The Cleveland Cavaliers have been dominated by the Golden State Warriors in the first two games of the 2017 NBA Finals, and if that trend continues, major changes could be in store for the defending champions.
ESPN’s Chris Haynes went on “The Jim Rome Show” on Monday, and claimed that if Cleveland loses the series in four or five games, the roster could see drastic changes.
“I think in years past – say last year’s for say – if the Warriors close out that series and won the Finals four-games-to-one, there’s no doubt in my mind Kevin Love would not have been back,” Haynes said. “There’s no doubt in my mind and so I think that’s the same case.”
But how would the Cavaliers reshape their roster? Haynes thinks that Chris Paul could be in the mix.
“But Bron’s not going to be happy about that, so if the Warriors are to get this series over within four or five, I would expect Cleveland to make some moves,” Haynes said. “What is that move? I don’t know because there’s always been talk about Chris Paul and LeBron James teaming up at some point, but I just don’t know if the chemistry fits with them. Obviously, they’re smart guys and they probably could make it work and play at some high of a level, but those are two ball-dominant players and will it work with Kyrie Irving as well? There will be some move made.”
The Cavaliers reportedly were entertaining the thought of acquiring New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony at the 2017 NBA trade deadline, and Haynes believes those talks could start up again.
“Those talks definitely could resurface, because it’s at this point if the Cavaliers feel like hey, all they could do is get to the Eastern Conference Finals, then why not kick the tires on a Carmelo-Kevin Love swap and just see what could happen. Because I guess they feel like with Kevin or with Carmelo, they could advance to the Finals. Now, they don’t know what they can do with Carmelo, I think they have a pretty good idea with Kevin Love.”
The 2017 NBA Finals will shift to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
