The NBA preseason doesn't matter in terms of wins and losses, but it can help a new roster develop chemistry. That's what the Cleveland Cavaliers needed to do with their big offseason acquisitions, and it also gave us our first look at how the championship favorites look playing together. Here are the three biggest things we learned from watching the Cavs this preseason.
1) Dion Waiters will have a lot of scoring opportunities
Waiters was dynamite offensively when he was on the court with the rest of the starting lineup (Irving, James, Love, Varejao), and that's because he was constantly going up against the opposition's weakest perimeter defender. There aren't very many teams in this league that have four guys who can guard the scoring threats Cleveland has, so Waiters will likely see a mismatch every night.
Also, by being the fourth option, we saw Waiters play some with the bench unit, a role the Pacers utilized with Lance Stephenson last year. Head coach David Blatt will probably space out the rotation since the starters don't play great defense right now, and playing some with the second unit will allow Waiters to have much more freedom offensively and mask his defensive liabilities.
That's not to say Waiters won't start, because he will, but he'll probably be the first one taken out and then inserted back in the lineup with mostly bench players on the floor
2) Their defense needs to get better
Part of the reasoning behind staggering the minutes of the starters throughout the game is because of their defensive woes they've shown when they've been on the court together. Cleveland doesn't have great on-ball defenders to begin with, and they aren't good/committed with their rotations right now. They need to fix that soon, or else the Cavs won't be as dominant as we thought they'd be.
3) Kevin Love complements Kyrie Irving and LeBron James perfectly
Kevin Love became a top 10 player in this league because he's a terrific rebounder and can do it all offensively. He runs the floor, sets good screens, and can score both inside and out. During the preseason, he used his variety of skills to mesh perfectly with Irving and James.
His pick-and-roll/pop game with Irving has been devastating (we should've known from Uncle Drew Chapter 2), and he knows where to be so LeBron can find him in scoring position. This 'Big 3' might not be as talented individually as James, Wade, and Bosh were when they first got together, but they play better together because of the way they complement each other.
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