The Cleveland Cavaliers’ second run with LeBron James ended with an NBA Finals appearance, but no championship. James performed at a near super human level throughout the series but was unable to raise up his banged up supporting cast to the Golden State Warriors’ level.
During the regular season there were constant reports of friction between LeBron and Kevin Love, whom he badly wanted the Cavaliers to trade for this offseason. The Cavs surrendered No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins to acquire Love, whose performance declined significantly in Cleveland as his usage dropped.
Love spent much of the season shooting spot-up 3-pointers, standing in the corner, and there were numerous reports that he was less than thrilled about being in Cleveland.
Both James and Love have player options to hit free agency this offseason, and with the salary cap ceiling about to rise, both should be expected to exercise those options. James is much less likely to leave Cleveland than Love is, but if Love does depart, what has Cleveland learned from making the Finals without him on the court for three rounds of their run?
Here are three unrestricted free agents the Cavaliers should target if Love hits the road.
Marc Gasol
There is chatter that power forward Tristan Thompson, a restricted free agent this offseason, could receive a max contract. There are agent politics in play for sure, but from a basketball sense even with a rising salary cap maxing out Thompson would be a mistake. Yes, his rebounding was very valuable, but why not spend max money on a two-way All-Star like Marc Gasol?
Gasol may decide he loves Memphis and take the extra money they can give him, but he’s also been on a perennial playoff team that has constantly failed to break through their ceiling and even reach the NBA Finals. He could look at Cleveland and see two elite offensive players and decide he wants to be their missing piece.
Gasol improves Cleveland’s defense in a big way, whereas Love was a liability on that end. Love was not being used to his full capabilities, so if he’s going to be a catch-and-shoot type, there are cheaper options to fill that role.
Danny Green
J.R. Smith was very helpful to the Cavaliers at times with his bursts of scoring, but his game is one-dimensional, and that inconsistency was exposed in the NBA Finals when he became a relied-upon scorer. Perhaps Danny Green wants to have a do-over in Cleveland—the team to which he was drafted in 2009—where he could show off his improved shooting stroke. James thrives when surrounded by shooters; Mike Miller and James Jones proved they were no longer capable of providing it at the clip they did in Miami. Green can offer that 3-point sniping as well as above-average defense on the perimeter.
Dwyane Wade
Long shot? Of course! But if Wade wants another ring he would be very near that goal by re-joining with LeBron James. They won’t have the chemistry issues to iron out that they did in Year 1 with the Miami Heat, and even though Wade’s durability is in question these days, at his peak he remains one of the NBA’s most devastating two-way players.
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