Cleveland will not win a championship title

[MISSERY]

they will look like the suns without no defense, steve nash era, but depending on the coach system
old bench players
no legit back-up PG, just an old lucas
and injury prone varejao and haywood

there starting line-up are the only players that has defense love lebron varejao not even sure on kyrie and waiters
unless they add marion allen, billups but this guys are too old
cleveland team is not like the heat with a lot of defensive players from the bench
this will be like lakers big 5 with awful bench players and injury prone players or as I've said the suns  with nash era

i could even see wizards bulls raptors even heat making it
with the heat adding williams deng mcroberts granger resigning most of former players, they seem to look better than cleveland, even d-wade rest
with cleveland's rookie coach.... if they don't win anything, the next year of it, i think they will add more bench help
because miller is getting older haywood lucas even billups if ever they add him
but all in all i can say 45 to 50 wins only... healthy or not healthy

any reactions?

[Hawkeye199]

could not agree more. lebron is there entire defense and they have no real bench. I think Chicago takes the east

[SHAQATTACK]

Bron makes any club a playoff contender ,  but not sure it will be this year......it took a while to pull a team together in Miami

If he wins a title there it will be the sec or or most likely the third year.   Probably one or two year to learn what pieces they need to finish the puzzle .

If by the third year he has no title ..... I expect him to join the rebuilt Lakers for his last swan song years .....LA will be tuff again...but the Celtics should be too.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Instead of going for Love i thought they should have traded for a center. Someone to anchor that defense .

[Roy H.]

The only team I don't see them beating is the Spurs, if the Spurs don't drop off due to age.  I think they'll make it through the East, and I think they could handle the Clippers and Thunder out west.

[GreenWarrior]

I think people are giving Chicago way too much credit early on here. while I do think gasol has something left, I don't think he is a drastic improvement over boozer. other than that they got "Mcbuckets", and is Mirotic actually playing this yr.? if so he's an NBA rookie as well. as "great" as Mirotic may be, it doesn't mean he walks in being the player he's been overseas.

 and D. Rose has a better chance of getting injured again than he does at being the same player he was.

now, in the east they are a lock to be a top team. but barring injury no team in the east is beating a team in west in the finals.

Cleveland obviously will be better. and they are my choice to win the east. I think this whole thing relies on Irvings' shoulders. I liken him to the Bosh dynamic in Miami when Lebron was there - I always felt if Bosh had a good game they're pretty much unstoppable. he was the guy teams needed to make sure didn't get off.

i don't think Washington is getting talked about enough though. and i know they are becoming(if not already there) the sexy pick. but this team is built strong for the playoffs. just the way they are constructed i put them in the eastern finals. though i'm not sure if they're ever going to be a really great regular season team, this could ultimately hurt them come playoff time.

[Clench123]

That is a bold statement I disagree with.  Lebron is too good.  Put him with Love and Kyrie, and the advantage far outweighs their weaknesses.

[chambers]

If their big 3 in Cleveland are healthy, the only way they don't ever win at least one championship is if the Thunder get a new good coach, or the Bulls have a healthy  MVP level Derrek Rose and DPOY Noah for the next 4-5 years.

I think this season, Chicago should be a monstrous team if they can stay healthy.
Rose, Noah, Gasol, Butler, McDermott with Taj and Mirotic off the bench (among others).
Other than that in the East, perhaps Hibbert steps up a level and George comes
back an even better player but it's unlikely. I think the Bulls and then the Wizards pose the biggest threat to the Cavs. Wizards should be slightly better than the Heat.

They'll be better on defense than you think, because Lebron will force them to be good defensively- he'll make sure everyone plays hard defense or he'll get rid of them.
They can get defensive role players and specialists easily, or they can go after someone like DeAndre Jordan or Hibbert as a free agent if they feel Irving is under achieving.

[Celtics4ever]

I think in some ways they are better than the HEAT.   Irving presently is better than Wade,   Love is better than Bosh,  LeBron is LeBron and their supporting cast might be better in CLE.  I hope Wade returns to 2006 form as it would be interesting to see the HEAT play the CAVS.   But I doubt FLA fans can whip up enough vitriol to bother James as they leave as soon as they get behind.

