In addition to the five players who are playing for their next contracts we also have a couple of others who put in a lot of work in the off-season; Larry Nance Jr (20,000 three-point shots) and Collin Sexton (stronger upper body after a summer in the weight room).
On the NBA channel's Cavs preview they showed the portion of the presser where Love was saying he thinks the Cavs are going to improve faster than people expect. That wouldn't surprise me. We have a combination of veterans who are on the last year of their contracts and highly motivated younger players like Nance and Sexton plus a couple of high upside rookies in Garland and Porter.
I'm not a big Cedi Osman fan, although I love his attitude and effort, but his skills should translate better in a more uptempo style of play than what we had last year when the Cavs had the second slowest pace in the NBA. Pushing the ball up the floor and trying to get into the offense quickly will benefit Cedi. He's not much of a factor in the half-court offense. I'm not saying he's going to be transformed into a good player but this more movement oriented system seems better suited for what he brings to the table.
It will be interesting to see if he's more productive this year and how much playing time Winder and McKinnie can carve out of Cedi's minutes, or even replace him as the starter.
What about a frontcourt of TT, Love, and Nance?
Love and Nance spot up in the corners, Sexton on the wing, while Garland and TT run a center pick and roll. One thing for sure, we wouldn't give up many offensive rebounds with that front line and we would get quite a few.