NBA Hoops

How good are the Cleveland Cavaliers?

How good are the Cleveland Cavaliers?

How good are the Cleveland Cavaliers? Did they get better this offseason? Where do you expect them to finish in the Eastern Conference?

Added: Donovan Mitchell, Ricky Rubio, Robin Lopez, Raul Neto

Lost: Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, tons of draft picks

Jeff Clark

I definitely respect the move to go all in with this group. It isn’t often that you can add an All Star to your young, developing group and have them all be relatively along the same timeline. How it all works on the floor is the next big question. I think it could work beautifully and the linchpin holding it all together is Evan Mobley. He and Jarrett Allen supply the frontcourt defense that should make up for some deficiencies the undersized backcourt could have. Then Evan’s continued development on the offensive end should unlock a lot for Mitchell and Darius Garland. This group may need another year of seasoning to figure it all out, but they’ll be dangerous for years to come.

Bobby Manning

This group is a real sleeper in the east. Darius Garland is an offensive engine and it’s hard to imagine a better running mate offensively than Donovan Mitchell. Both should relieve the enormous scoring and creation burdens each player carried for their respective teams. Mitchell shot 42.9% on catch-and-shoot opportunities in 2020-21. Garland buried 43.2% playing next to Collin Sexton that season. They’ll need to figure out how to work around starting a pair of 6-1 guards without great wing depth. The Mitchell trade left them with a pair of future first-rounders to offer, as well as Kevin Love and Caris LeVert’s expiring contracts to match almost any deal in the league.

Isaac Okoro and LeVert and leave plenty to be desired in that most important position in the sport, though Okoro is only 22 and has great physical tools. They need a wing to emerge and at least provide some three-point shooting. They’ll miss Ochai Agbaji and Lauri Markkanen. Evan Mobley should’ve won rookie of the year for as good of a rookie defensive season as you could imagine. Jarrett Allen might be the second best rim protector in basketball behind Rudy Gobert and can score too. The Ricky Rubio return is huge. He orchestrated this group’s best play last year and his return and their lack of a playoff berth last year allowed them to effectively acquire LeVert for a second-round pick. If the offense takes a step forward, they’ll be a challenging team to defeat in the playoffs and finish as high as fourth in…

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