Have Cavs Found A Winning Style?

Three games is hardly enough time to make any judgments on the any team and the Cleveland Cavaliers are no exception. A lot could change during the next eight games for the wine and gold, especially because seven of those games are on the road.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are the reason for the games away from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, by the way.

It might surprise you based on the team’s first two games, but the Cavs have moved up to 20th in the league in defensive rating after the victories over Atlanta and Denver.

Much was made about the five words on the wall in the Cavs’ practice facility being the coaching staff’s mantra, but we felt until one of those words becomes “defense”, we fear this team in going to struggle.

Perhaps J.B. Bickerstaff hit on something by switching to a zone, with rookie Evan Mobley at the top of it to start the second half in Saturday night’s victory over the Hawks. The rookie can be a monster in this defense with his length and quickness, and he covers up for most of the lack of ability defensively by his teammates.

It will be interesting to see how often Bickerstaff goes to this defense on this trip.

Also interesting is the rotation employed by the coach, who right now seems to only trust nine players, and with Darius Garland nursing a sore ankle, he played only eight guys in a game he probably figured he needed badly with the long trip coming up.

The only bench players getting time are the veterans, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love, and Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman.

He tried to use Kevin Pangos and Dean Wade in the home opener against Charlotte, but neither gave much in the way of performance.

We did not understand Bickerstaff’s insistence on pushing the ball up the court. The last two games, Cleveland has slowed the tempo and taken care of the basketball.

We fear the young players do not make good enough decisions trying to beat teams up the floor and that leads to turnovers. Rubio can handle this. Perhaps later in the year, after watching the veteran, Garland and Sexton can handle this as well. But for now, we love the decision to slow it down a bit.

And as with last season, three point shooting continues to be an issue. The Cavs are still one of the worst teams in terms of shooting the long range shot, and that’s with Rubio knocking down 9 of 23.

The next two players in terms of attempts, Lauri Markkanen and Sexton, have made a combined 14 of 46 shots from beyond the arc (30.4%). Although Osman has hit 5 of 14 shots from distance, 14 of his 24 shots have been threes and we don’t understand why.

In our way of thinking, he’s a slasher and a decent passer once he drives to the hoop, and we feel he would be more effective playing that type of game.

Despite starting three players seven feet tall, the Cavaliers are getting hammered on the board, outrebounded by an average of nine per night. We think this is due to the big men trying to stop the parade of guards going to the basket, and then being out of position.

Once again, that would be corrected with a better defensive concept in the half-court.

It’s going to be a tough trip to start the year, for sure. But starting with a win last night, it certainly was an encouraging start.

A New Season, And Hopefully Big Progress For Cavs

Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will open their 2021-22 season at Memphis trying to show some improvement from the previous three seasons.

Since LeBron James departed for free agency, the wine and gold have suffered through years of 19, 19, and 22 wins, the last two seasons being shortened to 65 and 72 games respectively.

This year, the plan is to play all 82 for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.

The Cavs will have a new look this season, and quite frankly that look is “up”. They feature basically three seven footers in Jarrett Allen, newcomer Lauri Markkanen and rookie Evan Mobley, and just added another big man off the bench in veteran Ed Davis.

This is quite a departure since for many years, the organization ignored big people.

We like this quite frankly. To us, if you play the same style as other teams but don’t have the same talent to play that style, you are going to come up short on the scoreboard. We think this current roster of Cavaliers isn’t suited to play fast and shoot three pointers. They don’t have the long distance shooters.

So why not play slower, control the tempo and use what you do have, which is size. Markkanen can shoot from outside, so he can play the small forward spot offensively, and we would love to see if Mobley can handle playing defense out on the floor with his size and quickness.

We know that isn’t how J.B. Bickerstaff is going to start, he will use Isaac Okoro at small forward to start, and even though we just discussed how long the Cavs are, that lineup will be rather small.

