Five On Five: Midseason Edition

1. What has surprised you most about the Cavs with the season almost half-way done?

2. Will LeBron win MVP this year?

David: LeBron is owed a lifetime achievement MVP award this season. Last season Russell Westbrook won for averaging a triple-double, and Stephen Curry won the previous season for leading the Warriors to a 73 win season, before blowing a 3-1 lead in the Finals to LeBron. Westbrook isn’t going to average a triple-double again, and now that Kevin Durant plays with Curry there’s no case for either of them to win it again. The fact that both have missed games this season too doesn’t help their cases either.

James, however, is averaging near career highs in almost all box score stats, and it’s his 15th season. This year he has his third highest field goal percentage, second highest 3-point percentage, second highest rebound total, highest assists per game total, and fifth highest scoring average.

Those are flat out impressive numbers, and the other MVP candidates not yet mentioned just aren’t doing it like him. James Harden is missing games, and the Greek Freak’s team just isn’t winning enough yet. They’re in fifth place right now, but are just one or two losses from eighth place. And lastly, everyone knows that the King has been the best player in the league the past three seasons if they watch basketball.

Cory: He almost has to. Harden is going to be out for weeks, Curry’s return will eat into Durant’s case, and vice versa, the Bucks aren’t going to win 50 games, and Westbrook’s MVP was regrettable after his swift exit in last seasons playoffs. While those are all valid reasons why LeBron should be the favorite, he’s also played better than any of the other contenders too when they were on the floor.

No player has ever been more dedicated to maintaining his body and extending his prime more than LeBron, and it’s flipping amazing that he’s better at 33 than he was at 28. He’s back to playing the percentages with his shot selection like he did in Miami. His long two has virtually vanished, and in a related story, his 62.3% two-point percentage is the highest of his career. He’s also setting career highs in assists (9.2). His scoring average of 27.7 is the highest it’s been in eight years, and his 38.7% from downtown is his second highest 3-point percentage of his career.

Justin: LeBron could win. He should win. He’s deserved to win every year for the past ten years. He is, without a doubt, the most valuable player on any team. If you remove LeBron from the Cavs, Cleveland is probably a first round knockout in the playoffs. The only player even close to his value is James Harden whose scoring is inflated by referees who don’t allow him to be touched without blowing their whistles. Just look at what happened to him in the Western Conference Semifinals last season. All this being said, I’m fairly certain Harden still won’t win. Too many people hold his regular season defense against him. The ability is always there as he shows us every year in the playoffs, but he’s more like a slumbering giant during the regular season. Add that to the fact that fans have been tired of voting for him to win for five years and I think it highly unlikely, as outrageous as that is.

Eli: Unfortunately I don’t believe LeBron will ever win the MVP again. While LeBron’s numbers are likely better than any other year in his career, he will not win as he is the victim of his own success. With the James Harden injury, LBJ’s chances do improve a bit but the media is reluctant to give MVP to the same person many times. The worst part and another reason why I don’t think people will give LeBron his fifth MVP is because he would then be tied with MJ and there’s a push and continued debate about who is better…. The “old guard” won’t quickly give LeBron even more ammo to “be like Mike”.

Nate: No. James takes too many plays off and tinkers with his game too much to be MVP. He is currently third in PER, fifth in RPM, first in Net Rating (Box Plus Minus), and first in VORP (Value over Replacement Player). Boston or Golden State will end up with the best record. If Boston gets it, expect the push for Kyrie. Harden will get the scoring title, Kevin Durant will be among the top of the league in blocks, and Steph Curry will be the league’s best volume shooter. LeBron won’t do any one thing well enough to get past those guys unless the Cavs find another regular season gear. But James (and clearly now the rest of the team) doesn’t care about the 82, he cares about the 16 wins needed for a championship.

He also needs to get to the line more to encase another trophy, and it’s clear it won’t happen. James is not a player who falls over at every contact and tricks the refs into fouls. He leads the NBA in made field goals at 412 to Harden’s 357 and Giannis’ 387 and is just behind Harden (741) at 738 attempts. But James shoots 5.6 attempts at the line per 36 minutes to Giannis’ 8.6, and Harden’s insane 10.4. James is shooting the lowest free throw attempt rate since his rookie year, yet he is second only to Giannis in attempts five feet or shorter per game. LeBron isn’t getting much respect from officials (we see it every game) and it’s hard to understand why. Giannis gets to the line by attacking relentlessly and gets a lot of love from refs. Harden is just a rule phreaking turd. If not winning another MVP is the price James has to play for not making a mockery of basketball by turning it into a flopping contest, then I’m OK with it.

This was a long way of saying that it’s just going to suck to listen to Kyrie troll when he wins the MVP trophy. Fortunately, it’ll piss LeBron off proper.

