The Cleveland Cavaliers won’t win the NBA Championship — here are five reasons why
There a plenty of reasons to believe LeBron James won’t win an NBA title this year. Of course, they very well might.
First, a reality check. Having learned nothing from the “Heatles” era in Miami, many are already crowning the Cleveland Cavaliers the 2015 NBA Champion. This is a bit silly in terms of expectations. The more rational observers who run sportsbooks (and thus depend an accurate estimations of teams’ chances) have given the Cavs about a 25% chance to win a ring before a ball is tipped.
Certainly, anything short of the the conference finals would be a major disappointment for the new superteam, with qualifying for the NBA Finals would be achieving a solid minimum goal. However, expecting a ring in Year 1 is discounting just how difficult winning the title can be. Cleveland starts the season as favorites to win the East, but it is at least arguable the three best teams in the NBA are out West in the Thunder, Clippers and defending champion Spurs. And that’s assuming everything goes well over the course of the season.
So, in rough descending order, here are the five most likely reasons the Cleveland will have to wait at least one more year to throw a victory parade.