The Cleveland Cavaliers had as good of a summer as possible. After landing the top-overall pick and drafting swingman Andrew Wiggins, then convinced the game’s best player, forward LeBron James, to return. They then packaged Wiggins and last year’s number one pick, forward Anthony Bennett, to acquire power forward Kevin Love, adding James and Love to a squad that has an All-Star in point guard Kyrie Irving and other young talents like guard Dion Waiters and big man Tristan Thompson.
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Although he does think the Chicago Bulls could be a legitimate threat, Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders believes the Cavaliers are a heavy favorite in the Eastern Conference.
"LeBron James is coming home. There isn’t much else to write. That fact alone immediately puts them in the conversation for this year’s championship, but the addition of Kevin Love makes it even more inevitable that this team will delve deeply into the 2015 postseason when the time does ultimately come. Concerns about Love and Kyrie Irving never having played an NBA playoff game are kind of overblown, mostly because James has been to four straight NBA Finals and has won two of them. James Jones and Mile Miller won rings with the King in Miami, and Varejao has experience going deep into the playoffs, as well. In other words, this isn’t a locker room devoid of championship experience, so two major stars (one of whom has an Olympic gold medal) shouldn’t have much problem adapting. Except for maybe the Chicago Bulls, it’s hard to envision any other team representing the East in this year’s Finals."
The folks in Vegas obviously agree – they have made the Cavaliers not only the favorites in the Eastern Conference, but the entire NBA.
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