It’s never too early for a hot take, and it seems like some want the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade for another star.

This wouldn’t fix their problem. Not one bit. All season long, one of the Cavaliers’ biggest issues was their bench, and a lot of the other problems stemmed from it. We’ve made fun of Cleveland’s porous defense all year, and it was clear that they had issues slowing down the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. It wasn’t just that, though. The Cavaliers had trouble stopping almost anybody with a playoff-caliber roster.

There are a bunch of possibilities to why this was the case, whether it was a lack of effort or something more systematic. Regardless, it’s something that they need to address this offseason. Adding a star isn’t going to fix either. Ideas are floating around that maybe the Cavs should trade for Carmelo Anthony, or find a way to add Chris Paul. The Melo situation was already talked about this year, whereas Paul is one of the banana boat guys. (I want to stress that this is all hypothetical. There are no official reports about any of this happening.)

Also Read: How LeBron And Durant Made The 2017 Finals Incredible

Really? Melo? One of the NBA’s most lackadaisical defenders going to a team that finished tied for 22nd in defensive efficiency with 108.0 points allowed per 100 possession? That would be foolish. Especially because they would have to give up someone like Kevin Love, who played incredible defense all throughout the playoffs. In the Finals, the Cavaliers’ defensive rating shot up to 121.3. Love was the team leader at 113, and that was tied for the second-lowest among those who played at least 50 minutes with Draymond Green (112) and Stephen Curry (113) being the only two ahead of Love. Additionally, he grabbed 11 steals and averaged 11.2 boards a night for the series. He tied Curry and was second to LeBron James in those respective categories.

This all came with his offense being mediocre. Love did not play well on that end and averaged just 16 points on 38.8 percent from the field. He did, however, shoot 38.7 percent from three.

Even with Love’s struggles, the Cavaliers played Golden State well for more than half the series. Game 3 was a contest they should’ve won. As we know, the fourth meeting was a blowout by Cleveland, and the fifth game was just a nine-point loss, which is pretty amazing considering how the Warriors cleaned Oracle with the Cavaliers in the first two games. Cleveland’s problem isn’t offensive star power, and that painfully obvious. LeBron and Kyrie (for the last three games) went play-for-play with Curry and Durant, but everything fell apart whenever those two weren’t directly involved in the offense, and it was more evident with James.

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If they were to make a rash decision and send off either Kyrie or Love for another star, they’re in the same position they are now. And their title chances don’t get exponentially better. Nothing about the rotation changes and the complementary guys are still going to look like deer in headlights when they come off the bench.

Steve Kerr had no issues going with Andre Iguodala, JaVale McGee, David West or Ian Clark for short stretches. Sometimes he left them out for too long just to squeeze in some more rest for his stars, but tell me they aren’t more reliable than Deron Williams, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson and Kyle Korver. I’m not trying to knock anybody, but you could see the first four were better than the latter four if the glasses you’re using are objective.

However, that same roster gave the Warriors their biggest challenge of the postseason. The reason for that is James, and, if he continues this level of play, any team that he helms will immediately be the biggest threat to Golden State. Finding the right pieces is crucial, and the organic growth of the Warriors was vital to their championship. Cleveland doesn’t have that luxury. They’re well above the salary cap making it impossible to bring on free agents. Even though that’s the case, I don’t believe they should break up the team that they have. This group has spent the last couple of seasons together, so they have decent chemistry. Breaking that up could have harsh repercussions. Trying to assimilate another star won’t work as it did with the Warriors — they’re the exception, not the rule.

Also Read: How Cleveland Won Their Only Finals Game

Furthermore, Cleveland is taking on the risk of bringing on a player without knowing how they’re going to play on the NBA’s biggest stage. Everyone knew Durant was going to ball come June because he did just that back in 2012. If we’re to direct this back to Anthony, how much of a difference would he be? He’s beyond his prime and is far from the multi-dimensional scoring champion that used to strike fear in the eyes of whoever guarded him — that Melo would easily warrant a deal. I know times have changed, but Anthony’s role on the Cavaliers would be almost identical to Love’s, and nearly half (48.8 percent) of Love’s shots come from three in the playoffs. He’s a huge threat from there, and his 43.2 percent clip crushes Melo’s 32.0 percent like it’s the “I” in the PIXAR logo.

Now, let’s say that Love has bad shooting nights. He can do more. And that’s the versatility that the Cavaliers need from a star. He grabs more rebounds, can play outstanding on defense when Cleveland needs it and his half court passing skills have become underrated since leaving Minnesota. The most glaring stat, to me, is defensive box plus/minus and Love beats out Melo 1.1 to 0.1. Statistically, in the playoffs, Anthony is an average defender while Love is above-average, and that’s with Melo playing all of those playoff games in his prime. As he ages, it’s only going to get harder for him defensively.

Cleveland can’t be so quick to blow up their team, and I don’t expect them to. It’s the LeEastern Conference until further notice, and it’s important to remember that Golden State might not have even made the Finals if they played a healthy San Antonio Spurs team. Their best bet is to do whatever possible to fix the issues that plagued them, and if that means overhauling both playbooks, so be it. The coaching staff has all summer to attempt to repair the defense, and that should be their paramount concern. Trial and error is the only way to find out what will work. However, looking back on the solid possessions they had against Golden State is something to build on.

Also Read: Stop Forgetting The Greatness Of James and Durant

Offensively, they have to ways to incorporate more ball movement. The biggest killer for the Cavs — or any team going against an elite defense — is too much reliance on one-on-one basketball. You can’t expect LeBron to go to the hole eight times in a row because it’s unrealistic and will only fatigue him for later in the game. Once the ball starts to swing, shots become easier, and it’s up to guys to bury those looks. The NBA is a make or miss league, but you’ll seldom see guys miss a bunch of open shots in a row.

Then, there’s the argument about neither Klay Thompson nor Draymond showing up offensively. That’s a valid point, but they more than made up for it on the other end of the floor. It’s amazing how the Warriors put up huge scoring nights without Thompson or Green being necessary, but that means they can focus even more on defense. We saw Klay play outstanding on that end for the last three Finals, but it looked more consistent this year because they didn’t rely on his right hand. If the Warriors can win a title riding Curry and Durant, I don’t see them getting away from that. 

Anybody who’s great at something has had to adapt at least once. The Cleveland Cavaliers are a great basketball team, but trading away talent for a bigger name isn’t the way to a championship.

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