The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently the most interesting and compelling franchise in the NBA. They have never won a championship, yet they were the most dominant team in the 21st century. They managed to blow one of their three highest overall draft picks over a four-year period. Finally, they lost the only man that could bring them a trophy in the most arrogant way possible, and then amazingly won him back just four years later.
Now we are one-third of the way through the 2014-15 regular season, and the Cavs have performed disappointingly bad. The Cavs are currently 18-12 and find themselves in 5th place in the lowly Eastern Conference. There appears to be no chemistry between the players, especially the big three, and LeBron James has just not been himself.
It’s easy to say, “They have LeBron and the season just started so they will be fine.” However, after the 20-point loss to the Detroit Pistons, it’s hard to admit that everything will indeed be fine. The difference between the Cav’s Big 3 and the Miami Heat Big 3 is surprisingly in the head coach. Eric Spoelstra did a masterful job bringing his whole team together while surrendering some leadership to Lebron James. “Spo” also surrounded Lebron with superb role players who thrived in hitting key shots and stepping up when they needed to. David Blatt on the other hand, is rumored to be a “dead man walking” due to his lack of respect from the King James himself. This is Blatt’s first stint as an NBA coach, and it hasn’t gotten off to a good start. Blatt could even find himself looking for a new job if things don’t get better quickly.
The Cavs could very well be facing a short-lived LeBron era being that he has the ability to opt out of his contract at the end of the season. Recent rumors have revealed that LeBron may indeed decide to opt out of his contract if the Cavs continue to perform poorly. He only has one career, and he doesn’t want to waste his time on a sputtering franchise like the Cavs.
Kevin Love will go wherever he has a chance to win and where the money is. If Cleveland is not the place, then he will pack his bags as well. His contract also has an opt-out option at the conclusion of this season. It has been rumored that Love has his eyes on Los Angeles, where he played college ball at UCLA.
So this is an ode to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who appear to be the worst superpower team since the 2012 Lakers.