Why Do The Browns Get Most Of Our Sports Love?

We have said many times that our favorite sports are baseball and basketball, making us a minority in a city that presents itself as a football city.

That doesn’t mean we don’t follow and root for the Browns, we certainly do, and find it crazy that there are people in town who are die-hard followers of the brown and orange, but pay no attention to the Guardians or Cavaliers.

We are lucky to live in a city with three major league professional franchises and we don’t take that for granted.

Our question though is why do the Browns get so much love and loyalty in northeast Ohio, and do they deserve it?

For older fans like us, it could be because the Browns were the only winning team in our youth, that being the late 60’s. The Cleveland Browns were one of the premier franchises in the NFL from the time they entered in 1950 until basically 1970.

At that time, there were no Cavaliers (started in 1970-71) and the Indians were just starting a malaise that lasted from 1960 through 1993.

After pretty much a dormant period in the 70’s and early 80’s (excluding the Kardiac Kids season of 1980), the Browns reemerged as Super Bowl contenders in the late 80’s, led by Bernie Kosar, Hanford Dixon, Frank Minnifield, etc., coming up just short in some of the most excruciating ending to seasons you could imagine.

However, if you were growing up in the 90’s, the Guardians and Cavaliers have been far more successful than the Browns have since returning to the league in 1999.

And maybe that’s it. Perhaps the loss of the team for a few seasons has created a fear that if people aren’t zealous in their support of the Browns, they will move again.

Or maybe we are just grasping at straws.

Since 1995, the Indians/Guardians have made 12 post-season appearances (likely to become 13 with this season) and have played in the World Series three times, losing twice in heartbreaking circumstances.

That shouldn’t be held against them, see our earlier comments about the Browns of the late 1980’s.

The Cavaliers have played for the championship of their sport five times in this span, and cashed in 2016, the only professional title in a major sport the city has seen in the last 58 years.

The Browns? They made the playoffs twice since 1999.

That’s why we don’t understand the undying loyalty of sports fans in this area.

What about ownership? We understand baseball fans here don’t like the Dolan family because they rarely go “all in”, but it’s not like the Haslams or Gilberts are on the same par as Bill Veeck.

Haslam has had business issues and is very impulsive. How many regime changes have the Browns gone through since he bought the franchise? Gilbert inherited LeBron James, but he did everything he could to bring a championship to the city.

We understand the midwest is by and large a football haven. The NFL has it’s roots right in Canton, which is why the Hall of Fame is there. High school football is a big deal in Ohio, so the leaning toward the pro football team is understandable.

Again, we aren’t saying to not root for the Cleveland Browns. We would love nothing more than a Super Bowl berth for them. But, they certainly don’t give fans here a great deal to be proud of, instead they have given us a tremendous amount of anguish.

We guess the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it doesn’t make a great deal of sense.

Cavs Make A Big Swing, Now How Does It Work?

We always thought the Cleveland Cavaliers would get involved when Donovan Mitchell was traded, but not in a million years did we think the Cavs would be the team getting the three-time All-Star.

First, kudos to Koby Altman and Mike Gansey for swinging for the fences and getting a player that is one of the top 20 players in the league, and they didn’t have to surrender either Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, or Evan Mobley.

However, the proof will be when the wine and gold take the court in the regular season.

Going into the off-season, we felt the Cavaliers needed to shore up the small forward spot (#3) and get more outside shooting.

After this deal, those needs are still there, and we also didn’t like the small backcourt when it was manned by Garland and Collin Sexton, who was sent the Jazz in this trade. Guess what, Mitchell is only 6’1″, so Cleveland is still small at guard.

Ochai Agbaji was supposed to help with the shooting, and he was also sent west in this transaction, and Lauri Markkanen was part of the unique trio of seven footers J.B. Bickerstaff started last season and was a problem for opposing teams.

He’s gone too.

Mitchell is a dynamic scorer, averaging 23.9 points per game in his career, but our question with him (and we aren’t going to hide it now) has always been can he be the best player on a title contending team? We don’t think he is.

However, that could be a moot point because soon, maybe this year, Mobley will be the wine and gold’s best player, and by the way, we also said that a year ago when people were debating about Garland, Sexton, or Allen.

Last season, Mitchell averaged 20.5 shots per game, and Cleveland’s leader was Garland at 17.3. No doubt, this is the most talented team Mitchell has played with. With Utah, the Jazz’ second best player (or best early in Mitchell’s career) was Rudy Gobert, a great defensive player but not someone defenses focused on.