3. How are you feeling about IT after seeing him play now?

David: I’m excited for Isaiah Thomas to round into form. In his first game back, he put up 17 points in just 19 minutes. He converted an And-1, took lots of contact, and just put forth effort. He reminds me of Delly a little bit. They obviously don’t have the same skill sets, but both of them give 100% effort all the time and their lack of physical tools makes me want them to succeed so bad. On a side note, IT’s defense may not be amazing, but he doesn’t give up. Yea, he gets behind the pick and roll, but pushes around it and generally ends up on his man’s hip. He’s the anti Cleveland-Kyrie as far as attitude towards screens go. He isn’t getting fly papered and flopping around until an opponent’s possession is done.

Cory: Just before Christmas I was chatting with a security guard for the Cavs. The dazzle of the interaction was that I got to try his championship ring on (it’s even personalized with his name on it). The thing was enormous. While I’ve always detested wearing jewelry, I’m not going to lie, wearing that heavy glimmering ring made me feel like a fancy man for a moment.

The razzle of our discussion was that he was more candid than I thought he would be about players and their personalities behind the scenes when cameras weren’t rolling. We talked about LeBron’s seasonal affective disorder (it’s real, and it’s almost due), and Kyrie’s aloofness. When the topic of who he roots for the most came up, I was surprised, and wasn’t in a way that he said Isaiah Thomas.

He said that he’s never seen a star genuinely root for his teammates like IT. While Thomas is small in stature, he’s the biggest cheerleader in the league. Thus far, Thomas is putting up nearly a point per minute, and after watching his “Book of Isaiah” series I’m on board and completely rooting for the dude. If you haven’t watched it yet, go there as soon as you finish this article. It pulls back the curtain to the Kyrie deal, and the affect a trade has on a player and his family in a way we’ve never seen before.

Justin: How could we not feel good? After only seeing him for 19 minutes, he had put in 17 points on 6-12 shooting (3 of 8 from behind the arc), and three assists. Sure, he had two turnovers as well, but he hadn’t played a game in seven months, I think we can forgive him for those. He is going to add a threat that makes the Cavaliers offense nearly unstoppable. The Cavs are still missing a player that can takeover when LeBron can’t get the scoring going. Imagine how last night would have gone if IT was playing? Could the Celtics have held the Cavs to only 88 points if Isaiah’s energy and scoring were added to the mix? Unlikely.

It isn’t just his performance that will benefit from his return either. Cleveland saw an immediate uptick in the struggling Jae Crowder’s game. As many have mentioned, it’s not a coincidence that Crowder’s best game of the season came in Thomas’s return. I look forward to seeing the synergy grow between the new PG and the rest of the team. It will make for a fun second half of the season.

Eli: After seeing IT play, it’s a relief that the hip injury doesn’t seem to bother his quickness or athleticism. Seeing IT absorb a couple of hits and falls gave some assurance that his body is fine. I think IT can do a lot of the things offensively that Kyrie can do: attack the basket, midrange game, create his own shot, and make 3s. However, due to his physical limitations, defense will always be an issue. When the Cavs beat the Warriors in the Finals in 2016, Kyrie Irving didn’t magically become a defensive stopper. Irving was so good on the offensive end and forced Steph/Klay/etc. to work hard on both ends of the floor, giving himself opportunities to play the matchup to an even or advantageous pace. That is likely the similar hope and mindset for this Cavaliers squad in how they want to us IT3.

Nate: Napoleon Dynamite (my buddy Eric’s nickname for I.T.) is a great scorer, electric pace pusher, and a fantastic finisher, especially for his size. He has an unteachable feel for the game and even just running some of the pickup sets the Cavs play with he looks like he could push this Cavs’ team to a 120ppg clip. He’s a good enough passer that he’s a couple of orders of magnitude better player than Calderon was in the starting lineup and also better than Wade with the bench. Not sure it matters. The Cavs may not be able to get by Boston with his defensive shortcomings (no pun intended) and I haven’t seen how he stacks up with Toronto and Kyle Lowry. Let’s not even talk about the Dubs. That being said, the dude is stand-up, and impossible not to love. I don’t root for laundry. I’d rather lose with I.T. than win with a rat.

4. Will the Cavs make a trade? 

David: I don’t think the Cavs are going to make a trade. The team essentially just executed a quasi-trade getting IT back. Tyronn Lue needs time to integrate him into the lineup and figure out what players are going to fall out of favor. It doesn’t help that Iman Shumpert will be back soon too. And, let’s not forget, they have a deep bench already. Don’t mess with success.

