And here also is Lowe's latest piece (10/14) where he predicts the Cavs lead the league in points per possession, and could eventually become the greatest offense ever:
1. Cleveland will lead the league in points per possession.
I’m on a two-year run calling the league’s best offense, and I’m going back East for a bet on a revamped team that has to play Indiana and Chicago a combined eight times. Gulp.
Everything you need to know about the coming season.The Cavs need time to learn David Blatt’s system, which will feature loads of movement on both sides of the floor, lots of tricky screening action, selective post-ups, and Princeton-style elements. Expand the picture to include defense, and the Cavs probably need another big man and a wing player with shooting range to reach their championship-level ceiling.
But this team should be a scoring juggernaut immediately. Their core lineups will include four 3-point shooters, including perhaps the league’s most prolific long-range shooting big man in Kevin Love. All four of those players can work off the bounce if they catch a pass with the defense scrambled, initiating drive-and-kick sequences the Cavs can repeat until they get the look they want.
And the Cavs will scramble defenses. Love is the perfect Blatt big man, and LeBron is the perfect high-IQ floor general to get everyone organized. Love and Kyrie Irving will have to make some sacrifices, and Dion Waiters probably still thinks he should get 20 shots per game. But if the ball moves like it should, everyone will get enough chances.
There will be some spacing issues when Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson share the floor, but the Cavs will figure it out. Add one more cog and a year of seasoning, and these Cavs will have a shot to trump the Steve Nash–era Phoenix teams and produce the greatest single-season offense in league history.
Threats lurk everywhere,
though Durant’s injury takes the Thunder out of the picture. The Spurs are a perennial top-five offense. Houston is potent. Golden State has looked extraordinary in the preseason, but two of its games have come against the Lakers, and it’s starting from a lower baseline.
Portland had the league’s best offense over the first couple of months of last season, and it’s bringing back every key contributor. Dallas had the league’s best offense after the All-Star break and figures to be better.
But the bet here is Cleveland.