Cleveland Cavaliers Should Limit LeBron James’ Minutes

By Jacob Troxell @RantSportsJacob on November 22, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NBA first-year coach David Blatt has his hands full in Cleveland like he probably never could have imagined. Ever since mid-July when LeBron James announced he was coming home to play for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers once again, the city has changed, and so has their basketball team.

They went from a lottery team to a playoff team overnight with the best basketball player on the planet instantly inserted into their starting lineup.

After the trade for All-Star Kevin Love, many considered them a legitimate championship contender.

While the Cavs have gone through a rough stretch, starting the season 5-6, nobody should panic, because this team has young talent and is being led by James, a two-time NBA champion who will, and has started to change the culture of the Cavs team.

This team is not being led by Blatt, at least not yet. They are struggling in their half court offense, but perhaps more concerning for the Cavs right now is that LeBron is averaging 38.6 minutes per game, which is third in the league.

This team will gel and figure out how to play with each other sooner rather than later, and it’s understandable Blatt is probably still in shock he inherited the best player in the world since coming from overseas to coach this team, but he is like a teenager who needs to learn when to put down his cell-phone. Give him a rest and let him recharge.

James will be 30 in December and the veteran is one of the older guys on the team. He has never had a season where he averaged less than 37.5 minutes, and eventually that will hurt his playing ability in his final years. Since James is probably staying in Cleveland for the remainder of his career that should be important to the Cavs organization.

Blatt may not care about that as much as success this year, but the same rule applies: James should should have a limited amount of minutes, in order to keep him healthy and well-rested for the 2015 playoffs.

Blatt should copy the strategy of five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich, who is notorious for giving his older star players nights off and limiting their minutes. Quite frankly more coaches should do it. It obviously works, and since James has already publicly said he believes the regular season is too long and grueling, Blatt should listen to him. James doesn’t have to play 38 minutes a night to help his team get a win each night.

At 38 years old, Tim Duncan is arguably Popovich’s best player in his tenure as the Spurs coach, but he has not averaged more than 37.5 minutes per game since the 2002-2003 season, when he was 26. The Spurs have won four NBA championships since then, including that season.

In his early thirties, Duncan saw around 34 minutes a night.

The wins will come for the this regular season in the friendly Eastern Conference, but if the Cavs want to go anywhere in the playoffs, then their best player must be rested, healthy and ready to go.

Jacob Troxell is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @RantSportsJacob.