[GreenWarrior]

That is a bold statement I disagree with.  Lebron is too good.  Put him with Love and Kyrie, and the advantage far outweighs their weaknesses.

saying they'll never win a championship is foolish. but i'm definitely not penciling them in as champions this season.

like I said about "Washington not being a great regular season team ultimately hurting them". if i'm wrong and they're able to get home-court advantage i'm easily putting them in the finals at least for this upcoming season.

I just look at what Washington and what they were able to do against Chicago's best player - Noah and how they made him look average and I don't expect D. Rose to be the same player he was. he might be good but unless he's playing at the level he was, I don't see him making that much more of a difference against a more well-rounded Washington Squad. 

and while Cleveland will be much improved. I think they're in for some growing pains as far as gelling goes.

[MISSERY]

do you guys really think that adding gasol to the bulls is better than adding humphries in the wizards team?

bulls has not lebron stopper
kyrie will ankle break d-rose
i could even put mohammed on haywood
those PF's erick murhy etc; are not that great playing in a different teams
i could put snell or butler on waiters right away
and a healthy varejao can evenly matched what noah can do, rebounds and defense
i have put the name bulls on the list but overrating them is way too much
it does not matter even you got a 2 passing bigman
gibson? i could lebron to PF right away, and put miller or jones as my SF hitting 3's
pau gasol should also be quick chasing kevin love on 3's outside

raptors got the defense, quickness, scoring bigs, low post scorer, and some shooters
and wizards has improved a lot but rice jr. and potter should at least get 10points in a game to beat the cleveland offense at the bench

[loco_91]

they will look like the suns without no defense, steve nash era, but depending on the coach system
old bench players
no legit back-up PG, just an old lucas
and injury prone varejao and haywood

there starting line-up are the only players that has defense love lebron varejao not even sure on kyrie and waiters
unless they add marion allen, billups but this guys are too old
cleveland team is not like the heat with a lot of defensive players from the bench
this will be like lakers big 5 with awful bench players and injury prone players or as I've said the suns  with nash era

i could even see wizards bulls raptors even heat making it
with the heat adding williams deng mcroberts granger resigning most of former players, they seem to look better than cleveland, even d-wade rest
with cleveland's rookie coach.... if they don't win anything, the next year of it, i think they will add more bench help
because miller is getting older haywood lucas even billups if ever they add him
but all in all i can say 45 to 50 wins only... healthy or not healthy

any reactions?

Look like an underdog to the Bulls next year, but they are the clear #2 seed in the East. They will be dominant offensively, and LeBron will have enough offensive help from Kyrie and Love to focus more energy on locking down the best opposing player.

Their bench isn't deep, but starting 5 + 1-2 off the bench is what counts most come playoff time. They have Mike Miller as a solid 6th man, he can really shoot the ball, and adding Ray would just be unfair... we'd be looking at an elite 3pt shooting team. So much space for Lebron and Kyrie to get to the rim.

Injuries could derail them, and healthy Bulls could beat them outright. But it's hard for me to see Miami pulling it off even in a best case scenario for Wade's knee. Wiz might have a shot but still they are clear underdogs.

East order is very clear at this point barring injuries
1. Bulls
2. Cavs
3. Wiz.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

The only team I don't see them beating is the Spurs, if the Spurs don't drop off due to age.  I think they'll make it through the East, and I think they could handle the Clippers and Thunder out west.

Do you think they can get past the Bulls and the Wizards in a 7 game series? The Wizards may be a tough battle, the Bulls, I don't think so.

[Vox_Populi]

The only team I don't see them beating is the Spurs, if the Spurs don't drop off due to age.  I think they'll make it through the East, and I think they could handle the Clippers and Thunder out west.

Do you think they can get past the Bulls and the Wizards in a 7 game series? The Wizards may be a tough battle, the Bulls, I don't think so.

I'm not sure they could beat OKC either.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

The only team I don't see them beating is the Spurs, if the Spurs don't drop off due to age.  I think they'll make it through the East, and I think they could handle the Clippers and Thunder out west.

Do you think they can get past the Bulls and the Wizards in a 7 game series? The Wizards may be a tough battle, the Bulls, I don't think so.

I'm not sure they could beat OKC either.

Or the Warriors for that matter. Yes, im being a homer.