Casspi to the hoop!
Hoopsworld previewed the 2012-2013 Cavs season. It’s easily the best season preview I’ve seen from a non-blog source. There was one quote that specifically stood out to me, which came in the context of praising Chris Grant: “All Grant has done so far is nearly copy the Thunder’s model for success to perfection.” That’s an interesting opinion. I’m of the belief that everyone tries to imitate OKC. Who wouldn’t want to be the Thunder? But execution for their plan involves all of your draft picks being superstars or stars (depending on how you feel about James Harden.) The Thunder drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden in consecutive years. That kind of drafting success is unprecedented, and unlikely to happen again. Maybe it’s time for people to stop comparing every young team to the Thunder. Oh, you want the season preview? Here’s the link.
Tags: hoopsworld, Kyrie Irving, season preview
Decent breakdown… The last question they pose as being incredibly important is not really a viable question unless we suffer many injuries. If we stay healthy, (Andy & Kyrie) we will not be in a position to tank regardless of possible trades. I really don’t see a scenario in which we trade Andy without getting a good player back immediately. So even then, Kyrie plus good player and the other guys minus Andy still makes us better than a possible Top 5 pick team. That was a relatively convoluted sentence, but I think you guys get me. Whether it fits our “plan” or not, we will be competing for the 8th spot this season. Dion will be in the running for ROY. I’m not being super Cavsfan shaded here either. He will get minutes and onball playing time, and our team will be exciting enough to attract attention. Though Anthony Davis will likely win the award, I think Dion will have a great shot at it. MKG has a game that doesn’t lend itself to highlights, same can be said for Beal and Barnes for other reasons, and I don’t think Jonas gets enough touches to really get a shot. Dion has a flashy game and will be on a solid if not good team. Frequently ROY contests are won by those factors more than actual substance. Though, if used in the Manu, Harden mold, Dion will also make a 6th man case. Clearly he won’t be as good as those guys, but he splits the double team as well as any rookie I have seen not named Kyrie. I see the Cavs winning between 35 and 42 games.
I have one point of disagreement with this breakdown: The commentary suggested that losing Jamison was going to hurt the team. David Berri’s analysis suggests that losing Jamison was actually the best move the Cavs made in the offseason, because he was chucking up a lot of bad shots.