A "Depth"-Defying Experience - The Best Roster Ever?

[Omar The Horse]

No 2016-2017 roster mention?

 

[pinoycavsfan]

After a few days of processing our off season moves, here's our roster for 2017-2018 season.

POINT GUARDS - Losing Kyrie's efficient scoring will be a big blow to the cavs. Can the replacements provide enough scoring and become a positive defender which kyrie has never been?

1. Rose - Came off from one of his productive seasons with the Knicks after being injured for so long. Still has decent athleticism and can drive to the basket. Suspect jumpshot and defense and even more suspect health. Rooting for him to have a breakout year as he is trending upward in production and has been playing fairly healthy. We need him to make enough shots to make the defense honest and be focused on defense to be impactful for the cavs.

2. IT - Injured with hip problems and will see the court by January. Can he regain his MVP form midseason? Can he develop chemistry with LBJ and company in time for the playoffs? Will he be tall enough to defend a shot?

3. Felder - Probably wont measure up to being an NBA player. Very poor man's IT.

4. Calderon - Veteran. That's about it.


SHOOTING GUARDS
1. Smith - Has a down year with all the distractions from his baby, contract negotiations and health issues. Hoping for him to have a bounce back year. Being 32 doesn't help, but he has that crazy shot making skill that makes defenses pay. We need the best version of swish this season.

2. Wade - declining in numbers and athleticism for the past 3 years while increasing in age. He's LBJ's guy and would be a great addition to the locker room as he has the championship pedigree and can call out LBJ when needed. On the court; well, that's a different issue. He wants to start but probably better as a bench guy. Would Ty Lue be a smart coach or will he give in to the pressures of LBJ and Wade?

3. Shumpert - Potentially our 3 and D guy. Potentially. Still plays out of control. If he had the slightest increase in basketball IQ he would be a decent player. Probably a trade chip. Note to Ty Lue: He's not a point guard.

4. Cedi - Euro swingman that can make 3pters and defend euro level players. Will he be a trade bait or our future SG?


SMALL FORWARD - Our deepest and most productive position ever. LBJ has never had this kind of depth in all his seasons with the cavs.
1. LBJ - The king. MVP. GOAT. Nuff said. Needs to lessen his minutes this year.

2. Crowder - Our biggest acquisition so far. Can shoot and shoot efficiently. His numbers have gone up every year. The epitome of 3 and D. Can defend 1-4 and is gritty. Will have his best year with LBJ.

3. Korver - Shooting touch ages well. Expects him to still have it on the offensive side. I hope he wont be offensive on the defensive end.

4. Green - Underachiever throughout his career. Can LBJ make the most out of this 3/4 tweener?

5. RJ - Good locker room guy. Podcasts are crazy. Definitely needs to retire. Our JJ this season.


POWER FORWARD/CENTER
1. Love - Will have more exposure on offense this season with kyrie leaving. Had the best numbers with kyrie out last year and expecting to be the same this season. Had great strides on effort on defense but still a liability due to his lack of athleticism. If he regains his all star form, we wont lose any rhythm on offense during the regular season. Has to continue to be better in the postseason if the cavs want defeat GSW.

2. TT - Iron man, bringer of the kardashian curse. Doesn't have to shoot but needs to improve weakside shot blocking and timing. Being a better defensive rebounder is a must. Still cant shoot to save his life.

3. Frye - Great rotational piece that can spread the floor and be decent except against GSW, our biggest rival. Good locker room guy.

4. Zizic - Euro big. Can he be Jokic or just a Biedrins?

5. Tavares - Cant teach size, I hope our coaching staff teaches him some skill.

 

[rabman_gold]

No 2016-2017 roster mention?

Well, it's not much different than 2016, right?

Tristan Thompson
Kevin Love
LeBron James
J.R. Smith
Kyrie Irving

Channing Frye
Richard Jefferson
Iman Shumpert

The biggest change was Korver, Deron, and Derrick Williams.

Liggins, Felder, McRae, James Jones, Dunleavy, Chris Anderson, and Larry Sanders?

Appearances by Bogut, Dahntay, and Tavares (all in 1 regular season game).

The previous team had Mozgov and Delly, we were unable to fill in those spots in the same way...

The total VORP (value over replace players) was 13.4. Significantly worse than the previous year...

 

[Nphan]

I really have a strong feeling now that DeMarcus Cousins will be the play and big time addition to this squad at some point this season.

