We cannot say enough how surprised we are by the start for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While it is still very early, the Cavs are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with a 9-5 record, and have done it battling with players out with COVID (Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen) and others missing time with injuries, including last year’s leading scorer in Collin Sexton and second year player Isaac Okoro.
The wine and gold have a very tough stretch coming up with a road game vs. Brooklyn on Wednesday, followed by home tilts with Golden State, Brooklyn, and Phoenix heading into Thanksgiving. Hopefully by then, Love and Markkanen will be back on the court.
We have said for a few years now that this organization wouldn’t go anywhere until they emphasized defense, and we will pat ourselves on the back a bit for that one. Cleveland is second in the NBA in least points allowed and 8th in overall defensive rating.
Both figures are the best they’ve ranked in many years.
The Cavaliers have a pretty solid top of the roster right now, but beyond the top eight players, they need to get more help.
While before the season, most would have said Sexton is the best player (not us), now he might rank no higher than fourth. Through these 14 games, rookie Evan Mobley would rank at the top, averaging 14.6 points, 8 boards, 2.5 assists, and 1.6 blocks per contest.
And he was shooting over 50% from the floor before last night’s game, and perhaps more impressive, is a 77% free throw shooter.
Add in third year player Darius Garland and you have a very good (and very young) guard/big man combination for opponents to worry about.
Garland currently leads the team in scoring at 16.8 per night, but has also dished out 6.7 assists and is knocking down three point shots at 40%. The playmaking of Garland and veteran Ricky Rubio have Cleveland ranking 7th in the league in assists, compared to 21st last season, and 24th in 2019-20.
We haven’t talked yet about Jarrett Allen, who we felt was the Cavaliers’ best player when last season ended, and this year has combined with Mobley to create a formidable barrier to scoring that the team has lacked, since who knows when?
Still just 23 years old, Allen is scoring 14.2 points and is grabbing 10.9 caroms a game, and is shooting (or perhaps dunking) 69.4% from the floor.
What is special is both Allen and Mobley are able to guard smaller men out on the floor, and we know from watching Tristan Thompson on the teams that went to the NBA Finals what a valuable ability that is.
Another player who has really helped out is a man many were ready to write off, and that’s Cedi Osman. He’s making 40.6% of his three point attempts, and if that is sustainable, he can be a help off the bench. He’s a solid defender and we still think his strength offensively is as a slasher.
When Love and Markkanen return to action, J.B. Bickerstaff will have nine players who can give him solid minutes. He will then have to figure out who else deserves minutes so he can play ten players.
It could be Dylan Windler, who has hit 9 of 21 from behind the arc, something he has struggled with in his injury plagued career. The wine and gold badly need players who can make shots from outside because it opens things up for Allen and Mobley inside.
The next four games will be measuring stick for how good this team is. However, even if they lose the majority of these contests, this team is fun to watch and the future bodes well.
After the past few seasons, that’s a large step in the right direction.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 