Future Lines.

I wasn't able to watch either the Knicks or Spurs games over the weekend, I made an assumption that it wouldn't be worth it anyways, which is what I told myself only because I had no way to watch these games. I wasn't at home where I could just flick on NBATV. Cleveland beat New York and hung with San Antonio, Manny Harris played great over the weekend, as did Kyrie (of course) and Jamison shot alot.

With that covered and thinking about the future, as I do so much with this team over the last couple of years, I'm going to throw together three lineups that I'd like to see from Cleveland in the coming year.

Lineup #1
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - Eric Gordon
SF - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
PF - Tristan Thompson
C - Anderson Varejao
6th Man - Alonzo Gee

This would be the ideal lineup in my opinion moving forward. Obviously Kyrie is the centerpiece, a guy that can run the floor, get others involved and score. Throwing money at Eric Gordon would be a good investment. He's a guy that can score from just about anywhere and perhaps more important, the kid plays defense. Chris Grant is quietly building a monster defensive team right now that will be able to score points. By drafting Kidd-Gilchrist the Cavs would be adding another defensive stud, making the entire starting five defensive minded, while also having four options to score. MKG is basically a slasher, he'll score most of his points at the basket, which is why signing Gordon is so important. Thompson is a pretty good defender already, but lacks on the scoring end. With this lineup, he'd only have to worry about defense and would still be able to create shots for himself without a play call. To top off the starting five, Cleveland will insert the most underrated player in basketball to head the frontcourt. Varejao plays defense, hustles every play, fights for every rebound and is a phenomenal pick-and-roll player both ways. Add in Gee off the bench, a guy who has shown this year he can defend better players and score when needed, and the Cavs have a solid core that could be kept together for a long time. For me, this lineup would be ideal and could have the Cavs back in contention next year.

Lineup #2
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - O.J. Mayo
SF - Harrison Barnes
PF - Antawn Jamison
C - Anderson Varejao
6th Man - Tristan Thompson

In this scenario, Jamison would bring his 25-shots a game back to Cleveland and allow Thompson to come in off the bench to completely swap offense for defense. Barnes would be the top draft pick, and a small forward that can score from all over the floor would be welcomed. It all depends on how far his stock has fallen and where the Cavaliers end up picking, but I'm not worried about his bad tournament. This kid is still a hell of a player who just happened to have a few bad games. Does anyone remember why his stock was so high in the first place? Because he tore it up in the 2011 tourney. A few bad games don't scare me, I would love a Harrison Barnes first-round draft choice. O.J. Mayo would be the recipient of  excessive money being thrown at a position of need in this scenario. I've liked Mayo since watching him at USC, and I think him being the second or third option on a team instead of five or six would do wonders for him.

Lineup #3
PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - Doron Lamb
SF - Alonzo Gee
PF - Tristan Thompson
C - Andre Drummond
6th Man - Anderson Varejao

With this scenario, you have the same core group of players in Irving, Thompson, Gee and Varejao with a slight twist. The energy that Varejao could bring off the bench would be unmatched by anyone else in the league. In this scenario, The Cavs will use their top pick on Drummond, a high-risk center that has potential spilling out of him but can't seem to put it together. You can't argue with said potential though, and if the lottery balls make the Cavs pick five or six, I think this could be the pick, whether it will be or not is for a different day. Doron Lamb will be the late first-rounder or early second that Cleveland has. This would be a good lineup looking ahead, although unlike the other two, I feel like this Cavs team would still be a piece away and that's only if Drummond pans out. The potential shut-down frontcourt of Drummond and Thompson is too good of a thought to pass up if Drummond is the best available when the Cavs slot comes up.

Obviously a ton of things need to happen right for one of these lineups to even happen. But all three are possibilities, and ones that I, along with most Cavs fans would love to see.