This is still a very young basketball team, with no one outside of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio having more than four years experience in the league. Why not play a little slower and let hopefully that will lead to fewer turnovers/mistakes.

That isn’t to say the Cavs shouldn’t fastbreak when they get the opportunity. Hopefully, the bigger front line will lead to blocked shots and a larger percentage of defensive rebounds, and they absolutely should run off of those situations.

But there isn’t a need for quick possessions in the halfcourt offense. Move the ball, in and out and side to side and hopefully that will lead to open looks. This team isn’t in the mode of moving the ball up the court quickly off of makes and taking the first shot available.

Play to the strengths you have.

We believe there is talent on this roster. However, the problem remains does the talent fit, is it complementary? Can the Cavs win with two smaller guards? Can they have success with three bigs playing at the same time? And how do Rubio and Love fit in, and will the latter be happy in his role?

Bickerstaff has already indicated Rubio might play more than a normal reserve. Why? Because he has a good understanding of moving the ball and playing for others.

And we continue to say, accountability is of utmost importance. If a player isn’t doing the job, or playing defense, he should be shown the bench. It’s time to take the gloves off and tell everyone winning is the goal.

If this team doesn’t make a big jump in the win column, someone is going to lose their job. So, there’s a lot at stake for both GM Koby Altman and his coach.

Cavs Need To Start Building A Winning Attitude

The Cleveland Cavaliers have played four pre-season games to date, after watching them, we still have no idea what to think about J.B. Bickerstaff’s team.

Our guess is there will be more losing on the horizon, which won’t thrill the fan base who have been watching bad basketball for three seasons since LeBron James departed for Los Angeles.

The Cavs are very much still a young basketball team and if they decided to not start Lauri Markkanen, all of their starters will be 23 years old or younger. By the way, Markkanen is only 24.

However, sometimes younger doesn’t always mean better. We have used this analogy many times, but remember when you went up to the local YMCA or playground when you were just out of high school and a bunch of old guys ran you off the court?

It’s called experience.

Now that doesn’t mean the youngsters can’t learn from old heads like Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love. Here’s hoping Rubio makes a huge impression on Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, because in these practice games, the ball moves a lot more when the veteran from Spain is on the court.

Playing in an average of 19.4 minutes per game, Rubio leads the team in assists in exhibition play at 5.8 per game. That’s almost two dimes more than the next best figures, Darius Garland and another experience newcomer, Kevin Pangos, both of whom dish out four assists per outing.

We believe Bickerstaff’s goal should be getting his five best players on the floor as much as possible and figuring out what style of play is best suited to that group. The coach has said he wants to play up tempo and shoot threes, but it’s hard to see how that works when several of his best players are big men.

We would start Garland and Sexton at guards, with Jarrett Allen, Markkanen, and Isaac Okoro up front, although we’d keep an eye on the latter, who seems to have a problem fitting in offensively right now.

And we would emphasize defense. That keeps you in basketball games. You expended high draft picks each of the last two seasons on players who are good defenders. Let them do what they do best. And at the same time, force your guards to understand that’s what is important on this basketball team.

This past year’s first round pick, Evan Mobley, looks to be a force defensively, but let him get acclimated to NBA life and get stronger by limiting him to around 20-25 minutes per night. To us, he still looks like he will be really good in 2-3 years, but he definitely appears he can contribute now.

But why put pressure on him?

So, if that’s your starting five, your primary bench guys are Rubio, Mobley, and Love, with any other minutes likely going to Cedi Osman, Dylan Windler (who could get more time if he can make shots, something the Cavs desperately need), and Denzel Valentine.

It’s also time to start holding players accountable. If the ball movement isn’t there offensively, take someone out and put Rubio in. It will improve. If one of the guards isn’t working on defense? Move Okoro to guard and bring in Mobley or another forward.

If the Cavaliers aren’t going to win this season, at least they should be laying a foundation for winning. We think there has been a shortage of that thinking since James left after the 2017-18 season.

