself by dominating them in the fourth quarter. The most recent example of this came this past weekend when Irving scored 13 points in the final two-and-a-half minutes in an electrifying win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team with the best record in the league. With superstar Irving as the team’s leader and franchise foundation, the Cavs are rapidly building around him with a core of promising young players.
The most dynamic of Irving’s supporting cast is second-year power forward, Tristan Thompson. A sensational athlete who plays with non-stop energy, the 21-year old Thompson was a surprise choice for the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft. He struggled in his rookie year and the negative chorus that is always on call in Cleveland sports reared its perennially ugly head, condemning the Cavs for “another terrible pick.” But when Anderson Varejao went down for the season in late December while leading the league in rebounding, Thompson stepped right in and has averaged around 15 points and 11 rebounds since then, proving to be among the most improved players in the league and one who has the capacity to have a considerable impact for years.
Rounding out what should prove to be an explosive trio for seasons to come is 21-year-old Dion Waiters, the fourth pick in last summer’s draft. With a game and personality that has been described as being “a little rough around the edges,” Waiters has been up and down during his rookie year but still has averaged 14 points per game – which ranks second among all rookies – and has shown the kind of ability to create shots on his own and make plays for his teammates that NBA coaches crave. His swagger and toughness should serve him well as he develops into a more polished and efficient player.
Grant has filled in the roster spaces around this core threesome with veteran role players Shaun Livingston, C.J. Miles and Marreese Speights. Rookie Tyler Zeller has shown some promise as a serviceable back-up center and holdover Alonzo Gee has demonstrated enough skill and defensive toughness to be a solid rotation player on a contending team. The average age of these eight players is 23.
Next season, the Cavs will also add another high lottery pick and perhaps a mid-level free agent or two to fill needs at small forward and center, where a physical rim protecter is essential for this team’s growth. Assuming Varejao is healthy and returns next season, there is no reason that Cleveland – even without making a major free agent splash – can’t compete for a playoff spot.
After that, of course, comes the summer of 2014, when the Cavs will still have considerable salary cap space to sign one of the elite free agents that will be available. Which, inevitably, brings in the possibility of one of those free agents, LeBron James, returning to the scene of his crime. What seemed once to be merely the wishful thinking of starry-eyed Cavs fans, actually makes sense on a number of levels – not the least of which is that such an event would be the biggest story in sports, turning the NBA upside down and providing LeBron with the opportunity to be the Prodigal Son returning and show his new-found humility off.
But the main reason this is a possibility is because, say what you want about the Nefarious One, you can rest assured that when James watches Kyrie Irving play and imagines playing alongside him, he gets visions of multiple NBA championships dancing in his opportunistic head.
And so does Dan Gilbert.
[Photo: Erik Drost]
Larry Durstin is an independent journalist who has covered politics and sports for a variety of publications and websites over the past 20 years. He was the founding editor of the Cleveland Tab and an associate editor at the Cleveland Free Times. Durstin has won 12 Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards, including six first places in six different writing categories. LarryDurstinATyahoo.com