The first year of LeBron James' return to the Cleveland Cavaliers started a bit rocky under rookie head coach David Blatt, but some key midseason moves helped bolster the team and propel them to the NBA Finals despite being shorthanded. The Cavaliers are bringing back most of that roster to finish the job this season, although one key piece in Tristan Thompson is still missing as his contract standoff with the team continues.
Cleveland Cavaliers 2015 roster: Loaded Cavaliers the favorite to come out of East
The Cavaliers are the clear favorite in the Eastern Conference after bringing back most of last year’s team, but there are some health concerns and the Tristan Thompson situation still needs to be resolved.
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Cleveland went into the offseason with the priority of bringing back its key free agents. New deals were reached with James, Kevin Love, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and James Jones, and Matthew Dellavedova signed his qualifying offer. Thompson remains the elephant in the room, although there's little reason to expect him not to be in a Cavaliers uniform at some point.
In addition to bringing back all those players and racking up a huge payroll that'll only get larger with Thompson, Cleveland also signed Mo Williams, Richard Jefferson and Sasha Kaun for depth. There are injury concerns with several key players, as Kyrie Irving (knee), Kevin Love (shoulder), Timofey Mozgov (knee) and Anderson Varejao (Achilles) are all coming off surgeries, while Shumpert just underwent wrist surgery and will miss three months.
However, this is a roster with the talent to overcome some health setbacks barring a catastrophic injury to James, and the Cavaliers are expected to come out of the Eastern Conference once again.
LAST YEAR
RECORD: 53-29 (2nd in Eastern Conference)
PLAYOFFS (if applicable): Lost (4-2) in NBA Finals to Golden State Warriors
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 107.7 (4th)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 104.1 (20th)
ROSTER
No. | PLAYER | POS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | AGE | COLLEGE |
| 8 | Matthew Dellavedova | PG | 6'4 | 198 | 25 | St. Mary's (CA) |
| 12 | Joe Harris | SG | 6'6 | 219 | 24 | Virginia |
| 2 | Kyrie Irving | PG | 6'3 | 193 | 23 | Duke |
| 23 | LeBron James | SF | 6'8 | 250 | 30 | High School |
| 24 | Richard Jefferson | SF | 6'7 | 233 | 35 | Arizona |
| 1 | James Jones | SF | 6'8 | 218 | 35 | Miami (FL) |
| 14 | Sasha Kaun | C | 6'11 | 260 | 30 | Kansas |
| 0 | Kevin Love | PF | 6'10 | 251 | 27 | UCLA |
| 20 | Timofey Mozgov | C | 7'1 | 275 | 29 | Russia |
| 4 | Iman Shumpert | SG | 6'5 | 220 | 25 | Georgia Tech |
| 5 | J.R. Smith | SG | 6'6 | 225 | 30 | High School |
| 13 | Tristan Thompson | PF | 6'9 | 238 | 24 | Texas |
| 17 | Anderson Varejao | C | 6'11 | 273 | 33 | Brazil |
| 52 | Mo Williams | PG | 6'1 | 198 | 32 | Alabama |
Coach: David Blatt
Assistant coaches: Tyronn Lue, Jim Boylan, Bret Brielmaier, Larry Drew, James Posey, Phil Handy
OFFSEASON CHANGES
IN: Mo Williams, Richard Jefferson, Sasha Kaun
OUT: Mike Miller, Shawn Marion, Kendrick Perkins, Brendan Haywood
Williams, Jefferson and Kaun are nice additions for the bench, and the Cavaliers’ losses, assuming Thompson gets a new deal, aren’t impactful.
DEPTH CHART
POINT GUARD | SHOOTING GUARD | SMALL FORWARD | POWER FORWARD | CENTER | |
STARTER | Kyrie Irving | J.R. Smith | LeBron James | Kevin Love | Timofey Mozgov |
RESERVE | Mo Williams | Iman Shumpert | Richard Jefferson | Tristan Thompson | Anderson Varejao |
RESERVE | Matthew Dellavedova | Joe Harris | James Jones | Sasha Kaun | |
RESERVE |
THE KEY QUESTION. What can Anderson Varejao provide for the Cavs?
I worry about lineups where Varejao is in the frontcourt with Mozgov or Kevin Love. There just isn’t enough foot speed or mobility there, and with today’s league rewarding driving and active and mobile power forwards, being able to move your feet is more important than ever. Varejao can spread the floor with his money midrange jumper, but it’s hard to see that being a much better offensive option than the Big 3, and if Love is on the floor there’s a ton of spacing anyway.
But perhaps the Tristan Thompson pairing could work for the Cavs. There’s no rim protection, but Thompson can guard stretch fours and let Varejao hang back near the rim. He still won’t protect it, but taking charges could be an outcome that works. He can make up for Thompson’s lack of range and provide spacing for drives. Neither Varejao nor Thompson will start. Perhaps Varejao will step on Thompson’s offensive toes going for rebounds like we say before LeBron James’ return. But it may be the only way.
PREDICTIONS
BEST CASE: Thompson gets his new deal, the Cavaliers stay relatively healthy and roll through the Eastern Conference en route to the franchise’s first title.
WORST CASE: The Thompson situation doesn’t get resolved and proves to be a major problem. Injuries strike yet again, and while the Cavaliers are still plenty good enough to get into the playoffs, their shorthanded roster can’t get them through to the Finals this time around.
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