Thunderstorm in Cleveland

Might as well be a middle finger to haters like me.

Kyrie freaking Irving. I was wrong. I eat crow. I bow before you. I remember like it was yesterday playing basketball with Mr. Kaspick in the shadiest of shady basketball courts behind a Pizza Hut in Edinboro, PA. Between layups and botched crack deals, we regularly talked everything basketball. EVERYTHING. From NBA2K, to NBA trade rumors, to the ugliest players the NBA has ever seen (I'm not looking at you Greg Oden.) But, one conversation that really stood out was our mutual distain for the Cavaliers drafting of PG Kyrie Irving. We both agreed the guard wasn't exceptionally athletic, not an exceptional scorer, and pretty much couldn't kick rocks next to the legacy LBJ left in Cleveland. 

Needless to say, we were both wrong about Uncle Drew. He went on to have a fabulous season averaging nearly 19pts/6ast. a game. He established himself as the Cavaliers franchise PG. 

But, so far, even with high draft picks in the last 2 years, the Cavaliers have yet to surround with him with anything that resembles talent. 

I have no clue the drafting strategy of the Cavaliers. Waiters (2012) Zeller (2012) and Thompson (2011) are players with small ceilings that were drafted way too high. The Cavaliers must rely on Irving to make these players better: that means an increase in distribution; I'm talking improving from 5 assists/game to 8 or better. He is being asked to do what John Wall has been trying his damnest to do in DC (Wall averaged 8 assist/game in both seasons as starting PG.)

Drafting aside, the rest of the roster isn't good either, minus the consistent play of big man Anderson Varejao. Gee, could be a good role player, however. But, c'mon. There isn't anything for Irving to work with besides the recent high draft picks Waiters, Thompson, and Zeller.

It's not going to be easy, but the key to success for the Cav's is for Irving to pull a LBJ and make everyone around him better. Good luck, Cleveland, having lightning strike twice.