Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 steps to repeat as NBA Champions

Step 1: Be Smart in Free Agency

Is Lebron James going back to Miami? No. There is almost a zero percent chance that James ditches his championship team in the beginning of its reign of terror to go hoop with his pal Dwayne Wade.

However, this is the same Lebron James that ditched Wade two offseasons ago in a quest to redeem Cleveland.  James did just win his third NBA Final, and the first for the Cavaliers franchise, effectively ‘redeeming’ Cleveland. So maybe there is a small chance he opts out of his contract and leaves the Cavaliers for the second time to go party down in Miami.

Actually, wait— there is no way James leaves Cleveland.

The first hurdle that Cavaliers will have to contend with is handling free agency.

Historically, free agency has not been the best time of year for Cleveland. First, back in 2004, the franchise went through the Carlos Boozer incident. The summation of the story is that the Cavaliers had finally started looking like a force in the eastern conference. The team had two young playmakers in Lebron James and Carlos Boozer.

After a season where Boozer played significantly above his pay rate, he convinced the team to decline his team option, where he would be making pennies compared to what he could earn as a free agent, but he would resign with Cleveland. When it came time to resign Boozer to a richer contract, Boozer fled from Cleveland like it was possessed by demons, and joined the Utah Jazz.

The second strike against Cleveland is their part in Lebron James’s “The Decision.” Although Cleveland fans had the right to be angry with their biggest star skipping town, the actions taken by the team’s majority owner- Dan Gilbert were ugly and ultimately unprofessional.

All in all, the above illustrations are examples of what the Cavaliers need not do in this year’s free agency.

Cleveland has quality players such as J.R. Smith, James Jones, Matthew Dellavedova, and Richard Jefferson hitting various forms of restricted and unrestricted free agency.

In order to contend for a Finals berth next season, Cleveland will need every one of these players. Each one played a part in bringing home the championship and are valuable contributors.

The issue with this year’s free agency is that the team cannot afford to overpay its own players. The Seattle Seahawks are the perfect example of what happens after a team wins a championship and then doles out big bucks for every player who asks for a raise.

If the team fails to budget for the future, the Cavaliers will not have a large window to chase rings. Short-term solutions do not make long-term dynasties.

Next: Step 2: deal with the elephant in the room