Cleveland Cavaliers: What LeBron James Must Teach Young Cavs
By Evan Massey
The Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to a two-year deal with superstar LeBron James that will bring him home. James is very excited about starting a new chapter in his career, but knows that it won’t be an easy process to get the young Cavaliers into championship contention.
They have a very young star point guard in Kyrie Irving and No. 1 overall picks from the past two drafts in Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins.
What can LeBron James teach to this young Cavaliers team to help them get to the championship contending level?
Quite simply, the Cavaliers are going to deal with a period of learning how to play unselfish basketball. One of Irving’s main negatives throughout the first few years of his career has been his shot selection and lack of making plays for his teammates.
There are plenty of other players on the roster that will need to learn how to play a new brand of basketball in order to become one of the best teams in the NBA.
Irving will need to be taught how to be a true point guard in addition to scoring as the No. 2 option. He has had some issues with his attitude as well, and will need to mature before he is ready to be the star point guard for a championship team.
That being said, he already has what it takes from a scoring perspective, but James made it very clear in his letter on heading back to Cleveland that he believes he can help mold Irving into being one of the best if not the best point guard in the NBA.
Dion Waiters is another interesting name that comes to mind when talking about talented young players that need to learn some things to become championship caliber players. He put out a tweet on his personal Twitter account stating that he would not be willing to come off of the bench for the Cavaliers, and that might be something that James could talk to him about and help change his mind.
Waiters is an excellent scorer and would be the exact type of punch off of the bench that could help Cleveland exploit other teams’ weaknesses.
Both of the Cavaliers’ young power forwards could learn some valuable lessons from James as well. He is extremely strong around the rim, and he could teach both players some post moves that would be effective.
Bennett had a rough rookie season, but the Cavaliers still believe that he will have a very bright future in the league. James could very well help him with his confidence and be a mentor for him as he works hard to reach his full potential.
Perhaps the player that will learn the most from James is Wiggins. He is an extremely athletic wing player with high expectations, and that is a very familiar situation for James.
Learning from an all-around skilled player like James is going to help Wiggins learn the NBA game much quicker.
As a team, the current Cavaliers have not experience what winning basketball is all about. They are filled with young players that mainly came in after James left town, and even their new head coach is brand new to the NBA.
James understands that he will be the veteran on this team that will have to teach the team how to win basketball games at the highest level, and he is excited to embrace that role.
This is going to be a very intriguing season for both James and the Cavaliers are both sides learn to deal with each other. Irving has never had to defer to anyone in his career, and that could be a very difficult change for him.
Wiggins will be able to sit back and be the third or fourth scoring option on the team, and that is going to be extremely beneficial for him.
All of that being said, this is going to be a very fun season for Cavaliers fans to watch. Not only are they going to see James back home, they are also going to see him helping take the rest of the team to the next level.
There is nothing quite like having a coach on the court, but that is exactly what James will be for this young team.
It’s very difficult to say that this team is going to be a title contender in their first season, but it is very possible with James leading the way. He will have to teach the rest of the team what being a winner takes, but the young players on the team will likely have no problem listening and doing what he tells them.
There is a new era of basketball beginning in Cleveland, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see this team be a contender for a championship each and every year for quite some time.
Evan Massey is a Staff Writer for HoopsHabit.com.