Cavs Start Camp. What Exactly Will They Be?

In a little more than two weeks, the Cleveland Cavaliers open the regular season. They hasn’t been a big turnover from the roster of last year’s team that went 22-50 in the COVID shortened season, and quite frankly we don’t know what to expect.

The best player from a year ago no longer on the roster is Larry Nance Jr., moved in a three team deal which netted GM Koby Altman forward Lauri Markkanen.

Nance is an all around player, but missed more than half the season a year ago, playing in just 35 of the 72 contests. He will be missed, but the potential of Markkanen could more than make up for his loss.

Altman also brought in veteran point guard Ricky Rubio, which is nice, the Cavs could use a veteran who plays smart basketball. However, he plays the same position as one of the team’s best players in Darius Garland. Rubio could be a good sounding board for the third year player, but if Garland makes the strides expected by many, how much time does Rubio get on the floor?

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff still has a relatively inexperienced team. The only “old heads” are Kevin Love and Rubio, both of whom have been in the NBA for 10+ years. Beyond that pair, the two oldest players who figure to see decent playing time are newcomer Denzel Valentine (28) and Cedi Osman (27).

The most important Cavs figure to be Garland (21), Collin Sexton (22), Jarrett Allen (23), Markkanen (24), Isaac Okoro (21) and rookie Evan Mobley (20).

That’s a lot of youth for the coaching staff to have to teach about the ways of the NBA.

We also still have concerns about how the roster fits. Starting Garland and Sexton at guard, as expected, leaves the Cavaliers very small in the backcourt. Okoro, a tough player who had a solid rookie season last year, is short at 6’5″ for a small forward.

We still believe his size makes him a better fit at the off guard, but can he score enough to play there.

Then we have the frontcourt where the bulk of the playing time will go to three seven footers, Allen, Markkanen, and Mobley.

And what to do with Kevin Love, who is still here, and it probably won’t be long, particularly if he isn’t getting a lot of time, before he makes it known he would like to be elsewhere.

What style will Bickerstaff use for his squad. Right now, this doesn’t figure to be a strong outside shooting team, particularly from three point range. So, does he try to defend, force missed shots, and try to take advantage of fast break opportunities?

The problem with that is can the smallish guard apply the type of defensive pressure needed for this to work? Defense is as good as the weakest defender on the floor. Good teams will find the bad defender and take advantage.

Can Cleveland have that kind of defense?

We have heard the staff wants to use Mobley off the bench, at least early in the season. We think this makes sense, because at his stature, we can see him taking a pounding from bigger, more veteran players. It might be best to use him about 18-20 minutes per night at the start of the season, and we also might use him at small forward at times as well.

But the biggest thing for this team is can they play together, for each other, particularly when things go poorly. Can they make each other look like better players than they are individually?

That’s the key to success. And knowing what you can do and can’t do as a player, and where you rank in the pecking order on the team.

That’s our biggest worry about the wine and gold. Altman hasn’t made any bad picks, none of his high picks are complete busts. However, right now, they don’t seem to fit very well together. Getting them to do just that is the biggest key for success by the Cavs this year.

Cavs Should Be Trying To Get Simmons, He’s Really Good

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers’ star Ben Simmons.

Should the Cavs be interested? What would they have to give up? Would it improve the roster for the upcoming season?

First, let’s say Simmons is a very talented player, being elected to three all star teams in his first four seasons in the league. The consensus around the Association is that he is probably in the top 25-30 players in the league right now.

Based on that, Koby Altman should be interested in bringing him to Cleveland. It says here he would be the best player on the team the minute he put on the wine and gold.

Let us also say right now that we doubt such a trade will involve the Cavaliers. But it is fun to speculate.

The main rap against the former first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft is his shooting ability, notably from long distance. He has famously (or maybe infamously) taken just 34 shots from behind the arc in his four years in the NBA, making just five.