The third best player was Joe Ingles, who we really like as a player, or Mike Conley or Bojan Bogdanovich. In Cleveland, we will play with two All-Stars from last year in Garland and Allen, and Mobley.

If the Cavs’ trio from last year keep improving, and they should they are all very young, especially Garland and Mobley, Bickerstaff would seem to have a quartet of very good players to build around.

So hopefully, Mitchell comes in with a “just want to win” attitude and isn’t hung up on number of shots he gets or points he scores.

Again, we don’t know that he thinks that way either.

Who replaces Markkanen as a starter? We would try Caris LeVert or Cedi Osman there, because he’s a better offensive threat and taller than Isaac Okoro.

That assumes Altman and Gansey are done making moves this off-season, and we know they are always looking to improve the roster.

If LeVert starts, the bench would be made up of Kevin Love, Okoro, Osman, and we would guess Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade.

Not a lot of shooting in that group except for Love, and really Okoro and Stevens are very similar players.

We have seen speculation that Okoro could start, but maybe Stevens is a better choice unless Okoro makes a big leap offensively. At the end of last season, other teams stopped guarding the second-year player out of Auburn, and that causes problems for the offense.

Again, perhaps another move is coming.

Give the Cavs tremendous credit for going out and getting perhaps the best player on the market this off-season. Should bring a lot of excitement to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse this winter.

Let’s Talk Some Baseball And Hoops. Please?

We have said throughout the years we were an anomaly in northeast Ohio. This is football country, but our favorite sports are baseball and basketball.

Make no mistake, we are fans of the Browns and watch each and every game, but our passion rests more with baseball and hoops. We’ve had season tickets to both the Indians and Cavaliers over the years, but never the Browns.

The reason is mostly because we feel football is better watched on television rather than in person, and sitting out on a cold day in November and December has a lot to do with that, we aren’t going to lie.

The reason we bring this up again right now (we’ve done it before) is the play of the Guardians and the amount of discussion in the area about them. They’ve been very surprising to be sure, contending for the division title and post-season berth despite most folks predicting (including us) around a .500 finish for Terry Francona’s squad.

Listening to sports talk radio around town, the Guardians are largely ignored. In fact, everything besides the Browns is largely ignored, something the football team generated when they made both sports talk radio stations the “Home Of The Browns”.

Very smart on their part for sure.

At one time, Cleveland was one of the largest cities in America. Now it’s one of the smaller cities to have three major league sports franchises. This area ranks 34th in terms of metropolitan areas by population.

The areas in the same class (30-40th) that have professional sports are as follows (using the big four sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey as the model. Sorry, soccer enthusiasts):

30. Cincinnati (Reds, Bengals)
31. Kansas City (Chiefs, Royals)
32. Columbus (Blue Jackets)
33. Indianapolis (Colts, Pacers)
34. Cleveland (Browns, Guardians, Cavaliers)
35. Nashville (Titans, Predators)
36. San Jose (Sharks)
37. Virginia Beach/Norfolk
38. Providence
39. Jacksonville (Jaguars)
40. Milwaukee/Green Bay (Bucks, Brewers, Packers)

We are taking liberties with the last one because Milwaukee and Green Bay are about as far apart as Cleveland and Columbus.

The point is we should be privileged to have three pro sports teams, and all three should be hold interest for sports fans in the area. However, at times we get the feeling Browns’ fans could care less if either the Guards or Cavs or both moved elsewhere.

We understand that some of the issues the baseball team has are self-inflicted. They don’t do a good job of marketing and the game day experience at Progressive Field isn’t high on the fun meter.

And while the whole “Mustard losing in the hot dog race” is meant to be fun, it would be nice if the Guardians’ staff put that much energy in hyping up their first place baseball team.

Back to sports talk radio, they should offer more balance. The Cavs and Guardians aren’t in season much at the same time, but there are things to talk about in the off-season for both, especially right after the season ends.

And it would seem to us, talking some baseball and hoops might just be more entertaining than discussing the punter situation or fourth wide receiver for the Browns.

It’s a three sports town and we should be thankful and appreciative. At times, we treat two of the teams like a necessary evil.

Cavs Still Looking For A Wing/Shooter.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will start training camp in about six weeks, and expectations will be high, considering the wine and gold doubled their win total from 2020-21. Going from 22 victories to 44 with largely a young roster will create those thoughts.

