In the end, Cavaliers’ GM Koby Altman didn’t make any more moves at the NBA trading deadline, meaning Caris LeVert was the only addition to J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad.
As we wrote a couple of days ago, that was a mighty big acquisition, getting a scorer who can do other things for a couple of draft picks that likely won’t yield a player as good as LeVert.
The early returns seem good as well. The former Pacer scored 11 in his debut and 22 against his former team, and visually, looks like he fits in perfectly. He even commented as to how he feels his defense has to pick up because he sees his new teammates putting the effort in.
That’s called having a good culture.
There was a lot of talk about Altman trying to get a better backup point guard with Darius Garland’s current back issues. About a week and a half ago, Rajon Rondo didn’t have a good game against New Orleans, and Brandon Goodwin led a come from behind victory.
He followed that game up with a pair of two point games against Houston and Charlotte.
In the last three contests, Rondo looks like he can be the solution, even at age 35. He has put up 37 points and 22 assists in those games, playing an average of 28 minutes.
We are sure Bickerstaff doesn’t want Rondo playing those kinds of minutes on a nightly basis, but the veteran has shown he is still capable of being able to get the job done.
Bickerstaff has emphasized defense after the first couple games of the season (we are pretty sure he did so in training camp, but the results early were ugly) and the wine and gold now allow the fewest points per game in the league and are third in defensive rating.
Old school hoops people looked at defensive field goal percentage and Cleveland ranks third best in the league in that statistic (behind Golden State and Boston), holding teams to just 44% shooting.
As a contrast, the Cavs themselves knockdown 46.6% of their shots.
The other ranking that used to be judged was the average margin of victory, the reasoning being good teams win a lot of games by comfortable margins, “lucky” ones win a lot of close ones.
Again, the Cavs hold up well here, ranking 7th in this category throughout the league and 3rd in the Eastern Conference behind Miami and Boston at 4.61.
If you figure strength of schedule into the equation, the Cavaliers rank 1st in the East ahead of Miami and Boston.
You can’t help by being impressed by this group.
And while all teams this year have been affected by injuries and COVID, the Cavs have been no different.
Collin Sexton, who was starting at the beginning of the season, and Ricky Rubio, who was making a huge impact off the bench playing almost 30 minutes a game, are both out for the season with knee injuries.
Virtually every key player has missed time due the virus, and currently, Lauri Markkanen is out with a sprained ankle.
We don’t believe anyone understands the importance Markkanen has with his length defensively on the perimeter, and the spacing he provides offensively.
Yes, Dean Wade can shoot from outside, but Markkanen is much better putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim.
We are anxious to see LeVert on the floor on a regular basis with Garland and Markkanen.
That will provide a much deeper team.
It won’t be easy. The Nets and Celtics both got better at the trade deadline too, and they will be formidable opponents.
But these Cavaliers check all the boxes as well. Spring basketball is always a lot of fun.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 