First off, The Pelicans hold ZERO leverage in this situation. With Boogie being an impending free agent, he literally holds the cards to where he wants to go, unlike say Paul George and his situation.

If Boogie demands a trade this season, and informs the front office there is zero chance of he returning, the Pelicans will be left with no other recourse than to find what they can get rather than risk losing him for nothing. Being that he's in his last year, his trade value will rival what the Bulls and Pacers got for George and Butler.

Even if the Pelicans sold Boogie to he highest bidder, the Cavs would be in the drivers seat holding the coveted Brooklyn lotto pick, ESPECIALLY now after the league changed the lotto now to the worst 3 teams now all having the same 14% chance of the top pick.

But I think his value will be much lower. It would be amazing if he could be had and keep Tristan Thompson to come off the bench, but financially in sure the package will start with Thompson and likely include Shumoert who they've long coveted. They will match the salaries and still create good value. Adding Cedi Osman, who many feel is a first round talent, could get the deal done. But the seal to this deal I think could be the Cavs including their own first round pick in '18, and package it along with Thompson/Shumpert and possibly Osman. That's one hell of a return for a team whose losing a player anyways.

Under this scenario, the Cavs could add Boogie and STILL be able to take a top 3 talent in the '18 draft to add to their roster.

That would be horrible. All that for a guy on a half a season rental? Not only do we trade one of the most coveted pick, but we also add in out starting center, a young player, and our own 1st round pick. Gm should be fired after this trade.

 

[CHIMOCHIS]

Depth doesn't win championships.

Truer words have t been spoken

Give me your top 4 over your top 4

Or tell me who’s your center and I’ll show you my center

 

[Lyuokdea]

That would be horrible. All that for a guy on a half a season rental? Not only do we trade one of the most coveted pick, but we also add in out starting center, a young player, and our own 1st round pick. Gm should be fired after this trade.

I think he said "without the 2018 BKN pick" -- I'm not sure that's possible, but that's the trade he was discussing.

 

[LeShaq]

Roster is good. I think the depth chart may be something like this with IT out. Not sure who will be the 10th guy. Maybe Shump or RJ if they stick around.

DR -------- DW.........................................[IT].....................kf/jc
JR -------- ??? (IS? RJ?)...........................co
JC -------- KK..........................................rj?
LJ -------- JG...........................................cf
KL -------- TT...........................................az

Not sure who's gone yet. I would think Tavares is, and hopefully Felder. Maybe also Calderon?

Gone from training camp roster [19, I think] ----------> Perkins, Tavares, Felder (?), Shump/Jeff?, Calderon?

 

[LeShaq]

I think Wade can now be our version of Ginobili. At least while Thomas is out (and maybe then Wade starts, when Thomas comes back).

Anyone down on the Wade signing is fooling themselves, I think. Don't watch that Coach Nick stuff.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Roster is good. I think the depth chart may be something like this with IT out. Not sure who will be the 10th guy. Maybe Shump or RJ if they stick around.

DR -------- DW.........................................[IT].....................kf/jc
JR -------- ??? (IS? RJ?)...........................co
JC -------- KK..........................................rj?
LJ -------- JG...........................................cf
KL -------- TT...........................................az

Not sure who's gone yet. I would think Tavares is, and hopefully Felder. Maybe also Calderon?

Gone from training camp roster [19, I think] ----------> Perkins, Tavares, Felder (?), Shump/Jeff?, Calderon?

I'm hoping for THIS:

LJ -------- DR .........................................kf.....................[IT]
DW -------- KK .........................................co
JRS -------- LJ ..........................................rj
JC -------- JG .........................................cf
KL -------- TT ..........................................az

 

[bigfoot5415]

I'm almost positive we are working out Perk for a future roster spot. Calderon won't likely be cut unless we can't move Shump and are forced to cut someone outside of Kay & Edy.

Calderon stays on the team due to our need for a PG and once IT comes back he's waived for resident bad ass Kendrick Perkins.

 

[MirORich]

I'm almost positive we are working out Perk for a future roster spot. Calderon won't likely be cut unless we can't move Shump and are forced to cut someone outside of Kay & Edy.

Calderon stays on the team due to our need for a PG and once IT comes back he's waived for resident bad ass Kendrick Perkins.

