The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off of a 51 win season, their highest win total in a non-LeBron season since 1993. Their core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen are all 26 years old or younger, with Garland being 23 and Mobley being 21. For the first time in quite some time, Cleveland has a legit, shining young core.
They bowed out in the first round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks in a quick five game series. The Knicks forced the Cavs to hit their shots, and the Cavs’ glaring shooting issue was completely exposed in a great game plan by the Knicks. Because of this, the Cavs made improving their shooter their offseason priority.
The Cavs defense, anchored by Mobley & Allen, was the league’s best for the regular season. Both bigs are elite rim protectors and provide incredible defensive structure for the Cavs. Their defense remained quite good in the postseason too, as they held the Knicks to a 110.4 offensive rating in their first-round matchup.
Their offense ranked 9th in the regular season, led by Mitchell & Garland. Their 116.1 offensive rating from the regular season plummeted to 102.2 versus the Knicks due to their aforementioned gameplan of letting the Cavs shoot by bringing their help in early and oversleeping.
Cavs Core
Where it all starts with Cleveland is Donovan Mitchell. The 26-year-old is coming off of a career year, where he averaged 28.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on a 61.4 TS% (48.4/38.6/86.7 splits). He’s an insanely talented scorer and is a true three-level scorer. He is a force getting downhill and to his pull-ups while also being a good playmaker. He had his best year defensively last season too.
Heads may go toward Darius Garland or Evan Mobley next. Garland’s quite good season went under the radar due to Mitchell, but he averaged 21.6 points and 7.8 assists on a 58.7 TS% (46.2/41.0/86.3 splits). Mobley finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year race at just age 21 and finished the season with averages of 16.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game on a 59.1 TS% (55.4/21.6/67.4 splits).
People forget that Jarrett Allen was an All-Star in the 2021-22 season. He wasn’t quite that good in 2022-23, but he was still quite good and is only 24 years old. This past season, he averaged 14.3 points, 9.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game on a 67.0 TS% (64.4/10.0/73.3 splits).
Cavs Depth
As a whole, the Cavs really lacked depth last season, and that’s also part of what killed them in the postseason. Their lack of depth caused a lack of lineup versatility, so the Cavs were stuck in purgatory versus the Knicks.
Isaac Okoro is a defensive-minded wing and is an incredible on-ball defender. He was the Cavs starting small forward to close the regular season and to begin the playoff run. His fatal flaw is his atrocious offensive game, as he can’t punish defenses in any way. He’s a poor shooter, doesn’t attack off the catch well, not a great finisher. There is just nothing going for him.
He was borderline unplayable in the postseason, as he saw his minutes drop from 21.7 per game in the regular season to 15.0 through the five games versus the Knicks. Caris LeVert replaced him in the starting lineup to give the Cavs more of an offensive burst with his ability to play off of the ball and shot creation. He, however, is not up to the task of guarding the best opposing perimeter player like he did against Jalen Brunson. There wasn’t enough two-way play on this roster, simply.
Cedi Osman, who is now a Spur, is quite one-dimensional with his ability to only shoot while being a poor defender. With all due respect to these players, should any of the following guys be in a playoff rotation in April 2024?: Dean Wade, Lamar Stevens, Danny Green, Ricky Rubio. Luckily, these guys will not be since Cleveland went out to improve this summer.
The Cavs spent money to sign Max Strus on a 4-year, $62.3M deal and Georges Niang on a 3-year, $25.5M deal. I know you’re thinking that these two are one-dimensional, but these two both are certainly better shooters than LeVert and Osman off of the catch, and they both bring some valuable playoff experience. In fact, Strus can do some things on the ball in the pick & roll.
Having these two gives the Cavs more much-needed shooting. They can put lineups out there with shooters. Niang can play the four with either Mobley or Allen at the five. Strus can play with just one of or both of Mitchell and Garland. The Cavs can run a lineup with both Strus and Niang out there to truly surround their stars with spacing. There’s a lot of ways to go with these two now. Neither are great defenders, but they also have two elite defensive anchors behind them. They’re used to just having one guy behind them who is elite, either Bam Adebayo or Joel Embiid (and formerly Rudy Gobert).
These two were the big free agency acquisitions, but they also have some other players who will likely see the Cavs rotation in the regular season. Ty Jerome signed on a 2-year, $5.0M deal and shot 38.9% from three last year. Sam Merrill just absolutely lit up Summer League, shooting 44.6% from beyond the arc and making the All-Summer League 1st Team. He’s a knockdown shooter who should see some minutes this year. Just look at this:
https://twitter.com/CharlieSpungin/status/1681351750823952404?s=20
Note Emoni Bates too, who is on a two-way deal. He looked good on his catch & shoot opportunities, so he may even see some spot minutes every now and then with the main roster. Isaiah Mobley and Damian Jones are part of the revamped backup big room for Cleveland, and both bring some intrigue. Mobley was just awesome in the Summer League, as he was the Summer League Finals MVP and averaged 17.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He is a fun player.
Jones brings good value as a finisher and mobile big. As a whole, the Cavs look to be improved from last season when they notched 51 wins. Their DraftKings over/under win total is currently at 49.5. I would be one to take the over. The Cavs should be fun to watch.
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Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst