Saturday, September 15, 2012

2012-13 Cleveland Cavaliers Power Rankings. Pre-season.

Photo from Bleacherreport.com
This is an idea that I just came up with that I thought would be a neat little series. The concept is power rankings, but with players on the Cavs instead of teams in the league. Once a month over the course of the NBA season, I will give you the Cavs top ten players. So in the first installment, I give you my Cavaliers pre-season power rankings.

#1 - Kyrie Irving.
 No surprises here, Kyrie is the best player on the Cavs, the leader, the franchise, etc. He is by far the most important player on the Cavaliers roster and I frankly can't wait to see what he does in his sophomore season with the Cavs.

#2 - Alonzo Gee.
Gee gets the nod here over Anderson Varejao because of the injury that sidelined Andy for much of the 2011-12 season. Gee worked hard, and was possibly the NBAs most improved player last year. He plays fantastic defense and has a quick step that allows him to finish at the rim with good success. Gee just inked a three-year deal with Cleveland, so look for him to earn that money this year.

#3 - Anderson Varejao.
Nobody brings more effort and hustle to a team than Andy, when he is healthy. He will fight for rebounds and loose balls, play hard defense and execute the pick-and-roll game masterfully. The keyword here is healthy.

#4 - Tristan Thompson.
Thompson improved in nearly every facet of his game over the course of the 2011-12 season. If he can keep that going into this year, he could become something special.

#5 - C.J. Miles
Miles is a guy that wants to be in Cleveland, he feels it's the perfect situation for him. He's got talent, there's no question about that, hopefully this proves to be the situation that he needs to break out.

#6 - Tyler Zeller.
The rookie looked impressive in the summer league and he has all the tools to be productive in the association. If he plays like he did in the summer league, he'll be climbing up this list in no time.

#7 - Boobie Gibson.
Boobie is the teams best three-point shooter and a valuable asset off the bench, seeing as he can play either guard position. It'll be interesting to see if he can bounce back from last years injury.

#8 - Dion Waiters.
A few months ago, I was shocked when Chris Grant and Co. selected Waiters over Harrison Barnes. I learned to like this pick real quick, the kid can flat out play basketball. He however struggled in the summer league and showed up out of shape. There's no telling how he'll do, but he could shoot way up this list with no problem once the season gets underway.

#9 - Donald Sloan.
Kyrie's back-up looked pretty decent last year when he stepped on the court. The Cavs thought highly enough of him not to pursue a back-up point guard in free agency. As long as he comes off the bench for Kyrie when he needs a rest, Sloan will be just fine.

#10 - Kelenna Azubuike
One of the newest additions to the Cavs, Azubuike is an under the radar type player. He averaged 14.4 ppg in his last full season. Over the last two seasons though, he's played a grand total of nine games. If he stays healthy, he'll be an asset off the bench.