Just as Bad as the Record Indicates

[NarlCavs]

This team is bad but what bothers me personally is that I don't see great long term upside for this roster at this point. Kyrie is a major piece but the other young players might just be average rotation players. They may still have big growth in their games and I'm not completely giving up but I still think there's a long way to go if we hope to develop into more than a team whose top level of success might just be a 2nd round playoff team.
A lot of high level talent needs to be added. Cavs have to hit it big on another lottery pick, the big trade we're waiting on has to happen and pay off very well, and hopefully all these supposed assets are put to good use too.

Nice the Cavs seem to have found players in the draft who can play and should have long careers. Problem is we might have a team of role players but need to find the players that they can play their roles around.

 

[DraftPick]

This team is bad but what bothers me personally is that I don't see great long term upside for this roster at this point. Kyrie is a major piece but the other young players might just be average rotation players. They may still have big growth in their games and I'm not completely giving up but I still think there's a long way to go if we hope to develop into more than a team whose top level of success might just be a 2nd round playoff team.
A lot of high level talent needs to be added. Cavs have to hit it big on another lottery pick, the big trade we're waiting on has to happen and pay off very well, and hopefully all these supposed assets are put to good use too.

Nice the Cavs seem to have found players in the draft who can play and should have long careers. Problem is we might have a team of role players but need to find the players that they can play their roles around.

I think a lot of people forget that last year was a lockout year...

The season was only 66 games and there was no off season where rookies could come in a work out at the team facility, use the trainers, chefs, etc.

To say you don't see any "long term upside for this roster" is a little premature.

Of our 4 young draft picks (Kyrie, Dion, Zeller, TT), TT has played in the most games at 93. 93, aka just 11 games more than a full NBA season. Yeah we all know Kyrie is special. But after 25 games, do you think OKC knew how good Harden would be? No. He struggled his first year. was Kevin Love a stud his first year? Nope.

I think a lot of people are looking at what LeBron and Kyrie did and just expect every rookie to come in and light it up. Sometimes it doesn't work that way. You aren't going to get a superstar in every draft.

It's WAAAAAYYYY too early to start calling guys like Waiters and TT just role players. What is happening now is exactly what we need. Competitive play, rookies learning on the fly, and losses. We just need to be patient and ride this thing out. Unlike the NFL there are no quick fixes in the NBA, unless you and 2 of your friend start making plans 2 years out to play together. Only way we get to where we want to be is to take our lumps, let the guys grow and play together.

 

[Jon]

I think a lot of people are looking at what LeBron and Kyrie did and just expect every rookie to come in and light it up. Sometimes it doesn't work that way. You aren't going to get a superstar in every draft.

Then how do you judge? Why did we pick them in the first place?

Let me tell you how.

You judge young players against other players at a similar level of experience and development. If they dominate, then you might have something special as they develop and improve.

Now lets face facts ... these guys never dominated at any level of competition. Kyrie did in his whopping 12 games in the NCAA, but certainly not Dion, Tristan, or Tyler. It's not surprising that Kyrie continues to impress in the NBA, because as it turns out his 12 games were a legit showcase of his talent.

So, until the other guys show us something to prove otherwise, there's really no reason to expect any of them to become more than decent pros as they develop and improve. Could they end up worse than that? Yeah, they sure can.

 

[Giambiwannabe7]

I don't necessarily think it's that people are judging them against LeBron and KI alone. I think it is done in context. In my eyes, I try to look at a guy's game and how he applies it. I look at things like court awareness, application of athleticism, basketball IQ, understanding of schemes/concepts, etc. I don't think you can just look at numbers alone and base a judgement off of that.

A big part of that is what gets me so frustrated with TT all the time. His ineptitude offensively has been rehashed ad nauseum, but it's not that he doesn't put up huge scoring numbers inside, it's how he fails to get there that drives people crazy. Same with Dion. He shows that great first step and ability to get to the rack, but he doesn't finish consistantly enough. He can shoot outside ok, but sometimes his form and shot selection gets all out of whack.

I would just like to see growth mentally and physically with these guys. They are both starting to show flashes, but it can be frustrating at times.

 

[Lumthemad]

I honestly cannot get too down on what i've seen out what i'd consider to be our young core. (Thompson, Zeller, Waiters and of course Irving) I think each player has shown themselves to be part of what could be a viable group of players in the long run. Irving as it has been stated over and over, is the star we needed to hit on and it is amazing as to HOW good he actually is, a real nice break for us. Waiters is the best two guard we've seen likely since the Harper days , which is both sad and nice. Will he ever be more than a chucker with a slight ability to knock down three's and set players up now and again? I think so and so do the Cavaliers. Tristan reminds me of a Tyson Chandler type. (who got written off by various clubs before actually becoming what he has become) Tyson has no offense, yet finds a way to impact a game. Tristan can fill that roll. I will agree with Jon in the sense that, when you draft guys and they've never really scored much, it is tough to come into the highest level in the world and be like "Ok, now score!". Zeller is a big with positive skills who in my estimation, just needs to improve his strength. The rest of his game will come around. I am of the mindset we DO need to trade to add additional assets on our club versus adding picks. All picks can do in the wrong draft is add players to your roster who are NOT ready to play.

Anyway, even though we are losing a LOT this year, i do see a bit of positiveness in everything out there. Perhaps it is endless optimism on my part but you can see certain positive traits in how they've played as of late.