NBA Finals roundtable: What happens now?
By Staff
The NBA Finals are behind us. So what happens now?
In one of the greatest playoffs games in NBA history, the Cleveland Cavaliers completed one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history, taking Game 7 and the 2015-16 NBA Championship from the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs have been champs for going on 36 hours now (J.R. Smith may still be looking for a shirt) which means we are officially in the NBA offseason. The NBA Draft is right around the corner with the opening of the free agency period right after that.
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It would be nice if Golden State and Cleveland had some time to stop and reflect on what each team accomplished this season, but there is no rest for the weary. Both teams face enormous questions this offseason, with key players entering free agency and holes in their rotations revealed by their respective playoff runs. The time to start searching for answers is now. For the Cavs, how do they prepare for a title defense next season? For the Warriors, how do they make sure that this is just a blip in the dynastic run?
Joining us to try and answer those questions are Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh, Senior NBA Editor for FanSided), Josh Hill (@jdavhill, Editor for FanSided), Daniel Rowell (@DanielJRowell, Staff Writer for Hardwood Paroxysm), and Alexander Goot (@AGoot18, freelance FanSided contributor).
In terms of personnel and strategy, what lessons do the Golden State Warriors take from this postseason into the summer?
Ian Levy: I’m not sure they need to do a whole lot on either front to be back on top of the Western Conference next season. They were perhaps nothing more than a Draymond Green suspension away from back-to-back titles. However, Harrison Barnes, Mo Speights, Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao, James McAdoo, and Festus Ezeli are all free agents.
A decision on Barnes is obviously the most important but the rest of that group (mostly in the aggregate) was incredibly important this season. Golden State has a chance rebuild the edges of their roster this summer and it will be interesting to see if they just spend the money to run it back, look for cheaper or higher upside versions of the same players, or whether they try to flesh out specific bits of depth they didn’t have this year — more wing depth for Death Lineup variations, or more size for then they have to go big.
Daniel Rowell: the 73-9 regular season record proved there isn’t anything wrong with the Golden State Warriors. They still are the greatest regular season basketball team of all time. In the playoffs they caught some tough breaks: a suspension from Draymond Green, a knee injury to Bogut, back problems for Iguodala. The Cavaliers won of their own ability and will, but I don’t know if the Warriors can walk away from this series and feel they need to make a personnel change. I think what made the roster great was their ability to go adapt, both big and small, and they lost some of that without Bogut and Draymond in Games 5 and 6.
There’s a lot of questions for the front office to face between the Harrison Barnes’s contract, what to do with Festus Ezeli, and the possibility of a free agent signing like Kevin Durant. But if I’m Golden State, I look at my core of Curry, Thompson, and Green (and even Andre Iguodala) and I know I have the foundation of a team ready for another title run.
Josh Hill: There’s nothing technical that the Warriors need to adjust moving forward, and their strategy is fine. What they need to take away from this and apply to their strategy is the fact that they’re just another team. Now, they’re a historically great team but that didn’t win them a title. That’s an existential look at things but it’s the hard truth.
The Dubs need to apply context to their strategy and that context is that they’re not the NBA champs, and sometimes all it takes is a scar to remind you of how to be better. Nothing had gone wrong for the Warriors until they lost the Finals; that was their first true defeat. If you back a wounded animal into a corner it fights its way out — that was the Cavs. But when you wake up a giant when he starts to doze off, that’s something that is bad news for everyone. Golden State fell asleep on themselves in the Finals, but they’re woke — and they need to stay that way.
Alex Goot: It feels, in many ways, like the worst thing the Golden State Warriors could do would be to over-react to these Finals, but it seems like there’s little chance of that. Obviously, much of the attention will be on their efforts to attract another marquee name, be it Kevin Durant, or, as we saw floated yesterday, Dirk Nowitzki. And without question, the notion of sticking that level of player into a spot that was occupied by the struggling Harrison Barnes… well, it’s not impossible to imagine that there’s somehow an even higher level for this team to unlock.
Nevertheless, as others have noted, this was a team that experienced some tough breaks, between the Bogut injury, the Draymond suspension, and, well, the fact that Stephen Curry simply did not look 100 percent, for one reason or another, for much of the postseason. The reality is that anything can happen in a short series, but that if Golden State simply runs things back with a few tweaks on the margins, there’s little doubt they’ll be championship contenders once more.
How do the Cleveland Cavaliers go about setting themselves up to defend their title?
Levy: With so much guaranteed money already on the books there is a lot less wiggle room for Cleveland to try and get better. I’m guessing they don’t re-sign Mozgov or Dellavedova and are looking in the “aging vets looking for a title” shelf to flesh things out. Help on the wings will be key, especially someone to take Richard Jefferson’s role and slide big for small ball lineups. Trading Kevin Love for pieces could make some of this simpler but, with a title under their belts, that may be an unnecessary risk.
