Cleveland Cavaliers: 2017-18 NBA season preview

Best-case scenario

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ best-case scenario in 2017-18 is winning the NBA Finals. This Cleveland team is probably one of the deepest teams James has had since his days with the Miami Heat.

The Cavs went from an aging team to a young and budding team as it’s NBA championship or bust once again this year. In the best-case, everything works out in Cleveland’s favor in the end.

Crowder and James become a formidable force on the defensive end while I.T. becomes virtually unstoppable on offense against their bitter rival, the Golden State Warriors. Kevin Durant can’t be stopped, but throwing different looks at him with James and Crowder proves to be enough for Cleveland to prevail in the end.

Worst-case scenario

The worst-case scenario for the Cavaliers is they end up losing to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. The experiment of Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith ended up backfiring on head coach Tyronn Lue and came back to haunt them in the end.

Lue has a lot more talent to work with than last year so it’s hard to see them failing, but they still have to remain healthy. I.T. will be out until at least January with an exact return date still pending. Dwayne Wade has a lingering knee issue that could bother him as he continues to go up in age.

Wade could find himself fitting in more of a sixth man role if things don’t go well with the rotation, which is relying on Kevin Love manning the 5-spot. In the worst-case scenario, that makes Cleveland’s defense even worse in 2017-18.