On the other hand, he has made 56% of his field goal attempts in his career, so he knows where he needs to be on the court to score. There’s nothing wrong with that. We have seen many players throughout the league fire up shots that have little chance of going in, and continue to take those bad shots.

Sometimes, selectivity is a good thing.

Other than shooting, Simmons does everything else very well. He averages 7.7 assists per game at 6’11” and grabs 8.1 boards per contest in his four year career. He’s also a very good defense player, making first team All-Defense in each of the last two seasons.

We understand there is a section of basketball fans out there that focus on one thing, scoring. Unfortunately, there is way more to the game than that and Ben Simmons is very good at doing all of those things. He just isn’t a very good shooter from outside the paint.

As for a potential trade to Cleveland, it is hard to see what Philadelphia would want from the Cavs, and in turn, would Altman give up the players. For example, we are sure Philly would ask for Darius Garland, but we would not give him up.

There has been recent speculation that the Sixers would be interested in newly acquired Lauri Markkanen, but in that case Altman would be giving up a three point threat (something Cleveland needs) for someone who is not. We would prefer not to give up the newest Cavalier.

As for Collin Sexton, who is probably the most marketable player the Cavs have, we would certainly be willing to move him in a package for Simmons, but it’s tough to see a fit for the 76ers. Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris are the primary scorers there, so would Sexton get the shots he is accustomed to?

And Kevin Love would seem to be useful as a sniper off the bench in Philadelphia, but you would have to add a whole lot to that package to get anyone to take on that contract.

Would Cedi Osman be of interest? Maybe. But again, anyone the Sixers are interested in is probably a good player, and the Cavs certainly need good players.

Again, we don’t expect anything to happen on this front, but adding Simmons to the roster would make the Cavaliers a better team. Adding a three time all star in his prime is always a good idea.

Cavs Add Talent, But Is The Fit Better?

Cavaliers’ GM Koby Altman made another move on Friday executing a sign and trade deal with free agent forward Lauri Markkanen, with fan favorite Larry Nance Jr. and a second round pick going to Portland in the deal.

The Cavs get younger in the transaction as Markkanen, who agreed to a four year deal with Cleveland, is just 24 years old and Nance will turn 29 on New Years Day.

First, let’s talk about the hometown player in Nance. We love his game. He has an old school game in that he does everything well. He averaged 9.5 points per game in his time with the Cavaliers, with 7.5 rebounds and almost three assists.

He was third on the team in assists last year, and might have been the second best passer on the team.

However, he also misses a lot of action. His high in games played since entering the league is 67, and last season, played in just 35 games due to illness and a broken hand.

He also has a game that fits better with a winning team, because he’s a complementary player. He passes, defends, block shots, and can finish at the rim. He will be a very good fit with the Trailblazers, a team trying to win.

Markkanen’s numbers have fallen off since his first two years with the Bulls, when he averaged 15.2 and then 18.7 points per game, and grabbed a career high 9.0 rebounds in his second season in Chicago.

In that second season, he averaged 15 shots per night, second to Zach LaVine. The next season, Chicago drafted Coby White in the first round and they became more of a guard oriented offense with LaVine getting two more shots per game and White taking more shots than the former 7th overall pick who played one season at Arizona.

Last year, he did raise his overall shooting percentage to 48% (his career mark is 44%) and his three point shooting to 40.2% (36.6% lifetime). If that’s a trend, that’s something the wine and gold could really use, as they had the league’s worst shooting from beyond the arc.

Where does he play? Our thought is maybe he starts at power forward giving J.B. Bickerstaff the option of bring rookie Evan Mobley off the bench in his rookie season, backing up at both center and power forward.

We understand there is pressure to start the third overall pick, but as we have discussed, Mobley needs to put on some weight and get stronger, so maybe this is good for his development.

Again, we love what Nance gives you, but really Markkanen is the better player.