If the Cavs do try to trade anyone, it’s either going to be Tristan Thompson (he has three years left worth $52,408,695), or Shump (he has two years left worth $21,348,315 ). Both of them just make too much for what they’re capable off. Koby Altman should be talking to the Suns if he wants to get rid of them. The Suns don’t want Tyson Chandler (he has two years left worth $26,585,000) for anything besides his leadership. The Cavs could surely use a rim protecting, roll man, with a solid head on his shoulders. And, he’s not totally done. He’s averaging 9.6 boards a game still in just 25 minutes a night. If the Cavs shipped out TT or Shump for him, it’d be a steal. The other positive with Chandler is that he has one more year left on his deal. If the King decided to leave, then the Cavs would at least have a solid veteran voice to guide the youngsters they would inevitably need to rebuild next year. He’d also be able to invigorate some anti-James juice into the team instantly, since he took him out in the Finals the first time James went there with Miami.

Cory: Yes. I don’t think it will be a huge move though, and no, the Nets pick will not be involved. My wish list is similar to Butch Davis’ days running the Browns in the sense that I want to get the guys that we wanted in the draft years ago, but David Griffin and Gum Drop Bear got in the way. I want a coarse correction to the Cavs timeline line like the island on Lost. I want Nerlens Noel, or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, or better yet, both.

The Cavs didn’t lose to the Warriors last year because of offense. This team has plenty of guys who can get buckets with LeBron, Love, Thomas, Wade, Korver, etc.  The Cavs lost to the Warriors because the Dubs were deeper (check), and couldn’t slow them down defensively. The only way for the Cavs to win another title is to be the more physical team.

I get that MKG’s shot looks like a classic Bob Backlund crossface chicken wing, but he’s got the size, athleticism and frenetic effort on defense to switch on any member of the Warriors lineup, or simply neutralize a player like Klay Thompson or Steph Curry. If Kidd-Gilchrist’s only assignment was to blanket one of them for 40 minutes per game, he could do it.

I know that Noel is hurt now, and that that his highlight of the season thus far is him getting a hot dog in the press room at halftime, but I still believe that Nerlens Noel could be a special player on the right team, and the Cavs are perfect for him. Noel had a respectable 2.58 DRPM last season with the Sixers and Mavs, and he would give the Cavs rim protection that they haven’t had since Ben Wallace still had cornrows. He’s also got the lateral agility to switch onto anyone, and his pterodactyl wingspan would disrupt passing lanes.

Another reason for the Cavs to get proactive on a Noel deal is to appease Rich Paul who represents both LeBron James and Noel. According to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, Paul is plotting to pair LeBron and Noel together next summer on the Lakers. While that article is a waste of server space, I do buy in that LeBron would take Noel to the level we envisioned for him years ago.

Justin: I don’t think the Cavs are making a trade. I hope I’m wrong, but it seems unlikely. The only assets the Cavs are willing to give up, nobody wants. There isn’t a GM in the League right now who’s salivating to get their hands on the oft-distracted Iman Shumpert or the corpse of Derrick Rose. Neither is going to raise a team to the next level. To get rid of them, Cleveland would likely need to attach additional assets and, as I’ve mentioned, they don’t seem keen on doing this.

I wish the Cavs would make a push for Paul George but I doubt he’s even available. I’ve always held firm that OKC is going to give George the whole year, and why not? They are currently the fifth seed in a challenging Western Conference. Short of PG13, I’d love for Altman to go after George Hill, but again, his price will likely be too high. The Grizzlies chose Gasol over Fizdale and I’m not convinced Gasol gets us over the hump without giving up Love for him. I would imagine that we are looking at our playoff team right now. I think it’s far more likely that Cleveland buys out DRose and looks to add a usable veteran for the stretch run.

Eli: I believe the Cavs will make a trade. I’m not sure what they’ll try to get but a swap for a veteran 3 and D wing or PG makes some sense. With TT coming back healthy, I’m not sure a defensive-oriented big is an important of a need at this juncture.  The Cavs do have a plethora of wings but at this point I’m not sure one can trust all of them. If I was Koby Altman, I’d consider players like George Hill, Jonathan Simmons, Thabo Sefelosha, or Nerlens Noel.

Nate: Nothing major unless LeBron has a change of heart and gives a closed door commitment or the Cavs find a way to get a serious upside star with some years left on his deal by trading Guffman, my name for the Nets’ pick. Guffman looks like he’s going to fall into the 7-10 range, and in this draft that’s nothing to sneeze at. Aside from Mort Guffman, the Cavs have their pick, a (distant) future first, Cedi, Zizic, and the ability to match any salary. But without the Nets pick, I doubt anyone wants to take on the Cavs’ lousy contracts (they’re paying a combined $80+ million for Thompson, Shumpert, Smith for the next two years) without giving back something lousy in return. Koby is going to have to work overtime to find a taker. Their best bet might be finding a veteran buyout or someone asking for a trade or a last year guy like Dedmon (yes please). Still, the major pieces won’t change.

