Since the Cleveland Browns’ season ended last month, the sports focus of the city, other than the obsession with Baker Mayfield, has been on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and rightly so.
Not many people figured this would be a playoff year for the wine and gold, but as of today, they sit tied for the third best record in the Eastern Conference at 34-21, and they were buyers at the trade deadline, getting Caris LeVert from Indiana.
They have already exceeded the 30 wins we predicted they would get this season, and quite frankly, a 50 win season wouldn’t be a big shock.
Most of the commentary in the media has been about how much fun J.B. Bickerstaff’s club is to watch, and after three years of being among the worst teams in the NBA, absolutely it is a joy to watch this team play.
The thing that makes all this winning fun is the lack of expectation. No one expected the Cavaliers to be in this position. Fans were looking forward to the development of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, and were anxious to see how rookie Evan Mobley would hold up under the grind of an 82 game schedule.
And no one figured Kevin Love would be drinking from the fountain of youth, playing his most energetic and enthusiastic basketball since perhaps 2016.
There are no impending free agencies on the horizon, save for Collin Sexton this summer, so Koby Altman doesn’t have to tiptoe around making players want to stay in Cleveland. This is just about basketball and putting together a team.
How far can they go this spring and summer?
Five of the primary players on this edition of the Cavs are under 25 years old: Garland, Mobley, Isaac Okoro, Jarrett Allen, and Lauri Markkanen. We didn’t include Sexton because he’s not playing right now.
Of that quintet, only Allen has ever appeared in a playoff game, being in nine of them with Brooklyn in 2019 and 2020. He’s played in one winning post-season contest. Newcomer LeVert has the exact same experience.
On the other hand, Love, Cedi Osman, and Rajon Rondo have plenty of playoff experience. Heck, Rondo even has a nickname (Playoff Rondo) built around his 134 games of experience. Love’s been in 63 post-season games and Osman 14.
You notice all of the experience is coming off the bench.
A realistic expectation for this group probably depends on whether or not they end up in the top four of the conference, which would mean home court advantage in the first round. And even then, it depends on the matchup.
Having to play say Philadelphia or Brooklyn in the first round would be very difficult for these young Cavs, because of having an opponent with a great player who has a tremendous amount of post-season experience.
It would be great to win a title for sure, but ideally, winning one series could be a stepping stone for this group. It will show them what playing in the playoffs is like. Defense gets stepped up, every possession is of even greater importance.
Teams can surprise, like Atlanta did a year ago, but usually there is a process to success once the calendar changes to April and May.
However, Bickerstaff won’t change his approach and neither should the players. They should expect to win. That’s half the battle.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 