Since free agent signee Ricky Rubio likely will not take the court until January coming off knee surgery, the biggest addition was Ochai Agbaji, who is a rookie.

We liked the selection of Agbaji, who should bring some needed outside shooting to the team, but as we said, he is in his first year in the league, and who knows what the adjustment period will be, although being a four year college player, one would hope it won’t be too long.

The Cavs will also get Collin Sexton back, when his contract situation gets settled. Sexton will provide a boost to the scoring for the team, which ranked 25th in the league a year ago.

And we know the front office added Raul Neto and Robin Lopez to the roster too, but Neto is here to provide depth at the point until Rubio returns, and Lopez is probably insurance against an injury to one of the big men.

If we assume coach J.B. Bickerstaff is going to stay with his “jumbo” lineup, starting Lauri Markkanen at the #3 spot, and we have no reason to believe they would be changing that, he is doing it because the roster really doesn’t have a legitimate 6’7″ or 6’8″ wing player.

Right now, the reserve wings would be Agbaji, Isaac Okoro (6’5″), Lamar Stevens (6’6″) and Cedi Osman, who is 6’7″. However, the coaching staff seemed to sour at times on Osman in the second half of the season.

When the Sexton situation is resolved, in our mind, Bickerstaff can trust eight players. The starters: Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Markkanen, Darius Garland and either Caris LeVert or Sexton.

Off the bench he has Kevin Love, Sexton/LeVert, and we will throw the rookie in there as well, because we think Agbaji’s shooting will play.

We like Stevens, and at the end of the season thought he should be getting more minutes than Okoro, but is he a rotation piece on a team contending for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs?

We’ve seen people talk about Okoro’s long distance shooting (35% from three) being respectable, and his percentage is, but he is reluctant to shoot in our mind, and the one thing fans overlook is the release time.

If it takes the player a long time to get the shot off, it doesn’t really help the offense much, because they can only shoot if they are unguarded. It doesn’t matter about the percentage they would make.

As for Osman, we like him as a player, but the Cavs have seemed to make him a three point shooter, and we feel he’s at his best as a slasher and creator. As a shooter, he’s streaky, which is great if he’s hot, but ugly if he’s not.

We believe the Cavs will try to bring in a better, proven option at this spot before training camp begins, but the league is kind of constipated right now waiting on what’s going to happen in New Jersey.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Cleveland is somehow involved and upgrades at the wing/shooter spots.

It’s Not Fair, But We See Both Sides Of Cavs, Sexton Situation

It seems the Cavaliers and Collin Sexton are in for an awkward 2022-23 season. Sexton is a restricted free agent and reportedly would like a multiyear deal, but the two sides are far apart in terms of the money.

Sexton is said to want around $18-20 million per year, while the Cavs have offered a reported $13 million per season, presumably to stay under the luxury tax level for another year.

This is one of those situations where both sides are justified in their positions, and the best thing would be for Sexton to take the one year qualifying offer of $8.6 million for next season.

From the wine and gold’s standpoint, Sexton has been a productive player, albeit on real bad teams. He did average 24.3 points and 4.4 assists for Cleveland in 2020-21, but the team went 22-50 that year.

Last year, the Cavs got to the play in tournament and a chance to make an actual best-of-seven series, but Sexton missed most of the campaign with a knee injury, playing in just 11 games.

So, it depends how people view Sexton coming into his fifth year in the league. Is he a budding all-star, a player coming off an injury, or a guy who has demonstrated the ability to put up big numbers on a bad team?

As for Sexton, we are sure he would like a long term deal from the Cavaliers or any other NBA team, but right now, he doesn’t seem to be drawing any interest from around the league.

It could be because most teams are up against the salary cap right now, so the money simply isn’t there to sign a free agent from another team. Or it could be that Sexton is an strange fit, a 6’2″ off guard, who might be best served coming off the bench.

As we said before, we can see both sides on this one. Sexton has shown he can put up numbers in the NBA, but at this point, there doesn’t seem to be a market for him. On the other hand, for the Cavs, he probably was their best player heading into last season, but things change, and right now, he might be their fourth or fifth best player.

Timing is everything, and for Sexton, getting hurt and the Cavaliers having their best season since the departure of LeBron James (and the arrival of Sexton) is unfortunate for the player.

Things may loosen up on the sign-and-trade market once the situations are resolved with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Donovan Mitchell too. The Cavs and Sexton might even be involved to make things work under the salary cap.

