CLEVELAND -- Following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 118-108 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday, multiple players acknowledged growing discontent and a strong sense of concern that unlike past seasons, the team does not have the capability to fix the problems that ail their current team.
Several prominent players, speaking on a condition of anonymity to ESPN, Cleveland.com and The Athletic, expressed doubt that the problems -- an aging roster, defensively-challenged personnel and a glut of redundant role players -- could simply be worked out through patience and a chance to coalesce when fully healthy.
It has been an up-and-down season for the Cavs, who started the season 5-7, then reeled off 18 wins in 19 games only to have it followed by their current slump -- a 3-9 record since Dec. 19.
While the Cavs' erstwhile hot streak eased tensions at the time, Cleveland's formula for success through the uptick was not sustainable as it was playing primarily a nine-man rotation that did not include two primary players in Tristan Thompson, who was out with a calf injury, and Isaiah Thomas, who had yet to make his Cavs debut as he recovered from a torn labrum in his hip that sidelined him for more than seven months.
Furthermore, many of the wins were racked up against inferior opponents. The loss to the Warriors on Monday dropped Cleveland's record to 1-6 this season against the top three teams in either conference -- 0-2 against Golden State, 0-1 against Houston, 0-1 against Minnesota, 0-1 against Toronto and 1-1 against Boston.
Entering Monday night, Cleveland ranked 29th in defensive efficiency out of the league's 30 teams, allowing 109.3 points per 100 possessions. In the last 20 seasons, no team that finished in the bottom two in defensive efficiency made the NBA playoffs, let alone the NBA Finals, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Cavs are attempting to make a fourth straight Finals appearance after going 1-2 in the championship round against the Warriors the last three years. LeBron James is personally attempting to make it for an eighth straight time and a ninth time overall -- he is 3-5 in the Finals thus far.
Naturally, the disappointment of the Warriors loss was fresh on the players' minds when they spoke on Monday. It was a game that was competitive for a spell, with the Cavs even holding a seven-point edge at halftime, but the Warriors overwhelmed them down the stretch, outscoring Cleveland 61-44 in the second half and holding the Cavs to 6-for-23 shooting (26.1 percent) in the fourth quarter.
"It seemed like the rim just got smaller and smaller," said James. "Like our effort tonight. If we continue on that, going into our next few games, then I like where we are."
Earlier in the week, James said "I love our potential" when asked about the state of the Cavs. The question is if that potential will ever be realized.
Thomas, acquired from the Boston Celtics along with the Brooklyn Nets' unprotected 2018 first round pick, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and an additional second round pick in the Kyrie Irving trade in August, played his most minutes (32) in the five games since making his Cavs debut, but shot 8-for-21 (including 1-for-7 from 3) while doing so.
"I just want him to take the shots that are given to him," said Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. "Not forcing shots, but if someone, whoever is on the team that can shoot the basketball, if they're open 21 times, then take your shots. It's not about the amount of shots, it's the amount of good shots. If they're your shots then you've got to be ready to take them."
There are natural comparisons being drawn in the Cavs' locker room between Thomas and Irving, by virtue of them playing the same position and being swapped for one another. Irving, who is leading the Celtics to the runaway No. 1 record in the East, was known for turning it on at times during the Cavs' annual doldrums and raising everyone's level of intensity -- James included. And Irving shined in the biggest moments, averaging 29.4 points on 47.2 percent shooting in the Finals against the Warriors last June.
While an evaluation period to gauge what Thomas will ultimately be able to bring to the Cavs is natural -- Thomas suggested over the weekend it could take him "15 to 20 games or maybe a month" before he would be "back to the level that (he is) used to playing at -- his timeline is dovetailing with the final weeks leading up to the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 8.
In addition to the Brooklyn pick, which several league sources told ESPN that the Cavs prefer to hold onto as a potential franchise-resetting asset should James leave as a free agent in July, the Cavs also own their 2018 first round pick which could fetch interest on the trade market.
In the meantime, they have two more players on the mend -- Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert -- who could further disrupt the rotation whenever they return healthy enough to play.
That could also include an adjustment period that any sort of major trade would bring. And midseason trades are just as much an annual tradition for the Cavs as midseason slumps are -- with deals completed the last several years to acquire Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov in 2015; Channing Frye in 2016 and Kyle Korver in 2017.
"I'm not anticipating anything," Lue said before the Warriors game when asked about potentially accommodating new pieces into his rotation.
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