Understanding Cleveland’s championship window
Cavs news and links for Thursday, September 5th.
An NBA team's championship window is usually tied directly to one star player. In the case of the Cleveland Cavaliers, four stars have to align for their window to open.
The first sip
Winning a championship is rare in the NBA. It’s even more rare for teams that don’t have the best player in the world on their roster.
The Boston Celtics are a recent example. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are great players but I don’t think anyone is arguing they are the best of the best. It was Boston’s overwhelming and exceptional depth that put them in a position to win. You have to turn back 20 years before finding another team that won the title without a perennial superstar leading the way.
The Detroit Pistons didn’t have the best player on the floor entering the 2004 NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal held that honor. But running down the line, Detroit had the next five best players — that ultimately made the difference. Chauncey Billups couldn’t single-handedly beat the Lakers. But when you placed him next to Taurean Prince, Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace, the championship window was opened.
This current Cavs team is much closer to replicating the success of Boston or Detroit than any other title winner in recent history. Donovan Mitchell isn’t LeBron James. But he is comparable to Tatum and Billups. Hence the idea behind Cleveland’s core four. A collection of complementary talent compensating for the lack of an overwhelming superstar.
Mitchell has flaws as a playmaker — that’s why Darius Garland plays point guard. But the two undersized guards are vulnerable defensively, which means Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley must cover for them. And since Mobley and Allen are limited scorers — the backcourt carries the offense. It all works together or it doesn’t work at all.
Having one superstar who can do a little bit of everything would be ideal. But this is the boat Cleveland is in. Winning a title means each member of the core four is playing at an All-Star level. That’s a lot of factors to juggle — but no one said this would be easy.
Random Cavalier of the Day - Cameron Payne
Cameron Payne has played for six teams across nine seasons in the NBA. One of which in a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Payne’s time in Cleveland wasn’t remarkable. Or long. He signed two 10-day contracts with the team for a total of nine games before eventually earning a multi-year contract with the Phoenix Suns a year later.
Since then, Payne has found temporary homes with contenders such as the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. He’s now a member of the New York Knicks, ready for his seventh team in 10 seasons.
WNBA schedule today
- Seattle Storm at New York Liberty - 7 PM
- Washington Mystics at Phoenix Mercury - 10 PM