Nah. Perk is here to rough up Zicic and Edy in practice and collect a little cash, maybe do some understudy work in some aspect of coaching or FO. Doubt he plays more than 20 games on an NBA roster at any point moving forward.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

Nah. Perk is here to rough up Zicic and Edy in practice and collect a little cash, maybe do some understudy work in some aspect of coaching or FO. Doubt he plays more than 20 games on an NBA roster at any point moving forward.

Perk should be here to put an elbow in Zaza’s Skull, or to step on his toes, so he tears an Achilles.

 

[LeShaq]

Report out there now from Lloyd saying Jefferson's spot in jeopardy.
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiret...s-With-Richard-Jefferson-Due-To-Roster-Crunch

Looks like we about have all the info in we need to see what the roster will be.

Here's my guess on final depth chart for start of the year. First the original depth chart and then what it looks like with Thomas out.

DEPTH CHART WITH THOMAS HEALTHY
IT.................DR.................JO
DW...............JR..................IS
LJ.................KK................CO#
JC................JG.................CF
KL................TT..................AZ#

DEPTH CHART WITH THOMAS HURT
DR................DW...............IT
JR.................IS................JO
LJ.................KK...............CO#
JC................JG................CF
KL................TT.................AZ#

GONE FROM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER ---------> KF, JH, RJ, KP, WT

Lue said after the scrimmage that Crowder will start at power forward.

Glad we seem to be moving on from Felder. Feel bad for Jefferson, but he's 37 years old and we can use some younger bodies.

 

[rabman_gold]

So... I thought I'd revisit the topic of "depth" (since some are discussing it in other threads).

How's it look for us at this point?

Sorted by total minutes played:

1. LeBron James
2. J.R. Smith
3. Kevin Love
4. Jae Crowder
5. Dwyane Wade
6. Kyle Korver
7. Jeff Green
8. Iman Shumpert
9. Derrick Rose
10. Tristan Thompson
11. Channing Frye
12. Jose Calderon
13. Cedi Osman
14. Ante Zizic
15. John Holland (2-way)

11 players with 150+ minutes played. 6 players with 10+ points per game (3 of them are reserves). 5 players with 1+ three pointers made per game (4 shooting at least 34.9%).

Still waiting on Isaiah Thomas. Derrick, Tristan, and Shumpert haven't been fully healthy. But aside from that, we're coming into our own, aren't we? Channing and Jose have done well as the "next men up". Even Cedi has scored some rotational minutes.

What's your thoughts, fellas? With Isaiah coming back? What if we suffer more injuries? Won't we be able to get the "next man up"? We may still have a long ways to go, but the potential is there.

 

[kookoo]

So... I thought I'd revisit the topic of "depth" (since some are discussing it in other threads).

How's it look for us at this point?

Sorted by total minutes played:

1. LeBron James
2. J.R. Smith
3. Kevin Love
4. Jae Crowder
5. Dwyane Wade
6. Kyle Korver
7. Jeff Green
8. Iman Shumpert
9. Derrick Rose
10. Tristan Thompson
11. Channing Frye
12. Jose Calderon
13. Cedi Osman
14. Ante Zizic
15. John Holland (2-way)

11 players with 150+ minutes played. 6 players with 10+ points per game (3 of them are reserves). 5 players with 1+ three pointers made per game (4 shooting at least 34.9%).

Still waiting on Isaiah Thomas. Derrick, Tristan, and Shumpert haven't been fully healthy. But aside from that, we're coming into our own, aren't we? Channing and Jose have done well as the "next men up". Even Cedi has scored some rotational minutes.

What's your thoughts, fellas? With Isaiah coming back? What if we suffer more injuries? Won't we be able to get the "next man up"? We may still have a long ways to go, but the potential is there.

Once IT and TT come back, I'm really interested to see 1) if LeBron will hand the keys over like he did to Kyrie 2) who of Jose and Derrick is further ahead in Lue's rotation after the recent success being without him 3) Whether TT is going to start at the 5 since we'll have some shooting with IT back...

For point 3, I really think having Wade as the 1, Shump at the 2, Korver at the 3, Crowder at the 4 and Jeff Green at the 5 would be perfect as a speedy bench lineup. Or go back one position for everyone 2-5 and work Zizic into the bench 5 role. Dream world is trading Shump and TT with our own pick for someone like Marc Gasol and giving Cedi whatever minutes Shump would have gotten.