Cavs Winning Lineup Promising

You might not have noticed, and I wouldn't have blamed you, but the Cavs win in Seattle the other night was significant because Silas went with a 4th quarter lineup that included lots of guys you'd really like to see develop: Lebron, with Jason Kapono and Dajuan Wagner in the backcourt and Darius Miles and DeSagana Diop as the big men. This was a change of pace as Silas had preferred to play veterans like Battie and Williams when the game was on the line. In fact, it was that mostly veteran lineup who folded while the team lost 3 straight. Nice to see the young guys come in and put a team away. It's encouraging and hopefully a sign of things to come.

On paper this could be a good lineup cause it allows Lebron to pass the ball around to guys who can do something with it. If James can penetrate and/or draw double teams, he can choose from Wagner/Miles who can both excel when getting the ball while cutting to the basket, Kapono who can knock down shots, and Diop who is athletic enough to be on the receiving end of some creative passes. It's a great offensive lineup if Lebron is the focal point. Defensively it's perhaps not so great, but it could be respectable if the athleticism on the floor turns into some fast breaks.

In fact, if guys like Diop, Kapono and Miles are productive, the Cavs have a playoff caliber lineup. They may not be able to get back into contention but they should be extremely competitive. At the least, you can see how this roster might come together next season and really do some damage. And I think it's obvious now that the Cavs benefited significantly from the Ricky Davis trade.