Rowell: This offseason will be interesting. Richard Jefferson, who played big minutes for the team down the stretch in the Finals retired during his championship celebration. J.R. Smith is a free agent ready to test the waters and his agent, Rich Paul, has a reputation for getting that money. And on top of that Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov are also free agents. I think they’ll likely sign the checks for Smith, and let Dellavedova and Mozgov go. Both players just failed to demonstrate value in the Finals, unfortunately. James and David Griffin will work hard to recruit another backup point guard and veteran wingman, but no matter the role players, Kyrie Irving, James, Tristan Thompson, and Kevin Love are ready to “Defend the Land.”
Hill: There’s a realistic way to get this done and a fantastical way that might be able to become reality. Cleveland needs to get rid of Mozgov and Delly to free up some cap space to go out and get a veteran wing player to play the Richard Jefferson role on the team. Per usual — maybe more so now that they finally one — the Cavs should have the pick of the ring mercenary market. Everyone is talking about the Warriors getting Dirk, but don’t sleep on the Cavaliers getting Dirk and giving him one more ring as he rides into the sunset.
Goot: I just want to take a minute to marvel at the fact that “convince Richard Jefferson not to retire” is a legitimately important goal for an NBA Champion looking to repeat in the year of our lord 2016. What a time to be alive. All joking aside, I tend to echo the rest of the group here… J.R. Smith’s close connection to the King James inner circle leads me to believe he’s still in Cleveland, one way or another. Call it nothing more than a strange hunch, but I could still see Dellavedova sticking around too… When Kyrie Irving, for all his talents, is your point guard, a defensive caddy off the bench still seems quite valuable. Otherwise, it does indeed seem like “veteran role players”, potentially those who can knock down shots, will be the focus. And coming off a championship, the Cavs figure to have to problem getting people to at least listen to their pitch.
Where do Kevin Love and Harrison Barnes play next season?
Levy: I think Kevin Love is still in Cleveland. Harrison Barnes probably has a new home, in Dallas maybe? My personal favorites would be to see him in Houston running with D’Antoni or in Memphis, maybe finally giving them some of the spacing and wing scoring they’ve been looking for.
Rowell: A lot has been said about Kevin Love in this Finals, mostly regarding his pick-and-roll defense and complete absence as an offensive player. A concussion took him out of Game 3 and a heroic effort from Richard Jefferson dramatically cut into Love’s value over his new replacement. But I still think the Cavaliers will keep Love around for 2017. Love showed his value in the Eastern Conference Playoffs again and again as a rebounder and perimeter shooter which opened the floor for Irving and James to get to the rim.
I don’t think the excellent game plan from the Warriors that schemed Love out of Cavs offense should be held against him. Plus, the rebounds (14) and that defense he closed out on Curry in that last minute? That’s going to haunt Steph’s dreams all summer. As for Barnes, he’s a restricted free agent. I could see him taking less and being brought back like Green did or I could see him taking max money for a team like the Lakers. It all depends on how GMs see his poor performance in the Finals. I think there is just far too much money around for Barnes to not get paid, but it really all comes down to his relationship with the Warriors and his willingness to take less.
Hill: There is no chance in hell Love plays anywhere other than Cleveland in 2016-17. Maybe he gets traded next summer but it’s pointless to break up this championship core without giving it another go. That’s basically admitting you won on luck and it’s discounting that Love shattered all of the hate by defending Steph Curry at the end of Game 7 and single-handedly helping the Cavs win that possession. Harrison Barnes is more of a question, as he’s never going to be a go-to offensive option for the Warriors — otherwise the Dubs would have been using him that way off the bench. Someone like Dallas or Houston — and maybe the Lakers or Celtics — could take a chance on him but no one should overpay for him. His best option might be to return to Golden State next year and try to grow his brand there before truly testing free agent waters.
Goot: Yes, Kevin Love often seems about as comfortable in Cleveland as Chris Christie at a Donald Trump rally. Sure, there are legitimate questions about whether he’ll ever truly fit seamlessly into a Cavs system where he often seems more of a spare part than integral piece. Nevertheless, this team just won a championship, and that has a way, of fixing a whole lot of issues… Or at least sweeping them under the rug for a bit. There are probably going to be times where Love falls out of a rotation, and a game plan, given his defensive issues. (Then again, if the remarkable D he played late against Stephen Curry can be a building block, rather than an exception… who knows!?) In any event, Kevin Love still provides competent shooting, and effective rebounding, for a team that needs both. Have to believe he’ll be back.
As for Harrison Barnes… well… if the Warriors really have these ambitions of adding another big name, he’s likely to be the odd man out. Barnes feels very much like the fallback option for a team that misses out on Durant and the other superstars… so I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him land in Los Angeles, Boston, or New York… with a whole lot of fans groaning
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