Some things in life aren’t fair, but the best option for Collin Sexton might be to play under the qualifying offer this season, show everyone around the league what kind of player he can be, and see what his value is around the NBA.

And if the Cavaliers make the playoffs in 2022-23 and Sexton is a key contributor to that effort, he can and will make Koby Altman dig deep into his pockets to keep him around. If Sexton still wants to be around at that point.

Cavs Ink A Trio, But Haven’t Addressed A Huge Need.

The NBA free agency period started last week, and the Cavaliers did sign three players to help the 2022-23 roster, although they still haven’t addressed their biggest need.

We are sure every fan of the wine and gold are thrilled by the return of Ricky Rubio. The veteran was a key to the Cavs fast start last season, averaging 13.1 points and 6.6 assists in 34 games before tearing his ACL, and then being dealt to Indiana right before the trade deadline.

Rubio provided a veteran playmaking role and was a great mentor to Darius Garland.

He likely will not be able to play until January, so the front office went out and signed another veteran point guard in Raul Neto, who has averaged 8.1 points over the last two seasons with Washington. He had a three to one assist to turnover ratio last year and will be Garland’s backup until Rubio is ready.

They also added veteran big man Robin Lopez. And for those questioning adding another center, remember the Cavaliers were forced to use Moses Brown when Ed Davis showed he could no longer provide quality minutes. He did average 7.1 and 3.5 boards in 36 games with Orlando last season.

However, the team still needs help at the wing position. Yes, they did draft Ochai Agbaji, who should help, but he’s a rookie. You simply cannot count on him.

When looking at the team’s depth chart, we will assume for now Caris LeVert as the starter at the #2 spot, so the starters would be Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Lauri Markkanen up front with Garland and LeVert at the guards.

Who is the next five? Obviously, Kevin Love and Collin Sexton (assuming he’s resigned) and Neto will be in the mix. Folks are going to mention players like Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens, and Isaac Okoro, but we would submit those guys aren’t good enough if you are a playoff contender.

Those guys can be contributors and can help in spots, but really the wine and gold need a veteran, someone they can count on.

Stevens and Okoro are solid defenders, but opposing teams aren’t really going to devote much attention to them on the offensive end. Okoro did hit 35% of his three pointers a year ago, it’s just that he’s hesitant to shoot. Stevens is a solid guy, and normally knows what he can and can’t do on the floor. That’s a good thing.

But if you have your sights set on home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which Cleveland should, your second unit has to be better.

We also have to mention the strategy for the three second round picks in the draft were odd. Two of the three picks are guys (Khalifa Diop and Luke Travers) who clearly won’t be playing in the NBA this season, and the third is Mobley’s brother.

That doesn’t really help this year’s team.

Now, we are very early in the off-season, so there is plenty of time to improve the roster, so no time to be really concerned as of yet. But although we don’t have a problem with the free agents the Cavs inked, they still haven’t addressed a big need.

Agbaji Should Help Right Away

NBA Draft night was uneventful if you were looking for blockbuster trades, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did alright for themselves.

We have said since the results of the lottery were known that it should be difficult for the Cavs to draft a project. We understand that’s what the draft has become, trying to project what a college player, usually 19 or 20 years old, will become.

Koby Altman and GM Mike Gansey should have been looking differently. After being in the top four in the Eastern Conference standings as late as the All Star break, the wine and gold (we guess we should say, new gold) need to finish in the top six in the East next year. That’s the next step for the franchise.

To that end, they needed to add either a veteran by dealing the pick, or take someone who is ready to step in and contribute immediately.

On a good team, which the Cavaliers are now, it is difficult for a guy picked in the middle of the first round to get minutes. Usually, it’s because they don’t know how to defend at the NBA level.

Cleveland took a four year college player in Ochai Agbaji from Kansas, voted the Most Outstanding Player at this past year’s Final Four. Agbaji is 6’6″, 215 pounds and has improved his shooting, particularly from three point range, every year.

And he has been a good defender at the college level as well, and can switch on the perimeter (which we think is a blight on the game, actually), the way most NBA teams do it.

He may not have a high ceiling, but he has a low floor, and at pick #14, that’s not a bad thing. Adbaji is probably a better player right now than many of the players picked ahead of him. Three years from now, that might be a different story.

But again, the Cavs aren’t in the business of long-term development anymore. And it’s not like they have a bunch of grizzled veterans. They were the 8th youngest team in the league last season, and that’s with Kevin Love, Ed Davis, and Rajon Rondo.

