There's a point where too much of a good thing can become toxic and it's currently happening during the off-season for the Cavaliers. With the resigning of Lebron James (2yr/ $46.9M), Kevin Love (5yr/ $113.2M), and Iman Shumpert (4yr/ $40M), it's obvious how tight the money's starting to get on this current roster. Add that with Kyrie Irving's extension coming into play this season, $94.3M for 5 years, and it becomes pretty clear as to why they're having trouble signing other key players. Being deep in luxury tax isn't exactly a dream situation, but potentially losing J.R Smith and Tristan Thompson leaves Cleveland in a tough spot. With the lack of cap flexibility, it doesn't seem that there's much that can be done without literally breaking the bank. There's a pretty good chance that the Cavs may end up in the NBA Finals once again, but with the struggles involving injuries and cap space, it might not be as surefire as it's been thought out to be.
The two key factors that will be in question by the start of next season are more likely than not Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Kyrie Irving has put up some interesting numbers through his 4 year career, posting up 21.7 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting at over 45%. And while it's obvious that he isn't one of the best guards in the league, his ability to just completely go off in games like he did against the Spurs last season by scoring 57 points (Franchise-high) shows just how dangerous this young player can truly be when he's on his game. With his huge extension kicking in this season, he'll be getting payed what he's worth to this franchise as long as his knee injury doesn't become a reoccurring one.
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Kevin Love is the other factor that will play a huge role in how successful this team will be this season. With J.R Smith potentially not coming back to the Cleveland, Love will have to show the same ability he showed back in Minnesota, in which he posted 26.1 points and 12.5 points per game, or at the very least a shade of it. There is no hiding the fact that Love disappeared on the offensive side of his game last season, only 16.4 points, which isn't exactly what you want to see from a player that has always lacked defensive prowess throughout his career. Either way, now that he's close to being cleared for practice, there's no doubt that Kevin will be ready to accept whatever roll they throw at him this upcoming season.
There isn't much that needs to mention anything about Lebron that hasn't already been said a thousand times. Amazing player that'll give you the type of play that no other player in the league is capable of doing. 25.3 points, 7.4 assists, and 6.0 rebounds per game and these numbers are considered low for him. Let's move on to Iman Shumpert. This former Knick is a lock-down defender that has been constantly guarding players outside his position for his entire 4 year career. While he might not be too dependable on offense, there is no question that he makes up for it on D. Locking him up for 4 years is a smart move especially when there's signs of Shump improving on his 3 point shot, which can potentially make him a threat on both sides of the court.
While the Cavs have signed back essential players back, they've risked losing Tristan Thompson next season,according to Tristan's agent, as well as the always up and down J.R. Smith who hasn't been getting to many calls this off-season. The few positives that can be picked up are both the trade of Brendan Haywood, a move that opened up a big chunk of space in the cap, and the signing of an old face, Mo Williams (2yr/ $4.2M, player option on the second year). All in all, this squad has for the most part stood together. But with the expiring contract of Timofey Mozgov and the Thompson's money hungry agent, Cleveland needs to win this upcoming season before the pieces on the board start jumping ship. Cavs fans can only hope that their best chance at winning a title wasn't shot down by Golden State Warriors.
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