Cleveland Cavaliers: Why There Are No Excuses In 2013-14

When LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, it was not surprising that the Cleveland Cavaliers floundered without him. In fact, the poor Cavs submitted one of their worst seasons in franchise history, posting a 19-63 record that was made even worse by LeBron’s dominant return, when he put a hurt on his former team by dropping 38 points, eight assists and five rebounds in a 28-point rout. They lost 26 straight games that season, setting a record for the longest losing streak in NBA history.

Since then, rebuilding has been the focus for the Cavs. In the 2011 NBA Draft, Cleveland was fortunate enough to have two picks in the top five: No. 1 Kyrie Irving and No. 4 Tristan Thompson. Irving immediately emerged as a superstar and has nowhere to go but up at this point. Thompson was a little rough around the edges in his first season, but with Anderson Varejao‘s absence for the majority of this past season, he has started to come into his own as a solid rebounder and more consistent scorer at the power forward position.

In the 2012 NBA Draft, the Cavs picked up Dion Waiters with their No. 4 pick and Tyler Zeller at No. 17. Waiters had a great rookie season, averaging 14.7 points, 3.0 assists, 2.3 rebounds and one steal per game, while Zeller also stepped up in light of Varejao’s absence and posted a respectable 7.9 points and 5.7 boards per game in just 26.4 minutes on the season.

For those of you keeping score, the Cavaliers have had four picks in the top 20 in the last two NBA drafts. And now, by the grace of the basketball gods who seem to love Nick Gilbert, Cleveland has the No. 1 pick for the upcoming 2013 draft.

When David Stern rigged the lottery to set up a LeBron return to-Cleveland the Cavaliers won that pick, the inevitable thoughts of how bright the future could be rightfully crept into the heads of long-tortured Cleveland fans. The Cavs already have a phenomenal point guard in Kyrie Irving who will only continue to improve with experience. His defense needs work, sure, but shouldn’t the hiring of a defensive-minded coach like Mike Brown help with that a little bit? Waiters has shown that he can score and will also continue to improve. Thompson and Zeller got the benefit of bigger minutes with Varejao’s absence, so next season they will bear less of the responsibility and be able to perform with the valuable experience they got this past season. And speaking of Varejao, is there any doubt he was rebounding like Dennis Rodman (14.4 rebounds per game) and heading for an All-Star appearance before going down for the rest of the season with a bruised knee and blood clot in his lung?

Throw in defensive role player Alonzo Gee (heading into only his fourth season), swingman C.J. Miles, a healthy rebounding monster in Varejao and a solid reserve in Marreese Speights and suddenly that’s not a bad lineup. A lot of people (myself included) thought the Cavaliers should have been better last season, but injuries and a lot of youth led to a disappointing 24-58 record. Cleveland’s defensive rotations were appalling, Irving and Varejao missed a lot of time with injuries and the team’s faith in coach Byron Scott completely deteriorated down the stretch of the season. But now that their young players are starting to get a little more experience and will have a defensive coach to help them in their weakest area, that No. 1 pick becomes a huge benefit for this team to improve … and possibly become an attractive destination for LeBron James next summer.

What should the Cavs do with that No. 1 pick? To be honest, I truly don’t know what the right course of action is and I can’t say with certainty that drafting a guy who just had surgery for a torn ACL in March is the right move. If Nerlens Noel can return and stay healthy, he would provide the rim protection the Cavs so desperately need, but how many careers have we seen cut short for talented big men with chronic knee problems? I’m not saying one ACL tear automatically means he has chronic knee problems, especially since he’s only 19 years old. But it’s hard to deny that interest in the talented Noel would be much higher if not for that injury. Their other drafting options would be to take Ben McLemore out of Kansas or Georgetown’s Otto Porter. Porter seems like the better bet since the Cavs are already set in their backcourt and he would be able to provide much needed defense and versatility in scoring and rebounding on the wing.

The Cavaliers could also try and shop the pick and see what they could get out of it. They could also trade down in the draft in anticipation of the loaded 2014 NBA Draft class. The current draft class is nowhere near as strong as next year’s will be, but the Cavs have the first, 19th, 31st AND 33rd picks in this draft. So no matter the outcome, this fact is very evident: right now, the Cleveland Cavaliers are in the driver’s seat and they can’t afford to crash. Or even to take their foot off the gas.

Which is really why there are no excuses anymore. Last season was a disappointment, but it was an understandable one. Now it’s time to improve. The Cavaliers absolutely need to make sure their young pieces continue to grow in 2013-14, which is why whatever decision they make with that No. 1 pick needs to be the right one.  They don’t necessarily need lottery draft picks, even though next year’s draft class is loaded. They just need to make something of this gift they’ve been given. If they show enough improvement that LeBron James starts to consider what life in Cleveland would be like compared to the suddenly struggling Miami ensemble, that’s just an added bonus. You can’t tell me that LeBron would completely ignore a potential union with Irving and upcoming talents like Waiters and a healthy Noel in his old hometown. But even if Dan Gilbert shops the pick, LeBron may still consider making amends with the city of Cleveland as long as the Cavs get something decent out of this less-than-thrilling draft class.

Last year, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t get over the hump. But with a defensive coach, a healthy Varejao, young talent and a No. 1 pick on the horizon, the Cavs don’t have any excuses this year. I’m not saying the Cavs should predicate their operations on the possibility of LeBron returning. In fact, they should be doing the opposite, building for the future based on the way the team is currently constructed. But if they can improve their long-term future and make the league’s best player consider heading back to Cleveland in the process, they’ll look back on the 2013-14 season as the turning point of a franchise going back to its winning ways. But if they don’t, and they mess this decision up, the Cavaliers will rue the day they failed to turn young talent into a brighter future. LeBron James or not.