Training Camp Preview: SWINGMEN
You know it’s been a good off-season when the players everyone’s talking about are not named James.
The Cavaliers have one of the top five players in the entire NBA and yet when people talked Cavaliers this summer, they talked about Larry Hughes or Donyell Marshall or Damon Jones or Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It’s almost easy to forget that the Chosen One is prepared for take-off, ready to build on an already-prolific career.
Training Camp begins next week at the Q and cavs.com has been previewing the roster – position-by-position – all week. On Tuesday we looked at the guards, on Wednesday it was the Wine and Gold’s forwards and yesterday we checked out the Cavaliers’ 14 ½ feet of Lithuanian centers.
Today we’ll focus on the Cavaliers’ swingmen – guys with the versatility to play (and guard) a couple positions.
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LeBron James is technically a small forward. But that almost seems restrictive.
The hardest part about describing LeBron is simply: where do you start? You could look at the numbers – and they’re incredible – but that doesn’t begin to explain his greatness. You could study his contribution to the team, but that doesn’t account for his impact on the city and community. And even that doesn’t fully explain it: LBJ has worldwide appeal.
But let’s stick with the numbers for today. LeBron led the Cavaliers in scoring 64 times last season, a team record. He led the club in every game in April, of course when the Wine and Gold needed him most.
He also broke the franchise’s single-game scoring record with 56 points against the Raptors on March 20, topping Walt Wesley’s mark of 50 that stood for over three decades. LeBron shattered the club record for points in a season with 2,175. He broke the team mark for court time, logging 3,388 minutes of floor time in 2004-05. James was the first Cavalier to be named NBA Player of the Month, something he did twice (November and January). When it was all said and done last season, LeBron had the highest scoring average ever by a Cavalier, netting 27.2 points per game.
But LBJ didn’t just put up franchise-wide numbers. He joined NBA royalty by becoming just the fifth player in NBA history to post averages of 27.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists for an entire season, joining NBA greats Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, John Havlicek and Oscar Robertson.
LeBron was the youngest player to record a triple-double, a feat he accomplished three times last year. He was the youngest player to notch 2000 points in a career. In fact, he’s the youngest player to ever have 3,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career.
All these numbers bring us to the final – and perhaps most fulfilling – number: LeBron James is 20 years old.
LeBron came to Cleveland as the heralded No. 1 choice in the 2003 NBA Draft. Last year’s draft pick – Luke Jackson – came to Cleveland with a little less fanfare.
Jackson’s season was cut to a mere 10 games due to a back injury. Instead of becoming the deadly outside shooter and versatile player he was at Oregon, Luke was sidelined for most of the year after undergoing back surgery in mid-January.
Jackson looked like his old self in the Cavaliers’ Summer League, however. The former Duck led the squad in scoring and assists – and an undefeated record – and generally looked like the multi-dimensional player that was one of only two players in PAC-10 history to finish with 1,900 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists.
The upcoming season will, in effect, be Luke Jackson’s rookie campaign.
Jackson’s competition on the wing, Sasha Pavlovic, made big strides towards the end of the 2004-05 season. This will be Pavlovic’s third season – his second with the Cavaliers – and the battle between him and Jackson could be one of the most entertaining throughout Training Camp and beyond.
With Damon Jones and Donyell Marshall in the fold, the Cavalier have found the coveted outside shooter they were looking for, but Sasha could very well prove to be the diamond in the rough from beyond the arc. But Pavlovic is more than just a pure shooter. His NBA-ready body and great handle make him a threat from any point on the floor.
Pavlovic averaged just under five points per contest last season, but his confidence was swelling late in the year. Like Jackson, Sasha has the versatility to play the small forward or two-guard position.
The final swingman in our Training Camp preview is one of the most unheralded Cavaliers, Ira Newble. Brought in as a defensive specialist, Newble has been one of Cleveland’s most durable and dependable players.
Newble started 69 games for the Wine and Gold last year, averaging 5.9 ppg. With the addition of Larry Hughes, Newble will be coming off the bench, but that might actually enhance his productivity. He is not known as a scorer, but he is known as a stopper and bringing a fresh Newble off the bench to cool down a hot shooter could only be a good thing.
For the first time in the LeBron James Era of Cavaliers basketball, the Cavaliers are extremely deep and have talent at every position, especially the starting five. But there isn’t a big drop off from the starters. And nowhere will the open competition be more intense than among the “wing” players who will be vying for the backup spot.
All of this will begin playing out in just a few days; Training Camp is about to tip off.
NBA.com Article