When LeBron James first announced that he was returning to Cleveland in a letter, he said that he knew the team wasn’t ready to compete just yet, saying the team was too young, and would take a few years before being ready to contend for a title. The Cavaliers have changed all of that in the past month with their recent signings, and the news that broke last week. The Cavaliers and Timberwolves agreed to a trade that would send Kevin Love to Cleveland. The trade will not be official until August 23rd, because of Andrew Wiggins’ contract, but it seems as if there is nothing stopping this trade from happening. With this trade, Cleveland has formed the brand new Big Three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. The old Big Three that won 2 titles in 4 straight finals appearances was James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh in Miami. The main difference between these two Big 3’s is the age factor. The Big Three in Cleveland is much younger than the one in Miami. Dwayne Wade was successful but he was at the end of his career, and Chris Bosh had never had much postseason experience. I’m not taking anything away from the success that Miami had with that Big Three, but I do believe that this new Big Three has a lot of potential for even more success, and not success in a few years, but success this year. Kevin Love is only 25 years old, and is a double-double machine. He set an NBA record by becoming the first player with 2,000 points, 900 rebounds, and 100 3-pointers in one season last year. Kyrie Irving is only 22 years old, and a former All Star Game MVP, and rookie of the year. Both of those players are having all of this success before they’re even in their “prime”. Add those two with LeBron James, who is arguably the best player in the NBA, and they have the potential to be the best “Big Three” in NBA history. Those three are not the only things that make Cleveland a “win now” team. The signings of veterans such as Mike Miller, and James Jones (who both won with James), and them pushing for Ray Allen and Shawn Marion, helps with the depth of that team and with one of the issues that James mentioned in his letter. He mentioned the team being too young, and that he would have to be a mentor. With Jones, Miller, and possibly Allen and Marion joining King James, the amount of mentoring for the young players increases to the point of making those young players ready to “win now”. The Cavaliers must have read James’ note closely, took it to heart, and did whatever they could to make this a “win now” team. They did just that, and much, much more.
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