Cleveland Cavaliers New Star Reveals Everyone’s Roles Around LeBron James
The Cleveland Cavaliers brought in four new players while sending away five veteran stars on the day of the 2018 NBA trade deadline. The night after the deadline, the Cavs took to the court with only nine players, but thanks to LeBron James and surprising performances by Kyle Korver and Jeff Green, they beat the Atlanta Hawks despite being shorthanded. Now, on Sunday afternoon the Cavaliers play their strongest Eastern Conference rivals, the Boston Celtics, and while still two players short, they have all their new players ready to try to help them turn their season around. In an interview with ESPN, the new Cleveland starting point guard George Hill explained how the new-look Cavs would play around superstar LeBron James.
The New Cleveland Cavaliers Lineup
First up, head coach Tyronn Lue announced the new Cleveland Cavaliers lineup on Saturday, at least for their game against the Boston Celtics. Fear the Sword reported that the Cavs would start LeBron James, Cedi Osman and Tristan Thompson in the frontcourt and J.R. Smith and George Hill in the backcourt against the Celtics.
Coming off the bench will be Friday night’s superstars Kyle Korver and Jeff Green, as well as newcomers in guards Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson and big-man Larry Nance Jr. At the moment, it is unclear which of those players will step up and take over the role left behind by Dwyane Wade, although Korver and Green proved they deserve the chance. However, Clarkson and Hood will both get the opportunity to prove they deserve a look as well as the second-team leader.
How Will New Cavs Look Against Boston?
In the interview with ESPN, George Hill said that LeBron James is clearly the Batman of the Cleveland Cavaliers roster. While Kevin Love is usually the Robin to James’ Batman, until Love returns from injury, Hill said that the entire team would have to play as the Robin to LeBron’s Batman.
Cavaliers’ head coach Tyronn Lue agreed with George Hill. Lue said that LeBron James is the number one scorer on the Cavs roster but the number two scorer could be anyone on any given night. Lue noted that it could be Rodney Hood on the second-team. It could be Clarkson, Green or Korver. Lue said that, with this lineup, you never know who will step up.
LeBron James also seems excited about the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers. Slam reported that LeBron said that the new lineup looks like the rest of the season “should be fun.” James said that the new team is younger and more athletic and they have added some shooting, so it just comes down to how long it takes them to all mesh.
