10 Reasons Why This Year's Cavaliers Are Already Better Than Last Year's Heat

Image via @Lanzieri

In Miami, LeBron James found himself buried low in the post battling for rebounds and protecting the rim far more often than he probably should have been, mostly because the Heat lacked any real authoritative big men. Sure Bosh is an excellent power forward, but in the Heat's scheme he became more of a jump shooter than a physical center. 

With the Cavs, LeBron will be joined in the front court by Kevin Love and Anderson Varejao, two players with size who last year averaged 12.5 and 9.7 rebounds a game respectively. The year before that they averaged 14 and 14.5 rebounds respectively. While Cleveland may still have some issues with rim protection, these are two guys who know how to clean the glass and use their size. Which when coupled with their offensive skills — something Heat centers like Joel Anthony, Chris "Birdman" Andersen, and Greg "Fisticuffs" Oden lacked — may help LeBron form the best front court in the East.

And it's not even close.  Averaging 21/6 vs. 11/6, being six years younger, and having only been in the league for three years? Not close.

Sorry, Alaska.

Dwyane Wade missed 28 games last year. That's 1/3 of the "Big Three" who spent over 1/3 of the season wearing loafers instead of, uh, Li Nings. That put entirely too much pressure on Bron to not only facilitate the offense, but to be the majority of the offense for long stretches of the season. King James isn't 23 years old anymore; playing 37+ minutes for 80+ games starts to take its toll.

BRUH.

He's still a relative unknown to most NBA fans, but the smart basketball people seem to think David Blatt is not only a decent coach, but one of the best coaches in the world. His resumé only strengthens that argument. Just last year David Blatt took Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C., an Israeli team not expected to even make it to the EuroBasket Final Four, to the EuroBasket Finals and WON after beating Real Madrid 98-86 in overtime. The well-traveled American coach even somehow managed to win a bronze medal with Russia in the 2012 Olympics. Quick: name a Russian basketball player. 

...Exactly.

PS - Alexey ​Shved. Plays for the T-wolves.

Miami's lack of team depth was exposed during last year's Finals (among other things). In Cleveland, LeBron will find more players who can help off the bench than what he had been working with in the recent past. Tristan Thompson has the opportunity to turn into a much more effective sixth man than, say, (old) Rashard Lewis or (really old) Ray Allen.

Paul George's bad break may turn out to be a lucky break for LeBron's new team. The Pacers are already looking like a mere shell of the team they could've been with PG, leaving Chicago as the only real competition in the Central Division. Miami, on the other hand, had to deal with rising Washington and Charlotte squads, an undying Atlanta team, and will face an improved Orlando Magic in the upcoming year.

Nobody is saying Dion Waiters is anywhere close to the player Dwyane Wade has been, but he's certainly closer to present-day Wade than many might think. Per every 36 minutes, Wade only averaged 1.5 more points, assists, and rebounds than Waiters. That's from a guy who was on the floor with one of the best players (and passers) in basketball history versus a second-year guard on a struggling team. That's a world champion team's second or third option versus what will be a contending team's fourth or fifth option. When put into perspective, Dion's production isn't that far off from what Dwyane accomplished in a pretty decent season.