Here's the next installment of our team-by-team season preview series on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

2014-15 Record: 53-29

Notable Acquisitions: Mo Williams (FA)

Notable Departures: None

Temperature Check:

After injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love proved too daunting to overcome, the Cavs enter this season on a mission. Owner Dan Gilbert has splashed the cash to lock up this impressive core while sprinkling in veteran free agents like Mo Williams to round out to the team’s depth. It’s winning The Finals or bust this year for Cleveland.

Inside the Playbook:

After a tumultuous first season during which Love never appeared quite comfortable with his new role, the talk around the team this year has centered around a bigger stake in the offense for the Cavs' star power forward. After all, in Minnesota, Love did everything from orchestrating the offense with his passing to both setting and coming off screens, part of why it was such a shock for him to be asked to primarily occupy a role as a second-fiddle, floor-spacer in Cleveland.

With Love not participating in any of Cleveland’s early preseason games, it’s nearly impossible to see where and how he will be more involved in David Blatt’s scheme. But if you peer closely at some of the Cavs' early season changes, you can see the outline of what could turn out to be more opportunities for Love to unleash his prodigious talents, particularly as a passer.

One such set that sticks out is what looks like a molding of modern early offense with some old school Princeton principles:

While the Cavs did run some plays built around Love passing at the elbow, this action opens up a lot more doors. For starters, the fact the team can flow into it right out of semi-transition means the defense has very little time to react to what’s coming. The other benefit of Cleveland moving their big -- which may or may not be Love this season -- to the middle of the floor is that it frees up easy passes to either side of the court, as opposed to the tighter angles a player has at the elbow.

Though Sasha Kaun, the Cavs' big with the ball, doesn’t bother to survey the right side of the floor on this possession, it doesn’t take away from the fact that every player on the court is a threat to the defense. Whether it’s the two players coming off screens (Matthew Dellavedova and Richard Jefferson) or other two Cleveland players setting them (James Jones and Irving), any one of them can cut into open space and Kaun would have a clear sight line to deliver the ball -- as he does with Dellavedova goes backdoor.

Every big on the Cavs' roster, sans Tristan Thompson perhaps, is skilled enough from a handling and passing standpoint to take full advantage of this set. But if you plug Love in there instead of Cleveland’s other bigs, it adds a whole new element.

Love’s shooting prowess means he can (and should) make his catch behind the 3-point line at the top of the key in order to open up more space for cutters to move into near the basket. After all, if someone guarding Love decides to sink deeper toward the basket to clog up those passing lanes, it would gift an ace 3-point shooter a wide open shot. Another added perk would be that if defenders try to really pressure Love out there, making it harder for him to deliver a pass to an open teammate, he can respond by doing this:

If a 33-year-old coming off an achilles tear like Anderson Varejao can blow past overzealous defenders and get to the basket, it’s hard to believe Love, despite not being an explosive ball handler, won't be able to do the same.

Before he gets on the floor, it’s hard to tell if sets like these are just actions Blatt feels will complement his other bigs or part of a real effort to get Love more involved. If the team really wants to ease the burden on the James, the hope for Cleveland fans is that it’s the latter.

Lineup to Watch:

Timofey Mozgov-Kevin Love-LeBron James-JR Smith-Kyrie Irving

If you were wondering what the best 5-man lineup in the league last season, you’ve found it. After a series of trades brought them together, this Cavs' quintet absolutely destroyed all comers last year in their 481 minutes together. Name any category and this group produce an insane integer.

This five man wrecking ball outscored opponents by 20.4 points per 48 minutes. Their offensive rating was an astronomical 116.1 -- second to only the Clippers starting five last season [min 400 minutes]. Maybe even more impressive is that the group’s defensive rating of 96.8 would have topped the Golden State Warriors league leading mark of 98.2. Then to top things off, that units True Shooting Percentage checked in at 60.4 percent (for comparison’s sake that’s, well, it’s really good).

Obviously with just 481 minutes together, some of these numbers could be headed for a pretty large regression, especially when you look at the start of the current starting five. James, with already a ton of miles on his legs, is coming off a grueling Finals. Irving may be out until January and Love just started going 5-on-5 after dislocating his shoulder in the playoffs.

Yet even with all those things working against it, there’s a good chance that this group, or at least the Mozgov-Love-James-Irving foursome accompanied by a warm body, will still be the league’s best five main pairing by the end of this season.

The Wildcard:

Injuries

Injuries could be every team’s wildcard, but there’s no denying that for Cleveland they seem especially important. Love and Irving exiting at difference stages of their playoff run due to injury showed that even the superhuman James can’t singlehandedly win a title for the Cavs. And if you could guarantee a team full health, you’d be hard pressed not to pick Cleveland as this year’s favorites for the title.

But as mentioned above, Irving’s comeback might not be until the calender rolls over to 2016 Love is just easing into things and to add to those concerns, starting shooting guard Iman Shumpert is already expected to be out for an extended period of time after injuring his wrist in late September. Coupled with the Tristan Thompson’s contract fiasco and the Cavs depth chart is going to be tested, at least early in the season.

The good news is Anderson Varejao’s return from injury and the addition of Mo Williams to the backcourt gives Cleveland a little bit more than the paper thin depth they had surrounding James last season. Still, even with the reinforcements providing additional support,  the Cavs margin of error is pretty slim. That’s why for Cleveland, the unforeseen development from someone in of their supporting cast isn’t going to be nearly as helpful as some good fortune with the team’s health.

Coach’s Question:

How will David Blatt approach the regular season?

As the Cavs saw with their incredible run to end the regular season last year, this team is a bona fide juggernaut when healthy. With so many players on the mend and a clear favorite over the rest of the Eastern Conference, it has to be tempting for Blatt to go full Pop with his roster during the regular season.

With their improved depth, especially if/when Thompson works his way back into the lineup, this squad could play their “B-Team” for nearly half the season and still probably finish near 50 wins. So with their entry in the playoffs a virtual lock and no real pressing need to secure home court advantage (Is there any Eastern Conference team you would really favor against a healthy Cavs team come spring time whether or not they had homecourt advantage?), it’s seems like a no-brainer for Blatt to aggressively rest his key contributors so they are fresh for the postseason grind.

But doing so may not be as easy at it seems. As mentioned above, there is an added emphasis for Love to get more involved in the offense and with Irving, Shumpert and perhaps Thompson missing extended time early on, Blatt and the Cavs may need a large chunk of the regular season to fine tune their chemistry.

On top of that, James is an annual candidate for  MVP and if he rests or plays sparingly for a decent chunk of games, that could cost him the vote -- if he really wants it. Even Mozgov’s impending free agent may factor into Blatt’s decision to be ultra-conservative with minutes during the regular season. There’s no doubt players like James and his key supporting players will see their fair share of healthy scratches, but just how often will be an interesting subplot in Cleveland’s upcoming season.

Best Case Scenario:

58-24 If….

Blatt places a fairly strong emphasis on the regular season. Love and Irving return to full health with no setbacks while James skips any mid-season sabbaticals. Williams and Dellavedova prove capable of covering Shumpert’s early season absence and while Thompson’s contract situation doesn’t impact the team drastically either on or off the court.

Worst Case Scenario:

50-32 If…

Blatt treats the regular season as a tune up, resting James aggressively in particular. Irving and Love struggle to find their form upon return from injury and Thompson’s spot in the rotation can’t be adequately filled by a combo of Varejao, James Jones and Sasha Kaun.

Click here for a full list of NBA Season Previews from Brett Koremenos.