The Cleveland Cavaliers have LeBron James. That, of course, is great. But how will their offense improve? LeBron will be a huge factor, but new additions to the roster and a change in coaching philosophy will help, too.
The Cavaliers were 22nd in offensive efficiency last season, scoring 104.2 points per 100 possessions. One of their glaring issues was consistent shooting from the perimeter. In the regular season, they were 18th in the league in three-point percentage, at 35.6 percent. Their two main offensive threats on the perimeter, Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, shot just 35.8 and 36.8 percent from downtown, respectively.
With LeBron’s arrival, and the attention he’ll command on the offensive end, players like Irving and Waiters will be counted on to knock down open shots. Their percentages may improve, regardless, as experience and repetition helps them become better shooters, but some of that improvement will come directly from playing with LeBron. One study, by Reuben Fischer-Baum of FiveThirtyEight, showed how LeBron improved the true shooting percentage of all of his Miami teammates when he joined the Heat. There’s a precedent here.
Of course, another obvious solution would be to get better shooters. The Cavaliers are doing exactly that. They’ve signed Mike Miller and James Jones this week, two of the best three-point shooters in the league. There’s still a chance they can convince Ray Allen to put off retirement to chase one more title. At the very least, the Cavs have added two premier perimeter threats to the roster.
Aside from an improved roster, the Cavs may have an improved Anthony Bennett they can count on as well. He’s been a revelation at summer league, flashing both his athleticism and his three-point range. The jury is still out on Bennett, but if he continues to develop, it gives the Cavs another stretch four option.
Perhaps the ideal candidate to get a lot of minutes at power forward would be LeBron. It’s something the Cavs rarely explored during his first stint in Cleveland. At the time, LeBron did not have as complete an offensive game as he does now, where he is capable of punishing opponents in the low post. Also, Mike Brown was never the most innovative mind on the offensive end.
Coaching is where improvement should come, too from new head coach David Blatt. The Cavs have so many different options on their roster, it will take some mixing and matching to find the right lineup. Blatt spoke with Grantland’s Zach Lowe this week, and talked about his preference for stretch fours:
I just came from the land of the stretch 4s. Stretch 4s became popular in the United States because of Europe. If anyone knows that style of play, it’s probably me. Yeah, you’ll see LeBron there. You’ll see LeBron all over the floor, just like he’s used to playing. I don’t have to change him.
As for Blatt’s background with the Princeton offense, he gave a bit of a preview of what to expect in Cleveland:
In the full Princeton, there are no plays. Well, there are plays, but there are not called plays. According to the movement of the ball, and the movement of the center, you’re gonna get into certain sets that you read according to how the defense plays you.
That’s the part of the Princeton offense you can see in my teams — the reading and the multi-option possibilities off of any play. The Princeton offense is something that takes a long time to develop. It requires a particular kind of player, and more than anything else, it requires the giving up on the part of all the players of almost everything they know.
But elements of the Princeton offense, in my mind — they are the right way to play
In LeBron, Blatt has the best quarterback to read defenses and react as he sees fit. Even better, the Cavs should have a much better set of shooters to knock down those open shots. All of this and we haven’t even mentioned Andrew Wiggins, who could be a tertiary offensive option this season based on his raw athleticism alone.
It will take time for Blatt to find the right combinations, but he seems like the type of coach who is willing to take risks, and is creative enough to optimize the potential of the roster.
The front court is still a bit limited, with Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson expected to log most of the minutes there, but the Cavs have enough interesting pieces on this team to become a very scary offensive team next season, especially from the perimeter.
How much better will Cleveland’s offense be next season?
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