The Cleveland Cavaliers are the reigning NBA champions but everyone talks like they are underdogs.
Since the Golden State Warriors acquired Kevin Durant, the Cavs the odds for the Cavaliers to win the title in 2017 plummeted. According to Heavy.com, the current line for the Warriors to win the title is -115 which has an implied probability of 53% while for the Cavs, it's just +350, which meant that they only have a 22.2% chance to win it all.
While that may sound discouraging, the season has yet to start and the odds were also not in favor of the Cavs last season. Still, the idea that the Golden State Warriors replaced Harrison Barnes, the weakest link in the NBA Finals with Kevin Durant is a scary thought.
However, stating that the Warriors simply signed Durant and lost Barnes, not to mention Andrew Bogut is a rather simplistic view. The truth is, the Warriors also gave up on Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Brandon Rush and Leandro Barbosa. While they did play limited roles with very scarce playing time, they are an integral part of the Warriors' success.
The Warriors got a stroke of luck specifically in the frontline when Zaza Pachulia decided to take a contract far below his market value to join the Warriors. Last season's title chaser with the San Antonio Spurs, David West also chose to do the same, but this time with the Warriors.
Still, former NBA coach Mike Fratello told Sirius XM Radio that he feels like the Warriors are not as strong as they're cut out to be. Compared to the Cavs, they sorely lack bench depth.
"I don't know about Golden State, just how many games they are going to win because they lost a lot of those glue pieces that were so important to them, giving them the depth that when they came off the bench they didn't have a major drop off and many times gave them a lift and took them to a bigger lead in the game than they had initially, " Fratello said (h/t Clutch Sports).
The Warriors will rely heavily on the team's new six-man core of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and Draymond Green. That leaves them with limited variations to the "Death Lineup." One injury to these core players will have the Warriors tapping a rookie to fill in. This is where the Cavs can capitalize. If they sign JR Smith, they can still have experienced bench players like Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and even new acquisition Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
Hardly anyone questions the decision of the Warriors to go all-in on Kevin Durant-any team in its right mind would have done the same. What Fratello meant is that it might not be as easy as the odds portray them to be.