LeBron James delivered on his championship promise when he and the Cleveland Cavaliers brought an NBA title to Ohio in dramatic fashion last season. Now the Cavaliers will turn the page to the next chapter with a chance to defend their crown against an improved cast of contenders. The long road back to the NBA Finals will begin in the Central division where Cleveland will aim to lock up a division crown while shooting for home court advantage in the postseason. Here is a look at the biggest burning question for each NBA Central division team.
Cleveland Cavaliers – Is The Depth Enough?
The Cavaliers leaned heavily on LeBron James and Kyrie Irving during the NBA Finals comeback from down 3-1 in the series but they might need more than those two playing at an elite level to win another championship. The Golden State Warriors have added an MVP to their roster in Kevin Durant while a number of other teams have improved their roster with a focus on contending for a championship. Cleveland could not afford to pay Timofey Mozgov and Matthew Dellavedova based on the ridiculous contracts they received and they did little to address their depth. There is no doubt that LeBron and Irving will need to carry this team but is this roster deep enough to defend its championship crown?
Indiana Pacers – How Dominant Will Myles Turner Be?
Indiana is among the teams poised to challenge Cleveland for the division crown in the Central Division and it will be very interesting to see how good their starting center will be. Turner has been absolutely dominant through two preseason games in which he has averaged 13.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 3.7 blocks per 36 minutes while shooting50-percent from the field. The Pacers brought in Al Jefferson to improve their depth but this year will be Turner’s chance to shine and it will be very interesting to see how dominant he can be.
Detroit Pistons – How Will Reggie Jackson’s Replacement Fare?
The optimism surrounding this Pistons’ team came down a notch when it was announced that Reggie Jackson will miss about two months due to injury. That means Detroit will turn to Ish Smith as their starting point guard, which is an obvious concern. The Pistons are limited to Ray McCallum and Lorenzo Brown beyond Smith so there is a good chance the young guard gets a ton of playing time. Detroit isn’t the deepest team and their early season fortunes will be tied to Smith. Is Jackson’s replacement good enough to help carry the load through the first couple of months of the season?
Chicago Bulls – Who Spaces The Floor?
The Bulls went in multiple different directions at the same time this offseason and in the end they wound up with an intriguing combination of talent that could struggle to compliment one another. Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler will create a ton of optimism but none of those three is an excellent shooter so how will Chicago space the floor? The Bulls have a severe lack of pure shooters with Tony Snell and Doug McDermott likely their best three-point shooters. That could create major problems for Chicago and keep them from reaching their potential this season.
Milwaukee Bucks – Can This Team Contend With Pieces In Place?
There is no doubt that Milwaukee has the pure talent to compete in the Central Division and Eastern Conference this season. They’re in the range of those teams in the lower tier that should battle it out for a playoff spot. The real question is do the Bucks have the right pieces in place to contend?
Greg Monroe, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, Khris Middleton – when he’s back from injury – are all quality talents but can they complement one another enough to win on a consistent basis? Head coach Jason Kidd will have his hands full maximizing the potential at his disposal but there is a realistic fear that too much of a similar style could be a bad thing for Milwaukee this season. There was a lot of hype about Kidd as a coach at first but his teams have underachieved in recent years. We’ll see if he can get this team into the playoffs this year.
