James will be mentor to Cavaliers young players

LAS VEGAS (USA Today/MCT) — Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Andrew Wiggins dribbled baseline, spun through two defenders towards the basket and with Philadelphia 76ers big man Nerlens Noel closing to back a shot, Wiggins finished an electrifying two-handed dunk.

But that wasn’t it. He showed his defence skills by blocking one of Noels shot attempts. And now Wiggins, the No. 1 overall pick in the June draft, has found himself the focus of other highlights in Las Vegas.

It’s just Summer League, and it’s against other developing pros, but it’s impossible not to consider Wiggins’ athleticism alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

“For a guy a like Andrew, to have the opportunity to play with arguably one of the best players of all-time and to learn from him and be tutored by him and to play alongside him, which he will in many cases, I’ve got to think that’s a tremendous boost to his confidence, to his comfort level and probably to his motivation to be even better,” Cavaliers coach David Blatt said.

Add that second-year forward Anthony Bennett, who had a very difficult and disappointing rookie season in 2013/14, said he has lost nearly 10 kilos and has looked like he’s motivated to contribute and the Cavaliers have a reason to believe the struggles of the past few seasons could be about to get better.

Like Blatt said, who wouldn’t be motivated by James’ presence and the very real possibility that the Cavaliers can compete for a championship in 2014/15? Now it’s starting to look like the Cavs can salvage Bennett and turn him into a productive player.

“The first and the best thing I can tell you about that is that I’m coming in here and he’s coming in here with a clean slate,” Blatt said. “Anthony has done a great job working with our performance guys and our training staff and with our skills coaches to No. 1 get himself in good physical condition and No. 2 work on his game and many elements of his game and No. 3 allow him to come out and play basketball.”

Bennett admitted it was tough last season but when it ended he began working on losing weight. He said he’s at his playing weight of 110 kilos, down from 118kg. In three Summer League games, Bennett has played at least 30 minutes. Last season, he played just 30 or minutes twice in 52 games

“I was happy to see his confidence level high,” Blatt said. “I was happy to see his energy and his ability to run the floor and to stay in it for extended periods of time. I just think with his approach and his improved approach and condition, he’s just going to get better and better.”

When James begins organising team workouts before training camps begin, he’s going to be the obvious leader and elder statesmen on a young team. James has more combined NBA seasons (11) than Irving, Bennett, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters combined (nine).

In his Sports Illustrated essay announcing his return to the Cavs, James admitted: “It will be a long process, much longer than it was in 2010. My patience will get tested. I know that. I’m going into a situation with a young team and a new coach. I will be the old head. But I get a thrill out of bringing a group together and helping them reach a place they didn’t know they could go. I see myself as a mentor now and I’m excited to lead some of these talented young guys.”

They are young and talented, and it might be the team with the most youthful and promising potential on which James has played. Miami had plenty of talent, but that was mostly a veteran team.

His old Cleveland teams didn’t have anywhere near the same youthful potential, and those Cavs teams were constantly trying to jam pieces around James to make it work. On the Cavaliers’ 2007 NBA Finals team, James had Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, Sasha Pavlovic and Donyell Marshall as main supporters.

When the Cavaliers had the best record in the league in 2008/09, Mo Williams, Delonte West, Daniel Gibson, Varejao and Ilgauskas were key contributors.

This Cavs team is built for now and for the future, considering that James doesn’t turn 30 until December 30.

The Cavaliers have expressed interest in Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star forward Kevin Love, but the Timberwolves are bargaining hard. They are unwilling to entertain serious discussions unless Wiggins is offered, and right now, the Cavs have no intention of trading him.

“There’s no reason cause or worry on his part because Andrew is not going anywhere,” Blatt said.

Of course, until Wiggins is signed, speculation will continue. Teams cannot trade signed rookies for 30 days, and the Cavaliers have not signed Wiggins as they try to manipulate salary cap space to their advantage. That James didn’t mention Wiggins in his SI essay only fuelled talk that Wiggins might not be with Cleveland.

Wiggins is not exactly naive. Even though he’s 19 years old, he just signed a multimillion-dollar apparel deal with Adidas and soon will sign a
multimillion-dollar rookie deal. But it still must be jarring to think you’re going to spend your rookie season with James but not know for sure.

“It’s a great feeling having the best player in the game today come to your team,” Wiggins said, who added he anticipates James being a mentor, too. “He’s the best in the game. He works hard. I know he’s a hard worker, unselfish so hopefully he takes us all of us under his wing and teaches us what it takes to get to his level and build a championship team.”