Cavs’ shakeup on the horizon
It might be wise to view the Cavaliers as a team in transition. By the time they get to the playoffs, where a Finals matchup with the Warriors is a distinct possibility, they’re likely to be significantly different from the team we see now.
The unveiling of Isaiah Thomas is a given, although there’s no set date for his return from a serious hip injury. The Cavaliers can’t wait to turn him loose, letting fans know exactly what they got in the Kyrie Irving deal with Boston, and it will mean a drastic shakeup in the backcourt.
Shift now to the rumor mill: Is it possible the Cavs will be without Derrick Rose, while adding DeAndre Jordan?
Rose left the team Wednesday for personal reasons, and according to ESPN sources, “He’s tired of being hurt and it’s taking a toll on him mentally.” It’s not just the sprained ankle that has kept him out of the lineup lately, but the sequence of surgeries — two on each knee — that stripped away his fabled explosiveness and rendered him somewhat tentative on the court.
The Cavaliers are on a sevengame winning streak with Rose inactive, and if he feels like an afterthought in the Cleveland scheme, he knows he’ll be even less influential when Thomas joins J.R. Smith, Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, Jose Calderon and Iman Shumpert in the backcourt. It’s more than that, though. Recent reports, coupled with Rose’s comments and behavior in recent years, suggest he is pondering retirement. It seems unlikely in light of his Adidas shoe deal — he’d be walking away from six years and $70 million remaining — but if he’s not right mentally, he won’t be of much use to any team.
Meanwhile, in the Cavs’ search for rim protection, there are reports they would offer Tristan Thompson, Shumpert and a No. 1 draft pick (either Brooklyn’s, acquired from Boston, or their own) for Jordan. The Clippers are in dire need of change, and with LeBron James focused on the Celtics and Warriors — theoretically, the two final hurdles in this year’s title quest — the Cavs need some defensive help. Jordan has a player’s option on his contract for next season, meaning he could be a partialseason rental for the Cavs.
Around the NBA
The Clippers are just a mess. There was plenty of forced optimism when Chris Paul departed, Austin Rivers having the audacity to say the team would be better without him, but then came some costly injuries to Danilo Gallinari and Serbian point guard Milos Teodosic, a nine-game losing streak and the worst injury yet, with defensive mainstay Patrick Beverley lost for the season to knee surgery.
Rivers wasn’t entirely wrong when he told reporters, “The dynamic with Chris and Blake (Griffin) was weird. I don’t know why. It was just strange. No one knew who the leader was, and if you had something to say, it would turn into an argument. Now Blake’s a whole different person, more approachable, and I think it’s because we’ve embraced him as our leader.”
Ask the Warriors, though: Griffin is no leader. And this was a roster thrown together with no real depth or structure. Reports suggest head coach Doc Rivers will be fired if the team hasn’t turned things around by February, and there’s that familiar sense of doom around the team. When Jerry West left the Warriors, he said he’d be only an “observer” in the L.A. organization, but he should be part of every big decision in the coming months.
Jaylen Brown has reached that sky’s-the-limit stage with the Celtics, looking capable of making an All-Star team within two or three years. His teammates at Cal haven’t fared so well. Rookie Ivan Rabb, drafted by Memphis as the 35th overall pick, has played just one minute for the Grizzlies — though he has put up solid numbers in the Gatorade League. Jabari Bird, the 56th overall selection by Boston, is another G-League regular with only two games played (eight minutes) in the big show.
As Lonzo Ball hit the stretch drive at UCLA last season, his intensely annoying father, LaVar, announced that all three of his sons “are going to be one-and-done” as Bruins freshmen and were “born to go pro.” Lonzo held up his end, but you wonder now if UCLA wants anything to do with his brothers. LiAngelo, considered a marginal pro prospect at the moment, is on indefinite suspension in the wake of his shoplifting incident in China and has to be considering his options: a transfer (in which case he’d have to sit out a season) or playing overseas.
The youngest son, LaMelo, was recently yanked out of high school by LaVar, who said the kid would be homeschooled, and he isn’t playing for anyone. Considering that LaMelo is linked to a lucrative shoe deal, he might not even be eligible to play college ball. Add this to the fact that LaVar has taken to criticizing the Lakers (head coach Luke Walton and executive Magic Johnson, presumably) for stifling Lonzo’s progress, and it seems logical that UCLA would be “one-and-done” with that family.
Fans are discovering the pure majesty of the 76ers’ Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons breaking into the NBA at roughly the same time. What’s the history of that, for centers and point guards? Among those teammates breaking in just one year apart, there was Wes Unseld and Earl Monroe (Baltimore Bullets, with Monroe also playing two-guard), Dave Cowens and JoJo White (Celtics), Bob McAdoo and Ernie DiGregorio (Buffalo Braves) and David RobinsonRod Strickland (Spurs).
David Lee announced his retirement last Sunday, bringing to mind a number of things: All-Star with the Knicks and Warriors, replaced by Draymond Green as a Golden State starter during the 2014 playoff series against the Clippers, eternally held back by his paltry defense, and coming up lame (hamstring) at the start of the 2014-15 season, ushering Green into the lineup for good.
This is a special man. Longtime NBA writer Pete Vecsey (patreon.com) recalled that when longtime Knicks guard and coach Dick McGuire died in 2010, with practice called off so coaches and management could attend the services in Long Island, “Lee was the lone Knick player to show up and pay respect.” This month, Lee announced his engagement to tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, pairing two of the most genuine, good-humored people I’ve met in sports. May the good life continue.