1 - No Contenders, Just Pretenders. After Cleveland, the Eastern Conference is stocked piled with teams pretending to be contenders. Before the start of the season, Boston shed their pretender status and was anointed by most basketball experts as "almost elite" and would pose the biggest threat to Cleveland's dominance in the East. That all changed in a heartbeat when Gordon Hayward was lost for the season after suffering a horrible leg injury in the first 5 minutes of their season opener. Boston now joins Washington and Toronto as the only teams with the distinction of being "talented enough to win against anybody on any given night" but lack the depth to sustain a high level of team performance in a best of seven series. The Wizards have John Wall and Bradley Beal, the Raptors have DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry and the Celtics have Kyrie Irving and his "star" by committee of Al Horford, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. They will eventually have to contend with a Cleveland Cavaliers team that has not 1, not 2, not 3, not even 4 but 6 all stars caliber players on their roster. Granted, injury and age may have taken a little away from some of these all stars but there's plenty left in the tank for one last run.
2 - The Bench. With the addition of Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, and Dwyane Wade, the Cavaliers now boast talented players such as like Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith (starters from their 2016 NBA Champion team) off the bench. They also have former NBA MVP Derrick Rose at point guard who will start for now as Isaiah Thomas rehabilitates his way back from a hip injury. If that isn't enough, teams will have to deal with three point sharpshooter Kyle Korver, defensive minded Iman Shumpert and versatile Jeff Green. The real challenge may lie with Coach Ty Lue as he tries to find enough minutes to keep all his players sharp and in sync throughout the season.
3 - Lebron, Lebron, Lebron. A starting line-up that has Kevin Love, Dwyane Wade and a healthy Isaiah Thomas will almost guarantee you a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. Now add the best player in the NBA to that line-up, need I say more? See you in June.
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