Back in 2010, LeBron James made that historic move from Cleveland to Miami. James, of course, got the worst of that seeing how powerful the Heat suddenly became that year.
With James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, the Heat were obviously pretty strong on paper. While the team did make it all the way to the NBA Finals, they fell short at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks.
Of course, being the first year, such was only to be expected. But with that loss came experience and lessons learned. So the result was seeing the Heat win the title in the following year (2011–2012) and then the year after that (2012–2013).
Last season, it was practically the same scenario only that James returned home. This time, he had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to pair up with; as expected by most, the team made it the NBA Finals.
The difference is unlike his time in Miami, James went through the NBA Finals alone. Love was taken out in the first round of the NBA playoffs while Kyrie Irving ended his season with a busted knee cap in game 1 of the NBA Finals.
So heading into the coming season, the Cavs have fewer excuses not to go all the way. And to make sure they do just that, they need to stay healthy.
Love seems to be doing fine and should be up and about by the early part of the season while Irving could be back only by January 2016.
James will still be the main man in the early goings, although the Cavs will certainly try to balance the minutes to avoid seeing their stars fall to injury. For the ones coming from injury, the Cavs don't intend to rush them.
For Irving, whether he is 100% or not, such is not that important. What matters is that the team looks out for each other and that everyone gets on the same page once the NBA playoffs come around.
"All the expectations people put on us last year, we were aware of it. But for us, it was about us being together when it really mattered and showing people that this was a team to be reckoned with," says Irving via Fox Sports.
Recall that last season, the Cavs started at 19–20 before winning 48 of its final 63 games in the Eastern Conference. Could it be déjà vu for the Cavs come the 2015–16 NBA season?
