LeBron James is doing it all for the Cavaliers right now. The 32-year-old superstar leads the Cavaliers in almost every major statistical category. He’s first in points (28.1), assists (8.8), minutes (38.1), steals (1.2), and blocks (1.3) per game, while also leading the team in field goal percentage (58.6%). He’s second in rebounds (7.6) and three-point percentage (37%) among players playing at least 10 minutes per game, and in most every Cavaliers’ win you can point to a near Herculean effort from the King.
The question facing the Cavs is whether that’s sustainable and what they can do to lessen the burden on his shoulders. There are no go-to options on the offensive end beyond James, and it’s required a tremendous amount of effort for them to get to 7-7 on the season.
The one beacon of hope for Cleveland is the eventual return of point guard Isaiah Thomas, who has been on the shelf since they acquired him in the Kyrie Irving trade with Boston due to continued recovery from a hip injury. Thomas is expected back by January, but it could be sooner than that, and that addition can’t come soon enough for the Cavs on offense.
Howard Beck of Bleacher Report spoke with James and Thomas about his impending return to the floor and what it means for James and the Cavs as a team. While James has been quick to calm chatter of Thomas needing to be Cleveland’s savior, noting the onus is on the entire team rather than just Thomas’ return to improve, he is looking forward to finally having another capable offensive creator on the floor to give him a much-needed break.
“I look forward to when IT returns, whenever that happens, to give me a break here and there, where I know he can run the offense and control a quarter or two, or a game if need be,” James said.
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“It’s been a while since I’ve had that clear-cut guy who can get guys involved but also score at the same time,” James told B/R Mag. “But it’s fine. It’s something that our team will make an adjustment to.”
The last part is especially crucial for James, physically and mentally. While the NBA has a new rest rule in place to prevent healthy players from sitting out big games and road games, James will certainly need a few games off. To this point, he’s played in all 14 games at the aforementioned 38.1 mpg, and that seems unsustainable. Last year, LeBron sat out eight games total, which is par for the course for the star in recent history.
Since his first season in Miami (2010-11) when he played in 79 games, James has appeared in no more than 77 games in a season, averaging 74.4 games played in the past five seasons (not including his 62 games played in the 2011-12 lockout year). In short, James will want and need some time off, but likely won’t be willing to take that time until Thomas gets back, as evidenced by his insistence in logging heavy minutes despite a tweaked ankle early this season.
For Thomas, he understands the Cavs’ need for him to be back at an All-Star level like he played at last season for them to achieve their full potential. As he told Beck, he’ll be able to do things that no one else on the team other than James has been able to this season.
“I’m a student of the game, so I know everywhere I can help, man,” Thomas told B/R Mag. “I can help, first off with my aggressiveness and my scoring ability. But just putting pressure on the defense every time down. Being able to get in the paint and make the defense pick and choose what they want to stop. Being able to get to the free-throw line. Little things like that that I see nobody’s really doing but Bron.”
Thomas won’t solve the Cavs’ defensive issues, and there’s a good chance those linger throughout the season and Cleveland hangs around the bottom of the league in defensive rating. However, there’s no doubt that he will be a welcome addition for the Cavs because of that offensive ability. The question remains how effective and healthy he’ll be once he does come back, but LeBron and the organization are hoping he can be that same guy because they need that desperately.
