HOOPSAHOLIC

The Cleveland Cavaliers automatically became the favorites to win the NBA Championship when they acquired both LeBron James and Kevin Love over the summer. Those two players alone could compete for a title, but then attach Kyrie Irving to the equation and this team is downright scary. With first year head coach David Blatte running the show, the Cavs will be must-watch television this season, and I can't wait.  

LeBron is simply the best player in all of basketball, and people who argue that clearly have no clue about the sport. The two time NBA champ averaged 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists last season in Miami and now that James is back at home in Cleveland, I expect to see him increase all of those numbers. Last season he was asked to do a lot because of injuries to Dwayne Wade, but now that LeBron is teamed up with Love and Irving, he will be able to facilitate more which will ultimately result in more personal success for The King. LeBron is the ultimate team player, who is loved by his teammates. I'll never bet against the guy and I don't see any scenario where LeBron isn't in the NBA Finals for the fifth straight season. 

So the Cavs get the best player in the game, and the best power-forward as well? That alone shows how crazy the NBA offseason can get. Love is a monster in the post, and the Cavs will love to have the sharp shooting big man on their roster. Last season with the Wolves, Love averaged 26 points, 12.5 rebounds per night. This year he won't asked to do as much, but I think he will thrive now that all of the attention won't be on him. I'm predicting Love to have the best season of his career now that he's in Cleveland.

Kyrie Irving is the luckiest kid in the world. One day he wants to be traded away from Cleveland, then the next he's on a starting lineup that includes two of the leagues top ten players. Irving will be responsible for running Blatte's new offense, so I'm expecting him to flourish now that he's not the lone ranger in town. LeBron makes players better just by being on the court with them, and I expect Irving to increase his 20 points per game average he had last season while also upping his assist numbers to double digits. I think I could average ten assists as the point guard on a team with James and Love. Trying to stop all three of these elite players will cause problems for many opposing teams. They're just too good. 

Dion Waiters and Anderson Varajao will fill out the rest of the starting lineup, and both players will have a solid role on this team. LeBron has said multiple times that he's thrilled to play with Waiters, who averaged 16 points last season. Waiters isn't the quietest guy in the world, and he made it very vocal that he should start and that him and Irving make up the best back court in basketball. At least he's confident, right? But for real, he'll be open due to the all stars he plays with taking up all of the attention from the defense, so Waiters should have a big year. With Varajao, the Cavs have a reliable center who can rebound and make open layups. Someone should teach Kendrick Perkins how to do that.. But anyways I think Varajao will be a nice piece to this Cavs puzzle because he will play within the system and he's unselfish. 

Cleveland may have the deepest team in the league to go with their already stellar starting five. They will have Tristan Thompson, Mike Miller, and Shawn Marion all coming off the bench. The Cavaliers have a great chance to win multiple championships over the next few years with this core nucleus of players. I don't think this LeBron-led team will take as long to get in a rhythm like the Miami team did his first year in South Beach. I hear Blatte is an incredible coach, so it'll be interesting to see how all of these personalities mesh.