The Cleveland Cavaliers have stumbled out of the game to the season dropping five out of their first eight games including four out of the last five.
All of this has created dialogue around as to where their early-season struggles stem from. This has led to former NBA player Charles Oakley to weigh in with his stance that he believes the Cavaliers’ problem goes back to one source.
There could be some credence to this as Kyrie Irving was a strong source of production and reliability behind LeBron James over the last three seasons as he developed into one of the premier point guards in the league over that span. His departure has left a huge offensive void that the rest of the team has struggled fill aptly over the first two weeks of the season.
It has seen the likes of Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade struggle to fulfill that role, which may be much to ask of from both players at this point as they feel their way out in their new surroundings. What also must be kept in mind is that All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas has yet to return from his hip injury, which will shake up things as well.
Although it is quite easy to point back to Irving’s departure as a big reason for the team’s struggles this season, there is still plenty of time for Cavaliers to work out their kinks and fine tune the roster if need be.