Cavaliers bullish on future without Lebron James

LIFE without Lebron James won’t be easy for the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers, who are expected to take a significant step back after their native son’s departure to California.

After carrying the Cavs to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, including a memorable first championship win in 2016, James joined the Los Angeles Lakers to create a gaping hole in the team he left behind.

Yet James’ former teammates are adamant that they can step up to fill the void.

Kevin Love thinks Cleveland is going to surprise a lot of people.

“Losing the best player in the world, we’re going to have a fresh start,” Love said. “We have first- and second-year guys who have to make an impact, and then veteran guys who have playoff experience under their belt.”

Tristan Thompson also believes any team underestimating the Cavs will be making a mistake.

“We’re a playoff team. That’s realistic,” Thompson said after Cleveland suffered a 129-110 loss to Detroit on Friday, October 12.”Everyone that says playoffs is overachieving doesn’t know our squad and doesn’t believe in our squad. For us, we’re a playoff team.

Last season, Cleveland pushed their way through the Eastern Conference playoffs before meeting the Golden State Warriors in the final.

But the Warriors proved to be too much to handle, sweeping them in four straight.

After a series of roster changes in the off-season, the Cavaliers will have different expectations than past years.

Love is now the face of the franchise while first round draft pick Collin Sexton hopes to throw his hat into the ring for rookie-of-the year consideration.

Love, a 10-year veteran who won an NBA title with Cleveland in 2015-16, has changed his game for the better and is still one of the best power forwards in the league.

The 30-year-old American quickly signed a four-year $120-million extension to stick around as the leader of the offense./ rappler.com