The age of their core players, Darius Garland (turns 23 in January), Evan Mobley (21 last week), and Jarrett Allen (24 in April), would put them in the top three in terms of youth.

Let’s not forget that Agbaji also fills a position of need. The Cavs aren’t exactly teeming with 6’5″ or 6’6″ players who can shoot the ball. The rookie should get plenty of opportunities to contribute.

The free agency period is coming up and the trades will probably start throughout the NBA after the calendar turns to July.

Hopefully, Altman and Gansey aren’t standing pat. We believe the wine and gold need another veteran wing and another veteran big man as well as a point guard, unless they have decided Collin Sexton fits as both a #1 or a #2.

And they still need shooting.

They did a good job in the draft though, getting someone who can help right away. This is a key year for the franchise. They can’t settle for another play in game season.

Next Season For Cavs Starts Next Week

Tonight is game six of the NBA Finals, and the season could reach its conclusion if Golden State takes the game, wrapping up the franchise’s fourth title since 2015.

However, most teams are looking forward to next season, and that kind of kicks off a week from today with the NBA Draft. For those hoping to be playing in the Finals, this is their first chance to start to improve their roster.

Since the Cavaliers did not make the playoffs this past season, making it only to the “play in” tournament, obviously they are a team that needs to get better so they can finish in the top six of the Eastern Conference standings in 2022-23.

Much of that improvement will come from experience. Remember, the wine and gold’s three best players are very young. All Stars Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen will be 22 and 24 respectively when next season begins.

And rookie of the year runner up (he was snubbed for the honor) Evan Mobley, will be 21. This trio will get better from experience if they put the time in on the practice floor.

That will make the team better.

And remember, if the Cavs can come to a contract extension with Collin Sexton this summer, he played just 11 games due to a knee injury and having him on the court will also improve the squad.

Conversely, how will Kevin Love play next season, a year in which he starts as a 34-year-old. His minutes were down to 22.5 per game, the lowest number of his career, as he embraced the bench role for J.B. Bickerstaff.

Love nailed 39.2% of his three-point attempts last season, his highest percentage 2017-18, the last time he made the All-Star team. He also played the most games since 2014-15, his first year in Cleveland, playing in 74 games.

We don’t anticipate much of a drop off for the veteran. He was happy last season because the Cavs were winning though, if they get off to a bad start, you have to wonder if Love will still be happy.

Bickerstaff and his staff need to be prepared to combat what other teams may do against the three seven foot front court starters the Cavaliers use. And if Caris LeVert is still here, how does the staff make best use of him.

The one criticism we had of the head coach was that he did a great job developing a style of play early in the year, but in the second half, they seemed to move away from it.

We get injuries were a factor, but the defense and rebounding did slide as the season went on, and that wasn’t due to injuries, the attitude seemed to change.

In conjunction with that, GM Koby Altman can’t have the end of the roster filled with G League guys and veterans there for locker room presence.

At the beginning of the season, Altman signed Kevin Pangos and Ed Davis for depth. While Davis contributed early, by the end of the season, he shouldn’t have been on the floor. As for Pangos, in his first NBA action, it was obvious he was not an NBA player.

That cannot happen again this off-season.

There are also players the organization needs to make decisions on, notably Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler.

It’s obvious the organization isn’t enamored with Osman, and most times, they don’t use his best skills (driving, creating). They seem to want to make him a three-point specialist.

Windler has had injuries and just hasn’t produced when he is on the court. Holding on to both doesn’t sound optimal.

Next year starts in one week. We will see if Altman has anything up his sleeve in moving playersa as the first round unfolds.

On Offering Big Money In Sports.

With all of the big money in professional sports today, many of the people not working in front offices are in a big hurry to spend.

For some players, like LeBron James, it’s a no brainer to give them the most money they can get as early as they can get it. People like James are destined for greatness, and their teams should do what they can to tie them up for as long as they can.

However, for most of the players, there should be no rush to bestow huge contracts upon them. Why not get as much information as you can about the athlete before entering into a huge financial commitment for the team with the person.

We understand that sometimes the player takes the lack of the big deal as disrespect. However, remember, most athletes do not have the same loyalty as say, Jose Ramirez did with the Guardians.

The Cavaliers have a decision this summer with Collin Sexton and it has been debated on several fronts. Sexton is a restricted free agent, which enables the Cavs to match any offer he receives from other organizations.

