The Cleveland Cavaliers have been under a microscope since LeBron James announced he was returning, and the media firestorm came to a head during their struggles early in the season.
There were reports that the team didn't like head coach David Blatt and that the front office feared he wasn't reaching the players, and many thought his job was in serious jeopardy.
Apparently, the problem was never with Blatt and it was a concern over the imbalanced roster the Cavs had. After the trades for J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mozgov, things are calmer, according to Cleveland.com:
Under the condition of anonymity, some Cavs players admitted that they had lost faith because of the team's lack of depth. A handful of players said they came to realize the roster, as it was constructed before the trades, wasn't equipped to go any further than the second round, if that.
One player said the frustration of an "unbalanced roster probably contributed" to the players' poor body language and effort level. Another said "it was never Coach [David] Blatt's fault."
The consensus was that their confidence had faltered considerably more because of the shallowness of the team's reserve talent than Blatt.
Since making those trades, the Cavs have gone on a six-game winning streak and look more like a team that can compete for the Eastern Conference title. Their next game is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET against the Detroit Pistons on NBATV.
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