Cleveland Cavaliers Blog – Page 36 – NBA Blog

No LeBron, Blatt drama this season

Here’s Cleveland.com reporting on the Cavaliers, who at 9-3 are already a success this season and have the services of Kyrie Irving to eventually look forward to once he heals and is ready to play:

Want to set off some Cavs fans?

Tell them about LeBron James and David Blatt.

The distrust. The undermining and second guessing. The disconnect.

It’s a sore subject for Cavs faithful. Either James shouldn’t treat his coach that way, or Blatt wasn’t right for the job, or the media shouldn’t bring it up.

This season, though, there hasn’t been any James-Blatt drama to discuss.

Hours before Cleveland beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-100, turning in a solid-but-not-perfect performance after days of being ripped in public and private by James and Blatt, the Cavs superstar dropped a different kind of bomb.

“He does his job as great as any coach can do in this league,” James said of Blatt, following the team’s shootaround in the morning.

Cavs struggling from free throw line

The Cleveland Cavaliers are 8-3 this season; a very good start, especially considering the team is without the services of still-healing point guard Kyrie Irving. But things could be even better, as the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

While LeBron James continues to rip his teammates for their lack of effort and David Blatt says they need to get tougher, one of the more perplexing problems facing the Cavaliers in the early season has been free-throw shooting.

The Cavs enter Thursday’s rematch against the Milwaukee Bucks 29th in the league in foul shooting, ahead of only the Detroit Pistons. Poor free-throw shooting was a big reason for their two road losses to the Bucks and Pistons and the Cavs don’t have many explanations for the struggles.

“If I had the sure-fire answer to that I would be a genius,” Blatt said. “I guess I’m not.”

The Cavs are converting less than 69 percent of their free throws, a number that continues to trend in the wrong direction. They shot 58, 63 and 60 percent from the line in their past three games after converting 75 percent at the line last season — 18th in the NBA.

Obama expected at Bulls-Cavs game

It’s the opening night of the 2015-16 NBA regular season! Here’s ESPN.com reporting that a pretty famous fan will likely attend Bulls-Cavs tonight:

President Barack Obama, perhaps the most famous Chicago Bulls fan in the world, is expected to be in attendance for the Chicago’s season-opening game Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“He loves the game of basketball,” LeBron James said prior to the Cavs’ shootaround Tuesday morning. “We all know that. It’s an honor for me to be a part of a venue and a spectacle that the president would like to come and watch. It’s an honor for sure.”

James, who teamed up with Michelle Obama last week in Akron, Ohio, as a part of a higher-education initiative, said the First Lady did not tip him off about her husband’s plans.

Cavaliers waive Quinn Cook

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived guard Quinn Cook, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

The Cavs roster now stands at 15.

Cook appeared in six preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 3.3 points and 2.2 assists in 12.9 minutes per game.

Cavs waive Austin Daye, D.J. Stephens, Dionte Christmas, Jack Cooley

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived forward Austin Daye, guard/forward D.J. Stephens, guard Dionte Christmas and Forward Jack Cooley, Cavaliers General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. The Cavs roster now stands at 16.

Daye appeared in six preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.

Stephens appeared in four preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 3.3 points in 7.4 minutes per game.

Christmas appeared in four preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 6.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 19.9 minutes per game.

Cooley appeared in two preseason games for the Cavs, averaging 4.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game.

Cavs re-sign Tristan Thompson, waive Nick Minnerath

The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed forward Tristan Thompson, General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

In a related move, the Cavs have waived forward Nick Minnerath.

According to multiple reports, Thompson’s deal is for $82 million over five years.

Thompson played in all 82 games (15 starts) in the 2014-15 regular season, finishing with averages of 8.5 points on a career-best .547 shooting from the field, and 8.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game. It marked the third straight season he has played in all 82 games, increasing his consecutive games streak to 288 dating back to Feb. 10, 2012. That is the second-longest active streak in the NBA, behind only DeAndre Jordan’s 322 consecutive games played (dating back to March 25, 2011). Last season, the 6-10 forward ranked fifth in the NBA in total offensive rebounds (274) and fifth in offensive rebounds per game (3.3). He recorded 14 double-doubles, while tying for the NBA-lead in double-doubles off the bench with eight. Thompson also led all NBA bench players in total rebounds (511) and offensive rebounds per game (3.2), while ranking second in total rebounds per game (7.6).

During the Cavs’ NBA Finals run in the 2015 playoffs, Thompson played in all 20 games (15 starts), averaging 9.6 points on .558 shooting, 10.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 36.4 minutes per game. He registered nine double-doubles, while grabbing double-digit rebounds in 14 playoff games, including in all six games during the NBA Finals.

New Cleveland Cavaliers alternate jerseys

As the Cleveland Cavaliers enter their 45th anniversary season in 2015-16, they will do so with new threads that uniquely tie the team’s rich history with their electric present and exciting future. The Cavs will debut three new adidas alternate uniforms this season, each reflecting previous eras of Cavaliers basketball while also incorporating current-day trends. The new looks will rotate with four uniforms that continue from last season – home white, road wine, gold alternate and navy alternate.

Cavs waive Chris Johnson, sign Jack Cooley

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward/center Jack Cooley to a contract, General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

And in a related move, the Cavs have waived Chris Johnson.

Cooley (6-10, 250) appeared in 16 games for the Utah Jazz last season. He also played in 20 games for the D-League’s Idaho Stampede, averaging 16.8 points on .572 shooting, 12.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 30.8 minutes per game. Cooley played on the Cavs 2014 Summer League team.

Johnson appeared in four preseason games for the Cavs.

Tristan Thompson remains unsigned

Here’s Cleveland.com with the latest on the Cavaliers and unsigned free agent Tristan Thompson:

It’s the two-week mark of the Tristan Thompson holdout, which means it’s time to give an update on the proceedings.

There’s no communication ongoing between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Thompson’s agents, Rich Paul and Mark Termini, Northeast Ohio Media Group has learned.

In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency from either side in reaching an agreement. And that means Thompson’s stalemate will continue to hover over the organization like a black cloud, a cloud LeBron James considers “a distraction.”

It may be time to signal to the dugout for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert.

Thompson’s presence on and off the court is sorely being missed. Internally, members of the Cavaliers have expressed to each other how it would be such an unnecessary hurdle to try to contend for a title without their best offensive rebounder and most versatile big defender.

Cavs preseason is a struggle

The Cavs’ preseason so far consists of losses and players missing games due to injury. The good news? It’s just preseason. This is all just a warmup. Here’s ESPN Cleveland reporting:

The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped to 0-3 in the preseason with a 91-81 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. Rather than focus on the winless record, the team is taking a matter-of-fact approach to their predicament.

“No,” LeBron James said when asked if the early losses bothered him. “It’s not frustrating. You get frustrated in September or October, you won’t make it. I’m good. I’m good.”

What’s bad is the Cavs’ injury situation. Kyrie Irving (left knee), Kevin Love (left shoulder) and Iman Shumpert (right wrist) haven’t played a game all preseason. J.R. Smith has missed the past two games with a sore left hamstring and Mo Williams was given the Grizzlies game off to rest. Not to mention James and Timofey Mozgov both taking one of the three games off so far. And of course, the complete absence of Tristan Thompson while he holds out while trying to negotiate a new contract doesn’t help things.

The circumstances have created a barely recognizable Cavaliers team that’s taking the court for games.