After Kyrie Irving left Cleveland for Boston, the Cavs routed to scout the best players for the team. They succeeded in a big way, acquiring Celtics' Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder, Chicago Bulls' Dwyane Wade, and New York Knicks' Derrick Rose. That, however, raised some concern over who will be the team's starting players. But for the Cavs, it is not a question of who will start but rather the accomplishment of winning games during the regular season.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the arrival of Dwyane Wade on the scene proved to be more complicated than what the team has handled before that.
J.R. Smith may eventually settle for less and let Dwyane Wade take to starting position of shooting guard. Taking the backcourt, on the other hand, is not an issue to Smith saying, he has been playing 14 seasons as a starter and it won't make any difference this time.
Tristan Thompson on Jae Crowder taking the frontline
Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson is more vocal about Coach Tyron Lue's decision to let Jae Crowder start the roster. Just like Smith, he said that it didn't matter who starts but on how they will be able to deliver and win games through the season. He also told Lue that he shouldn't worry about him. "I’m a team-first guy. I understand that at the end of the day it’s about winning..it’s not about who starts the game, it’s about who is in the game in the fourth and who is finishing it.
So, I’m not worried."
Tyrone Lue made his decision official on Monday, confirming his starters mainly Dwyane Wade (shooting guard), Derrick Rose (point guard), LeBron James (small forward), Jae Crowder at the 4, and Kevin Love on 5. "I just wanted to do it," says Lue. Meanwhile, the Cavs coach acknowledged J.R. Smith's open acceptance of his position in the team.
Tyrone Lue's comments on the new lineup
"It’s tough, you’ve been in the position where you went to three straight Finals, and you’ve been the starting 2-guard," the coach said. But if the team really want to win another championship, some sacrifices must be made. Smith has been a good sport on the new arrangement.
J.R. Smith has been vocal about Derrick Rose's impressive talent on the court.
Just recently, Smith said, it was unbelievable how the Cavs acquired Rose for almost nothing. While that wasn't entirely the case, Rose became part of the Cavaliers without the franchise-shaking its core players to acquire him.
In Cleveland, J.R. Smith started his 112 games in the past couple of seasons while Thompson started all of his 78 games with the Cavs last season.
