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Cleveland Cavaliers: The King finally fulfilled his promise and brought home a championship, the first in the Cavaliers history. LeBron has now solidified his place in the top 5 players ever alongside Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (in no particular order). The crazy thing about LeBron is that he is still just 31 years old. It’s safe to assume that, barring injury, LeBron still has at least 3 more MVP caliber seasons in him and 5 or 6 All-Star level seasons left in the tank. LeBron has yet to officially re-sign with Cleveland, but he has repeatedly said he will do so. As long as LeBron is on the roster, the Cavs are one of the best bets to win the championship. Considering that LeBron has reached 6 straight NBA Finals, merely having him makes your team a contender. In addition to the unsigned LeBron, Cleveland still needs to figure out the JR Smith situation. Smith is reportedly looking for a deal that will pay him north of $15 Million annually, but it is unclear if any team, including the Cavs, is willing to budge. The Cavs are completely capped out and have no means of replacing him, so they will eventually have no choice but to re-sign him. The question remains for how much. It is understandable that Smith wants to be paid handsomely after being so instrumental in bringing a championship to Cleveland, and with all of the money being spent this offseason. On the other hand, it is also understandable that Cleveland doesn’t want to shell out too much cash with so many big contracts already on the books. At the very least Smith should be paid more than the inferior Iman Shumpert, who will be making $31 Million over the next three seasons. Other than the unresolved James and Smith contracts, the Cavs offseason has been pretty quiet. Cleveland had no draft picks, and winning the title silenced Kevin Love trade rumors. The only two players of relevance that were lost this offseason were Timofey Mozgov and Matthew Dellavedova. Mozgov was used sparingly by playoff time last season, and it was a foregone conclusion that he would leave for more money elsewhere. To replace him, the Cavs signed Chris “Birdman” Andersen to a one-year vet-minimum contract. Birdman will simply be there for depth and will have a minimal role as long as Love, Tristan Thompson, and Channing Frye are healthy. Dellavedova’s loss could have a much bigger impact, especially in the regular season. With Delly’s departure, there is no longer a reliable point guard option behind Kyrie Irving. Considering Irving’s extensive injury history this could be a bit concerning. At the moment the only other point guards on the roster are the aging and declining Mo Williams and the 54th pick in this year’s draft Kay Felder. Having a point-forward like LeBron makes this less concerning for the Cavs than it would be for other teams, but it is nonetheless something to keep an eye on. Assuming James and Smith are re-signed, the wing rotation could be much deeper and stronger than last season. Smith, James, and Shumpert will play the majority of the minutes, but they now have more options behind them with Jordan McRae, Richard Jefferson, and Mike Dunleavy. McRae has impressed in the summer league and could be in line for more minutes. In a strange turn of events Jefferson went from retiring to signing a 2-year $5 million deal in a matter of a couple weeks. Jefferson played a huge role for the Cavs in the postseason and could be important once again depending on matchups. Dunleavy was an amazing addition in a salary dump by the Chicago Bulls. Dunleavy is coming off a down year in which he was very limited due to a back injury, but the year before that he was a starter on a playoff team. Even with the nagging back injury he remained an elite three-point shooter and gives coach Lue yet another option off the bench. The Cavs are capped out, owe Portland a top-10 protected 2018 1st round pick, and will be drafting towards bottom of the order for the foreseeable future, but this shouldn’t be a problem. The majority of Cleveland’s key pieces are already signed to long-term deals, and there will always be veterans willing to join a LeBron-led squad for the veteran’s minimum to chase a ring. There are many improving teams in the East, but there is still a huge gap between the Cavs and the rest of the conference. Short of a major injury to James, I would be shocked if we didn’t see Cleveland making their third straight Finals appearance.