That's the good thing about this team is they have various units they can put out on the floor, but the key will be them nailing down their starting 5 and then who their 6th and 7th man will be. It seems as though their starting 5 by the play offs will be LBJ, Love, Crowder, IT and Wade with JR and Rose being their 6th and 7th men.
I'm not a fan on smith. On a good day when he catches fire he is a decent starter. But too many times he has off days. As a defender he is good. But I don't think he is a bonafide starter in my books. Shumpert has to go. He might be a good team mate be he isn't lights out anymore and when you consider wade, rose and even lebron aren't the best at the 3 and love is very hit and miss it leaves a gap especially when chasing points. I know it was the first game but the starting team shot very badly from 3, and you can't let teams like gws or spurs get away early on knocking down 3s.
Paul george was the trade needed to make cavs contenders. Picking up wade adds experience but I don't know if it makes them better. A lot will come down to IT. if he can find his feet in Cleveland then cavs can be a threat. Just there defence, rebounding and rim protection worries me. And their only 2 way star is crowder.
I think you can trade shump and jr with the Knicks pick to bring in a genuine sg. It's the only weakness they have. I would be happy wade playing second unit and bring him on to close out games if needed.
Depth wise cavs are probably best in the business. But their starters are a bit weak (as good as wade is, he is 35 and you need to wonder if he can play a fast pace). Not sure what cavs can get with their luxury tax situation but you either get 1 more player to knock off the west or you risk losing lebron in 2019 (apparently he is gone already)....
