The Terrence Boys on the same team again for the first time since high school and AAU in Washington.
In a deal that was agreed upon in the middle of December, GM Rizzo was able to bring in two legitimate rotational players without giving up much of anything from the roster to acquire them. The Terrence Boys – Ross & Jones – give Cleveland a ten-man rotation that they are comfortable with going into games with night in and night out.
Terrence Ross got the start at the shooting guard position next to Kyrie Irving and did exactly what he was expected to do: score the basketball. Of course Irving is going to lead the team in shot attempts but Ross was able to connect on seven of his 15 shots for 15 points while also adding six board and four assists.
While Ross is shooting a career-low from beyond the arc, he’s shown the ability to be able to hit at a much higher percentage and with the talent around him in Cleveland, he should find himself with some cleaner looks than he was used to seeing this season in Memphis.It felt real good to finally be playing with the Cavs and playing with Kyrie. He’s a good dude and a better player and he’s going to make my life easy. Atlanta zoned us up hard tonight and I let the guys down by not hitting any of my threes. I think it was just nerves tonight because that usually won’t happen.
The other piece of the trade was Terrence Jones. The five year veteran out of Kentucky is 6-9 and 252 pounds of intensity. Playing with a mean streak, Jones is a furious defender that loves to block shots and get in the passing lanes. He’s not an offensively gifted player and he’s not looking for plays to be run for him. He’ll do his work in the paint on post ups or put backs and is fine with doing the dirty work.
While there is optimism in Cleveland, is it warranted? Sure, they added two players for cheap that will produce for them, but the arms race went on across the playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs are currently three games back of the eighth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks while the Heat and Pacers are one-half and two games back, respectively. The Nets – currently the seven seed – added Nick Stauskas to beef up their outside shooting to go with their already impressive roster, anchored by LaMarcus Aldridge and Dwight Howard in the front court. The Miami Heat seem to be playing very well since trading away the playoff poison known as DeMarcus Cousins, winning seven of their last ten games. The last team standing between Cleveland and the playoffs is Indiana. Led by Goran Dragic, Kevin Love and Derrick Favors, the Pacers have a ton of fire power to keep them afloat and alive in the playoff hunt.We acquired Terrence Jones from San Antonio and like what he brings to this ball club. He’s going to be the primary backup to Jarnell Stokes at the four but we won’t hesitate to see him play some at the center position. He’s got the size and the strength to bang in the paint with the bigs of this league so it could be something we experiment with. If we decide he’s going to have to play the four full time, we will definitely work on his conditioning this offseason to work on his foot speed and get his weight to a place it needs to be to keep up with the new age power forwards of today’s game. Regardless, we are very excited to have both Jones and Ross here in Cleveland and think they could push up the standings.
The Cavaliers have come a long way considering what this team went through the last two seasons. The ultimate goal of the season was to make the playoffs and Cleveland is fighting. Not many believed they could do it – and they may be right – but the future is looking up going into the 2018-2019 season and beyond.
2028
