Cavs biggest rival over the next 5 years?
 

After much internal debate --- going back and forth on thinking of LBJ+Love pick&pops & floor spacing vs. LBJ+Wiggins becoming the premier lock-down wing tandem on D... I realized I failed to consider something extremely important.

Love's outlet pass ability will initiate one of the fastest fastest breaks the league has seen with LBJ & Irving.

There are going to be some uncontested lanes on D to be certain, but between their defensive rebounding & love's ability to throw some 3/4 court alley-oops to bron, there will be no shortage of 4-5 point swings for the Cavs.

So I am finally sold on the Love for Wiggins move -- what they gain on offense will makeup for what they lose on D imo.


SO, my question now is - when we look back at this 5 year stretch a couple decades from now, who was the Cavs' biggest rival?

Won't be any team from the Western Conferencd bc they will never make it to the finals. Has to be Bulls, Pacers and Knicks.

Pacers window is shut. No Stephenson no PG. Roy Hibber stat lines of peace.

If Rose comes back somewhat close to his old self it'll be the bulls.

Dark horse is Washington. There are hints Durant might srsly consider signing there in two years. LeBron would be older. Wall-Beal-Durant? Oh lawd.

How are you not including the Thunder?

The Cavs-Wizards rivalry was a lot of fun, though.

Yea I was torn between including the Thunder or Wizards --- and netted out with the Wizards because of the same rumor Pancake raised

that team would be tooooough if KD went there...

I still see the more deep/veteran teams being LBJ's biggest roadblocks over the next 5 years --- for some reason I just don't see LBJ losing KD's number in that time -- unless, of course, KD goes to Washington

yea it's certainly not looking like the Pacers anymore - but the Knicks could potentially do something after next year for sure.


You really don't think the Cavs will make the finals once over the next 5 years?

The heat obv

Heat.

Slaughterhouses.

let me preface this by saying a few things. I am a Bulls fan. I am glad the Lebron went back.


After saying that...


If Rose is as healthy as they say he is. Then even with Love the Bulls are better than the Cavs. I love Kevin Love, but lets be honest. He is not what people are trying to make him out to be. He plays atrocious defense and makes Carlos Boozer look like bruce bowens. He also disappears a lot in the 4th qtr when required to be the focus and go to to close out games. Kyrie is an up and comer but lets be honest, he has injury issues as well. hes not a spot up shooter, and hes also terrible defensively. Dion waiters is inconsistent, hates kyrie, and is a below average defender. Thompson is a below average defender, and Vareajo is Vareajo. They really have no depth, and im not sure on relying on Miller and Jones to create all this bench scoring is gonna be a long term viable option. Did they get the best end of the deal trading for love. YUP by a lot. But the Bulls are a serious matchup problem for them.

Its pretty much a given that the bulls will be a top 3 defensive team. Will be one of the best if not the best rebounding teams. Theyre biggest problem is that they have lacked scoring outside of Rose. They needed shooting, now they have 4 guys who can torch (Dougie, Mirotic, Dunleavy, and Snell) They had only ever had Korver. They needed a better post player, and Gasol is still a stud. He was misused in a poor system recently in LA. Hes an upgrade offensively and defensively. After watching the summer league i think some people seriously undervalued Doug McDermott, he is not a reincarnation of Adam Morrison, he is a much better player on both sides of the ball and can absolutely play in the post offensively, catch and shoot, and create his opportunities. Another person i think that is overlooked is Nikola Mirotic. That dude will be a monster. Everything about him screams Dirk.

Im happy for the Cavs and im looking forward to the matchups, but I just find the Bulls to be a superior team. They remind me of San Antonio, at almost every position with the exception of I think Noah is better than the Spurs Centers and the Bulls may be deeper althogeter. They have 4 good Legit Bigs, tons of shooting, a creator, and play better defense.

That's a lot to type to be wrong.

I'm a bulls fan

They're not better than Cleveland with.love.

Sry

Unless you have 2011 Derrick Rose and 2009 Pau Gasol stashed somewhere …

explain how?

That Cavs team is horrible defensively outside of Lebron. Literally one of the worst teams defensively.


basketball is not about the names on jerseys (Spurs proved that). its about matchups, and the bulls matchup incredibly well with Cleveland.

to be honest I dont want a 2011 Rose. He doesn't need to be that. The team would be better by him letting the game come to him as opposed to going out and forcing his will.



believe me or not. I dont expect to change minds, but you will see when they play the matchup issues and defensive issues the bulls will put on the cavs.

I don't know how to do roflz smilies on this forum (does it have any?), but if I did, I would put a plethora of them right here.

pg Rose, Brooks
sg Butler, Kirk (Snell)
sf Mcdermott, Dunleavy (Snell)
Pf Gasol, Taj, Mirotic,
C Noah


how is that not as deep if not deeper than SA?

Thats 10 dudes who would get good chunks of playing time on just about every NBA team. There is literally not enough minutes for that squad

The Spurs had 10 guys who got significant playing time IN THE NBA FINALS WHEN THEY WON.

Aaron Brooks couldn't keep a job last year. Kirk Hinrich is the backup point guard, not Brooks.

Neither could Nate robinson or dj Augustin. I think the track record shows thibbs system is beneficial to those types.

Don't think the bulls are even close to as deep as the spurs. Too many question marks.



If rose gets hurt or isn't the same, you guys have one legitimate proven scorer on the roster in gasol. Where's the points coming from? You can talk d all day. You still need buckets. I think the wiz are a better team right now.