Developing the Team

The Cavaliers were a year ahead of themselves when they marched to the Finals last season. Unfortunately, the agents for Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic realized this and they continue to keep their players out of training camp in hopes for better contracts. As several teams in the East are quickly familiarizing themselves with improved rosters, the Cavs are potentially looking to field a less talented roster than last year. With that said, Coach Mike Brown and the rest of the staff need to realize the importance of developing the Cavalier roster this season. The way things are looking, the Cavs might find themselves without home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and a repeat run to the Finals may be slipping out of reach with each day Varejao and Pavlovic miss. As veteran players such as Eric Snow and Zydrunas Ilgauskas continue to age, more help is needed from other players. Drew Gooden needs to take his game up a few notches to take pressure off Z and cover for the anticipated absence of Varejao. Daniel Gibson and Shannon Brown need to continue to develop their abilities in playing both guard positions as Snow recovers from knee surgery and Larry Hughes remains injury-prone until proven otherwise. In general, the Cavaliers need to prove that they can survive without LeBron James having to play more than 40 minutes per game. This would make the opposition respect the whole roster instead of just the regular rotation while also proving to James that staying in Cleveland is worth his while. As strange as it may sound, the Cavaliers will only go as far as the role players can take them.