NBA teams
Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer 10y

Projecting the Cavs in 2014-15

NBA

Sixty-eight wins.

That's the crazy, amazingly optimistic projection my SCHOENE projection system spit out for the Cleveland Cavaliers once Kevin Love was added to LeBron James' new roster.

Ordinarily, I'd close a column like this with the projection. In this case I think it makes more sense to start with the eye-popping figure and why it is as crazy as it looks -- before explaining why the Cavaliers actually might not be getting enough credit in some ways.

SCHOENE's shortcoming: defense

The wildest aspect of SCHOENE's projection isn't Cleveland's win total, but the team's projected ranking on defense: fourth in the NBA, as in fourth-fewest points allowed per possession. That doesn't square with conventional wisdom about the Cavaliers' defensive woes, and there are a couple of reasons for that.

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