Cleveland Cavaliers
Team Outlook-
Coming off a championship season in 2016, the Cavaliers bring back a majority of their core. A key piece to watch here is that J.R. Smith still remains a free agent, and if he does not sign with the Cavaliers, then they will be incredibly thin at the guard position this season as Iman Shumpert will be forced to enter the starting lineup. Shumpert has a history of injury concerns, and with a backup
The big three of this team will be forced to all take on bigger roles as Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov departed via free agency, which leaves the Cavs thin from a depth perspective. Their bench is filled with aging veterans such as Mo Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Richard Jefferson, Dahntay Jones, Chris Andersen, and Channing Frye. It will be interesting to see how Tyronn Lue manages this team as the superstars have shown that they will need rest throughout the season, but they will want to keep the older guys fresh for the playoffs as well.
Projected Starting Lineup
Point Guard- Kyrie Irving-
Kyrie is going to be forced to take on a much larger role this year similar to what the Cavaliers saw in the NBA Finals where he averaged 30.8 points per game. With the departure of Matthew Dellavadova and Mo Williams not being able to play a significant amount of minutes due to age, when Kyrie is healthy he is going to see a lot of minutes. We expect Kyrie to take a significant leap in the 2016 season. LeBron has mentioned several times that Kyrie needs to take on a bigger role, and we saw that at times last season where LeBron would just let Kyrie take over a game. Kyrie has as much upside as almost any player in the NBA as he showed in his 57 point game in March 2015, but he just needs to stay healthy and play the number of consistent minutes to make a big impact on this team.
Shooting Guard- J.R. Smith
J.R. Smith is an important piece of this offense as he is the best shooter on this team averaging making 40% of his three point attempts last season. One thing to keep an eye on early in the season is the minutes that J.R. Smith will be able to play as he has not been a part of the team during the preseason. One key thing to note about Smith is that he is a very sporadic player and does not see a ton of uptick when LeBron, Love or Irving are out. He will have a big game from time to time but is hard to trust unless he is at a severe discount as he does not put up a lot of stats outside of points scored.
Small Forward- LeBron James-
LeBron James is one of the most consistent NBA Fantasy players in the league, as he is a triple double threat every time that the touches the floor. LeBron is the type of player that fills up every fantasy category and can lead to huge nights. LeBron is one of the best players in the league and is one of the few players that is truly matchup proof. The only risk that there is with LeBron is that when the game is a blowout, he has a tendency of playing 30 minutes instead of the normal 35-37 that he usually plays which if you are paying up for LeBron in a DFS environment those 5 lost minutes are critical
Power Forward- Kevin Love-
Kevin Love is the exact opposite of LeBron James in terms of consistency. Love has upside to pay off his salary in a big way as we saw at times last year with his 23 point, 18 rebound game against Dallas. Love had 35 double-doubles last season, which is great, but the issue is when he doesn’t get a double-double he is difficult to roster as he doesn’t fill up the other categories outside of rebounds and points.
Center- Tristan Thompson-
With the departure of Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson is expected to take on a big role for the Cavaliers this year. What remains to be seen is that over the duration of the season if he can take on the minutes that will make him consistent from a fantasy perspective. He is a great defender as we saw in the playoffs against Golden State, but the offensive side of his game still needs developing which makes him hard to trust from a fantasy perspective.
Key Bench Players
Mo Williams-
Mo Williams is a fantasy darling, as when Kyrie is out, Williams will step in and contribute almost immediately. During a 12 game stretch to start the season, with Kyrie out, Williams averaged 14.5 points per game. When Kyrie is out, he is a great play as he often comes in at a low fantasy price due to his minutes being sporadic. One key thing to note here is that Mo Williams is going to be out for an extended period of time in an odd situation where two doctors told him he did not need surgery, but a third doctor told him he did need surgery. Keep an eye on this situation as he apparently wants to be traded from Cleveland
Iman Shumpert-
Iman Shumpert is coming off his worst shooting season in his NBA career as he made just 29.5% of his threes and 37.4% from the field. Shumpert is known as a defensive specialist, and could see a lot of minutes early in the season with J.R. Smith being a late signing to the team . Shumpert has very little fantasy value heading into the season and would need multiple players from the big 3 to be out for him to be usable in a DFS setting.
Kay Felder-
Felder could be forced to take on a big role in certain games this season, as the Cavaliers are an aging team and with Kyrie Irving’s injury history. It is still expected that Felder will be the backup point guard as Mo Williams deals with surgery, Felder is a player who has a high upside averaging 24 points per game in college last season.
Richard Jefferson-
Richard Jefferson is a guy who when LeBron James is out, is going to be a name you hear a lot in terms of minutes, however he rarely has the upside to win you GPP’s as the production often shifts to other players on this team.
Mike Dunleavey-
The addition of Mike Dunleavy is an interesting one as he provides a shooter that the Cavs need with the loss of Dellavedova. Dunleavy who is 36 years old, is likely going to be limited to 20-25 minutes per game with no injuries, but could be forced to step into a role if LeBron or Kevin Love miss any time or sit for rest.
Channing Frye- Channing Frye is a great three point shooter and can stretch the defenses out with his
Chris Andersen- The 38-year-old “Bird Man” comes over from the Memphis Grizzlies this offseason and is expected to play a defensive role as Andersen provides some rebounding and toughness in the center of the paint which outside of Tristan Thompson the Cavaliers do not have.
Key Offseason Acquisitions
N/A
Key Offseason Departures
Matthew Dellavedova- Losing Matthew Dellavedova puts an increased emphasis on the importance of Kyrie Irving this season. With Mo Williams being the only true backup besides rookie Kay Felder, Dellavedova’s defense and three point shooting is going to be sorely missed.
Timofey Mozgov- Mozgov’s departure was inevitable towards the end of the 2015-2016 season when he barely played in the Golden State series. It is clear that the Cavs want to go with a smaller core team led by Tristan Thompson at Center