5. What team has you most confused so far this season? 

David: The Lakers are in a very goofy spot. The team is sort of stacked with guys that could be very productive high-end role players if they were surrounded by just one or two legitimate stars. Jordan Clarkson is a perfect backup point-guard for a team with a solid starting unit. He can score like a sixth man at times, and manages a team. He’s wasted on the Lakers. Julius Randle runs the break, rebounds, and switches across positions. Lonzo is Lonzo. He needs knockdown shooters to complete the hot passes he whips. And, Kyle Kuzma is one of the more entertaining players to enter the league in the past three years. They even have Brandon Ingram. The team has talent. They even play right. They are number one in the league in pace and lead the league in points in the paint. They try on defense too, but something just isn’t working out for them. I didn’t expect them to be good at the beginning of the season, but after watching them, they have the tools to be successful. Maybe LaVar BAll is right in saying, “”You can see they’re not playing for Luke no more(Jeff Goodman, ESPN).” Their 11-27 record should be so much better.

Cory: The bi-polar Bulls. The Bulls had the roughest offseason in the league. They traded away a top twelve player with a pair of waaaaay below market value years left on his contract for an a He-Man Ram Man with a broken spring, an underperforming sophomore point guard, and the ninth pick in the draft. The cherry on top of their ice cream soup of a sundae was that Bobby Portis broke their best players face at practice.

After that healter skelter offseason, it was natural to assume that their 3-20 start was part of the script and that they were Playing like Poopa for Luka (Doncic). Then Mirotic returned and started a buddy cop chemistry with Portis on the court, Dunn started playing up to his draft position, and Lauri Markkanen drastically exceeded expectations.

The Bulls are 11-6 since Mirotic’s return on December 8th. I don’t think that they’ll challenge for the playoffs, but LaVine will return in the next month and they have more talent than multiple teams ahead of them in the standings.

Justin: The Clippers are causing me to scratch my head. It’s not working out in La La Land. It’s clear to pretty much everyone but LA. The Griffin-Jordan tandem isn’t getting them anywhere without a third star and nobody wants to come play for Doc anymore. The confusing part isn’t why they are bad, it’s why they aren’t embracing how bad they are. As it stands at the time of this writing, the Clippers are only a game and a half out of the playoffs and the Pelicans aren’t exactly a stellar team themselves. But they weren’t able to get past the Warriors, Rockets, or Spurs with Chris Paul, and they certainly aren’t going to do it without him. They need to blow it up and start from scratch, ASAP. I wish Beverley weren’t injured because I would love to scoop him up when the walls come crumbling down. Beverley would help mitigate IT’s defensive shortcomings far more than JR does.

Eli: The team that has confused me the most this season is the Los Angeles Lakers. Currently in dead last of the Western Conference (as of 1.3.2018), the Lakers began the year proclaiming that they were back after selecting Lonzo Ball. Fast forward to now, Kuzma is the better rookie, the Brook Lopez experiment looks done, and trade rumors have caused internal turmoil. Luol Deng is the Association’s most expensive inactive player while Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle see their roles range from starter, role player, to bench player. In a year that was supposed to be “turning around” the Lakers, the team can’t consistently stick with a strategy on how to improve or who to improve on their long list of supposedly expensive “assets”.  There’s an easy fix to all this: play Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma a lot if you’re going to not be good.  Clarkson and Randle need at least role player minutes to attract trade interest. The Lakers need to stop being their own worst enemy.

Nate: You mean besides the Cavs? The Hornets make no sense to me. It seems like this is the same sub-mediocre team they’ve been immemorial. Comedically, Dwight Howard’s turnover rate is among the NBA’s worst at 18.7, and analytically his plus minus numbers are roundly terrible for a starting NBA player. Yet, don’t look now but they’ve won three of the last four including one over the Dubs. Yeah, they’ve had injuries, and are just getting healthy, and their starting unit of Kemba, MKG, Howard, Batum, and Williams is passable, if not exactly electric. But it just makes me wonder what the hell their goal is. NBA mediocrity is a no-man’s land.

If there was ever a team that needed to pull a Jokic or an Antetokounmpo from out of nowhere in the draft, it’s this one. Yet all they do is get over-athletic guys who can’t score like MKG or Michael Carter-Williams or stiffs like Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky. And this is a team featuring a $116.5 million dollar payroll that is currently $1.7 mil. over the luxury tax threshold. There have even been sane calls to trade their best player, Kemba Walker. Even though Cory loves MKG, there’s no one on this team I’d want save Kemba. Anyway, Charlotte, the second most screwed over team in NBA history (after Seattle) deserves better.