3. Scale of 0 to 10: How much hope should Cavs fans have?
Cavan: 4. When you're booing a 20-year-old rookie, you can be certain the scorn's source lies elsewhere. Like, say, in the fact that your team's two backcourt cornerstones have to deny having fought; or that your certifiably sports-obsessed fan base is fast approaching 50 years without a title. Right now, this is less a team on the rise as it is one hoping for a King's rescue.
Doolittle: 6. You can always change coaches again if Mike Brown's return continues to go sour. Cleveland still has talent, flexibility and draft picks.
Gutierrez: 5. Much of the hope going into this season was built around an even more improved Kyrie Irving and some kind of positive contribution from No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett. Instead, Bennett has offered close to nothing, Irving is struggling with his efficiency and distribution (1.8-1 assist-to-turnover ratio) and there are reports of a highly dysfunctional locker room. Those are bad signs for a young team. Oh, and Andrew Bynum remains a medical mystery.
Verrier: 4, to match their win total. Sign LeBron? Let's start with keeping Kyrie for the long haul, because the Cavs still haven't figured out how to surround their star player with a capable core. Building through the draft is a better plan than overpaying Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall, but that Thunder-y approach only works when you hit on your high picks, and GM Chris Grant is batting around the Mendoza line in the lottery.
Windhorst: 5. I'm not sure they can play much worse, especially Bennett. They are underachieving and being tested by a coach who is sacrificing offense to focus mostly on defense, even if it isn't showing much. Brown's teams historically improve as the season goes on and the Cavs have very limited options other than to ride it out and hope more time and more home games help them out.
