Cleveland Cavaliers: 2017-18 NBA season preview

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a not-so-quiet offseason to make some needed upgrades. The 2017-18 season should bring a new dynamic to the forefront for Cleveland as we take a look at their season preview.

The Cleveland Cavaliers came up short in last season’s NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, losing in five games. They blew through the Eastern Conference Playoffs without much of a struggle. They swept the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors in the first two rounds, then beat the Boston Celtics 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In terms of being the top team in the East, the Cavaliers have that down to a science. They went 35-17 against teams in the conference during the regular season, finishing second in the East. Their bigger focus is on getting over the hump and defeating the Warriors (or any other Western Conference foe, for that matter) for an NBA championship.

The Cavs have made the Finals the past three seasons, facing Golden State all three times. They’ve beaten the Warriors before, but that was before Kevin Durant decided to join the party and make the team pretty much harder to stop on offense.

It didn’t help that Cleveland had the 21st ranked defensive rating (110.3) in the NBA or that their bench ranked 28th in points per game (29.1), 29th in rebounds per game (11.5) and last in assists per game (5.1).

Things are bound to change in 2017-18 though with the trade of Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics. At Irving’s request, the team traded him to their rival in the East but got a lot in return in Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Zizic. Thomas may not be healthy right away, but he’s expected to be ready sometime in January. Depth shouldn’t be an issue for this Cleveland team in 2017-18 as we take a look at what to expect this season.

2016-17 Vitals

51-31, 1st in Central Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference
110.3 PPG (4th)/107.2 OPP PPG (20th)
113.6 Offensive Rating (3rd)/110.3 Defensive Rating (21st)

Team Leaders
Scoring:  LeBron James, 26.4 PPG
Rebounding:  Kevin Love 11.1 RPG
Assists:  LeBron James, 8.7 APG
Steals:  Kyrie Irving, 1.2 SPG
Blocks:  Tristan Thompson, 1.1 BPG

Honors
All-NBA First Team:  LeBron James
All-Star:  LeBron James
All-Star:  Kyrie Irving
All-Star:  Kevin Love