The Cleveland Cavaliers are a very good basketball team. They enter the second half of the season (post-All-Star break) with the second-best record in the East and tied for the fourth best record in the Association (with the Clippers).
There is no question they will make the playoffs this season. Basketballreference.com has their playoff probability at 100%. And a look at the balance of the schedule has some challenges such as a pair of home games in early March against the Knicks and Celtics, and a late season west coast trip, but it doesn’t appear to be a gauntlet.
So, they are playing for playoff seeding the rest of the campaign, and the lure of finishing in the top two in the conference is home court advantage in at least the first two playoff series.
One thing that is concerning is a report that the Cavs’ goal as an organization is to win a playoff series. Our problem with this is when you have that as a goal, then you plan that way, and that would seem to be the reason nothing was done at the trade deadline.
The defending champion Nuggets lost in the first round the year prior, lost in the second round the season before that, and last went to the conference finals in 2019-20. And while the previous champs, Golden State, had a championship pedigree, they have missed the playoffs the two years before they won.
And yes, we are aware of the injuries that hampered the team.
The point is there is no step ladder to win titles in the NBA anymore, like there was in the 80’s, when the Pistons had to lost to the Celtics before they could win, and the Bulls had to lose to Detroit before they could get to The Finals.
However, the Cavs still seem to look at things that way. They wanted to contend for a playoff spot two years ago and make a seven-game series last year. They did accomplish those goals, but that was it.
It’s fine after the season ends to take stock of what you accomplished and be happy about it, but putting a limit on expectations often puts a limit on what a team can do.
Our thought is looking at the East, the only team clearly better than the Cavs is Boston, and we would have made a move, a small one, with the Celtics in mind. Perhaps another wing defender with some size to help against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
We would have the mentality that if we can beat the Celtics, the Cavs can get to the NBA Finals. Moreso, making a move to strengthen the team lets everyone know, including a star player who can be a free agent soon, that winning the title is the goal. Every year.
When people talk about the culture of the Miami Heat, that’s what they are talking about. Every member of that team knows what the goal is, to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Maybe holding on the #2 spot in the East or maybe even getting higher (the wine and gold are six games behind Boston) changes the expectation for the front office. We certainly hope so.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 