Sexton averaged almost 25 points per game in 2020-21, but played just 11 games last season with a knee injury. So what should Koby Altman’s contract offer be? We know there are a lot of Sexton fans out there that would say he should get the most money Cleveland can offer.

That’s probably because it isn’t their money.

The max deal for a player after four seasons is around $30 million per year. Personally, there aren’t many players coming off a season in which they played just 11 games, that we would offer that kind of cash to. And we understand, there isn’t any reason Sexton shouldn’t be able to come back from his medical issue.

Last year, we wondered what would the market be for Sexton, and quite frankly, we still have that thought. Would any other team offer him anywhere near that kind of cash?

That’s way we would let Sexton go out and see what is available to him. Let him go and see what the market is for him, and the Cavaliers would still have the ability to keep him at a reasonable salary. Remember, the NBA is a salary cap sport, although we know there are many loopholes, and Altman could be creative to give the team room.

We heard a few people the other day discussing locking up Guardians’ pitcher Triston McKenzie on a long term deal after he dominated Houston.

What’s the rush?

We think McKenzie is a very good young pitcher. He will be 25-years-old soon and might be the Guardians’ best pitcher right now.

However, he’s thrown less than 200 innings in his career and is under the team’s control through the 2026 season. And let’s face it, pitchers’ careers are more volatile than everyday players.

A few years ago, we advocated for Cleveland to sign Francisco Lindor at any cost. In his last couple of years here, Lindor seemed to embrace the “launch angle” movement and became less effective hitting. He went from a .280-.300 hitter to a .230-.250 hitter.

Is he reaching the value of the deal he signed with the Mets? We believe most would say no.

We know the owners of these teams are billionaires and none of them (not even the Dolans) are in danger of living in poverty. However, players and agents use what one person gets as the basis for someone else.

And for teams in a salary cap sport, overpaying a player can become an albatross. There is nothing wrong with getting as much information as you can before offering an athlete a boatload of money.

It’s the smart thing to do.

Big Summer For Many NBA Teams, Cavs Included

Well, it’s now official. The Cleveland Cavaliers will have the 14th overall pick in next month’s NBA Draft, although it would have been an extreme long shot for them to have moved up.

The Cavs are the best team, record wise, in the league that didn’t make the playoffs, and with a young core of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, this is an important off-season for GM Koby Altman and his staff.

However, it’s also an important summer for some of the league’s big market teams, and could anything those teams do influence the wine and gold?

What will the Los Angeles Lakers do? Yes, they have LeBron James, but their roster looks like one of a good team, in 2012. What do they do to surround James with the right kind of talent and can Anthony Davis ever stay healthy?

What of the Brooklyn Nets? Will they run back the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving show or totally restructure their roster, even moving the recently acquired Ben Simmons. They could be looking for a rebuild this summer.

The New York Knicks made the playoffs in 2020-21, but returned to their normal lottery spot last season. Are they satisfied with a Julius Randle and RJ Barrett combination going into the ’22-’23 season? And will they continue to hold Obi Toppin hostage?

What does this have to do with the Cavaliers? If those teams make big moves, cap space will probably be needed and perhaps Altman can pick up a nice piece for the Cavs because salaries do not match up.

Remember, that’s how Cleveland got Allen, a 23-year-old seven footer, who became an all star last season.

If you didn’t know, by rule, the Cavs cannot announce a trade of their first round draft pick before the selection is made. That pick is an asset though, and may be used to bring in a veteran player. We say veteran because we believe there is plenty of youth on the roster, so another young guy could be superfluous.

On the other hand, you might get an experienced college player who gets bypassed early in the draft because every team looks to project on players.

We have seen the Cavs linked to Kansas senior 6’5″ guard Ochai Agbaji. He could probably make a contribution right away, and at least one draft website compared him to Desmond Bane of Memphis. If he wound up being close to the player Bane is, that would be great.

The other player who seems like a good fit and may be available is Ohio State G Malaki Branham, also 6’5″. Just a freshman, he may take longer to be a contributor on a team that should have playoff asperations.

Altman also needs to decide on some bench players. It seems clear they don’t have a good handle on what to do with players like Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler, so it’s time to cut bait.

And no more roster spots for guys who can’t play, like Ed Davis, or bringing in someone like Kevin Pangos.

And make no mistake, barring injuries, the Cavaliers need to qualify for the real playoffs next season, meaning a best-of-seven series. No more play in games.

They made the giant leap to contender in 2021-22, and this young core of good players needs to get in the playoffs.