The Cleveland Cavaliers will look a bit different this season. LeBron James has taken his talents to Hollywood, leaving the Cavs with Kevin Love as their proverbial front-man. How does the rest of the roster shape up, though? The team released an official training camp roster update on Monday morning, just a few hours before the start of their annual media day gathering.
The Cavs will have several players returning to the lineup, including Love, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, George Hill, Rodney Hood, Kyle Korver, Larry Nance Jr, Cedi Osman, Jordan Clarkson, and Ante Zizic.
New faces on the Cavs’ training camp roster include Collin Sexton, who the team selected with the No. 8 overall in this year’s draft, Sam Dekker, Bonzie Colson, David Nwaba, Levi Randolph, Kobi Simmons, and Isaiah Taylor.
The Cavs also have a pair of two-way contracts in place for John Holland and Billy Preston.
The Cavs have made four straight trips to the NBA Finals. This season, however, they’re a team that will be focusing more on developing their younger players. Can they make the playoffs? Perhaps, but the road to reaching that point will be long.
Though the odds are stacked against the Cavs this season, head coach Tyronn Lue is confident in his belief that the team will be competitive, and he’s ready for the challenge.
“Of course I would love to have LeBron James, but now that he’s gone it’s going to be a new challenge,” Lue told the Boston Globe in August. “I think me and my coaching staff, we’re up for it. It’s going to be different, a lot of young guys that we can try to teach and mold them how you want them to be.”
The Cavs finished the 2017-18 regular season with an overall record of 50-32, which landed the team a No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. In the end, though, Cleveland was swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
Cavs fans aren’t sure what to expect from their beloved team this season. Some, including most experts and analysts, believe Cleveland will struggle to make the playoffs. However, others feel that the team has a real shot at building for the future.
