2014 upgrades and '13 win total

[ElectricMayhem]

Who do you feel we could bring in to put us at dare I say a "championship" level next year. I know that's a big if but if all goes right we could be having that discussion.

Great thread. Not many people realize just how close we are to a championship. If we can convince any of these people to void their current contracts and come here on the cheap, we'll definitely be contenders:

LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Chris Paul

...and we don't even need to get all three of them. Just one should put us in contention! LeBron will be a free agent next year, so he should be the easiest to acquire. But I'm sure there is some loophole somewhere that will allow Durant and Paul to nullify their current contracts and come to the motor city. If not, we can offer a very attractive package of Jerebko, Stuckey, Villanueva, and Siva.

[dan2314]

I agree that he won't significantly alter our team, but he is an upgrade and I still think he'd fit in well with who we have now. That said, I do think Afflalo could be a starter on a championship team. When you say that you don't think he's better than what you expect KCP to be, do you mean this season, or in the future? Because I agree with you if you're saying that KCP prime could be better than Afflalo prime. But if you're saying that KCP will be better this year then I'd have to disagree.

not right now, but given the minutes, in nothing more than a season or two he will be. afllalo is not someone worth stunting the growth of KCP with.

I agree with this, and I also agree that we wouldn't wanna stunt his growth. That said though, I feel like he's almost guaranteed to be coming off the bench this year so I figure it'd be better to get someone who fits the mold better than Stuckey. I'd also take someone like Courtney Lee too. I think he'd fit well, and he'd probably be open to sliding into a bench role when KCP is ready.

if hes going to come off the bench (which i dont like) its going to be a billups/jennings backcourt. youd have to keep the spacing. i wouldnt worry about getting a 6-8mil SG. I think we trust in KCP for now, and see how he ends up. Hopefully he plays well, and we can get a 3-4 mil backup in the offseason, while we extend monroe, and get a backup c. then maybe if singler/datome arent good enough we get someone there aswell, but thats more likely to be using our MLE and draft in the following years we are hanging around the top of the league.

[Minas]

I'm guessing that we will go .500 and win 41 games.

Sure, we have quite a talented roster but I think it's inevitable that there will growing pains. We will have 4 new starters and a lot of guys will be forced to play roles that they are not accustomed to.

To play devil's advocate, there is also the possibility that this team has a disastrous season, spacing could mean that we have 0 offence, Smith and Jennings could go back to their chucking ways or even create locker room issues. Don't forget that a lot of people hating the Cheeks signing, he could turn out to be a dud coach you never know.

[retrolenny]

Miami 55+
CHI 55+
Indiana 50+
Brooklyn 50+
NY 50+
DET 45+
CLE 45+
CHA 40+ (Just Kidding)

[Natopher]

I just don't get the hype around Cleveland. They're not very deep at all with the exception of Jack at PG, and the majority of their roster (and especially their significant players) are very injury prone. I just can't see them getting even 40 wins.

[Rodya]

I just don't get the hype around Cleveland. They're not very deep at all with the exception of Jack at PG, and the majority of their roster (and especially their significant players) are very injury prone. I just can't see them getting even 40 wins.

Does anyone actually know the likelihood of Bynum playing a single game this season? If he doesn't play regularly, I don't have them making the playoffs. Jack/Irving/Waiters/Clark/Bennet/Thompson/Verejao and Bynum's corpse doesn't sound like a playoff team.

[Natopher]

I just don't get the hype around Cleveland. They're not very deep at all with the exception of Jack at PG, and the majority of their roster (and especially their significant players) are very injury prone. I just can't see them getting even 40 wins.

Does anyone actually know the likelihood of Bynum playing a single game this season? If he doesn't play regularly, I don't have them making the playoffs. Jack/Irving/Waiters/Clark/Bennet/Thompson/Verejao and Bynum's corpse doesn't sound like a playoff team.

He played 0 games last year, and refused to work out for teams. That doesn't bode well for him playing at all. I'll honestly be surprised if he plays. I just don't see it happening. And if he does I don't expect him to be very productive at all. I think he'll be hobbled and get injured again fairly quick.