We do have a problem with Altman giving up a draft pick, albeit a second rounder. When you are building, you need draft capital, and second round picks can be valuable.

Getting Markkanen really emphasizes the point that there is no role or spot for Kevin Love on the roster and the team would be better off at this point to buyout the veteran. Thank him for his contributions and his part on the championship team, but let him part on decent terms.

This can’t be the last move by Altman either. The Cavs still have an odd fit of players, with small guards and three seven footers who need playing time. The also still need a legitimate small forward, one who can score. Our feeling continues to be that Isaac Okoro’s size makes him a #2 guard.

In terms of talent, the Cavs are better than they were yesterday. In terms of fit? It’s still an weird mix.

We also understand the sadness seeing Nance go, someone who grew up here, was great in the community, and was a link to when the Cavaliers were very good.

Where Is Cavs’ Improvement Coming From?

After the NBA season, Cavaliers’ GM Koby Altman said the plan was for the team to “take the next step” and at the very least get in to the play in tournament for the league’s playoffs, meaning we was hoping to finish in the top ten in the Eastern Conference.

In 2020-21, that spot belonged to Charlotte and they won 33 games last season. The wine and gold finished with just 22. How would the organization make up the ground and also pass up Chicago and Toronto, who finished 11th and 12th in the East?

We are confused because right now, we see no path which leads to the Cavs making that leap and training camp will be starting in about a month.

We said before the draft that picking Evan Mobley with the third overall pick is not the move of a team that wants to start winning next year and we stand by that. While very talented, especially for someone his size, because of his current build, we would be surprised if the rookie made a huge impact in 2021-22. Perhaps the talent was too much to pass up, but Altman’s words and actions seem to be at odd with each other.

The Cavaliers also ranked last in the NBA in three point field goal percentage and 25th in overall shooting percentage. Mobley is certainly not going to help with the former, and we doubt newcomer Ricky Rubio, a career 32.5% shooter from beyond the arc, will help much either.

In fact, of guys who played ten or more games for the Cavs last year, the best three point shooter was Taurean Prince (41.5%) and of course, he was the player Altman moved for Rubio. So, on paper, Cleveland’s long distance shooting got worse.

We understand some of the young veterans like Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Isaac Okoro will improve naturally and that should translate into more wins, but will it mean winning 36-40 games that will likely be needed to at least get the 10th seed, if not higher?

Garland averaged 18.8 points and 6.3 assists per game after the All Star Game, how much better can he do this year? Remember, that despite those numbers, Cleveland went 8-28 in the second half of the season.

Perhaps the team will be healthier this year, which would help. Maybe Kevin Love will play more 25 games and Larry Nance Jr. will be available for more than 35 contests. Both of those guys would help in the win/loss department, although you can debate whether or not the former will be on the roster at all this season.

Counting on the growth of the young players in order to make a quantum leap forward would seem to be dangerous if your job was depending on it, and recent reports say ownership is going to reevaluate Altman and coach J.B. Bickerstaff after the first half of the season.

So if Altman thinks his job is on the line (and quite frankly it should be), he is taking an odd approach or he is putting his trust in his evaluation of talent and hoping everything gels for this group of Cavaliers.

If we were making a wager on what will happen, we wouldn’t make any long term financial plans if we were Altman. His plan has a lot of blind faith in it.

Impressions Of Mobley And Other Cavs Stuff

The Cleveland Cavaliers are wrapping up the Summer League schedule, but the reason to watch the games ended last Friday when the organization made the decision to sit first round pick Evan Mobley after he played three games.

The third overall pick averaged 11.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3 assists per contest in his brief appearance, but frankly, why he didn’t play more is a mystery. We have heard the arguments from folks saying it wasn’t needed, but we don’t think players get better from watching, so we would have had him on the court.

Of course, the organization didn’t do him any favors by not having a legitimate point guard on the roster. The playmaking duties fell to last year’s first round pick, Isaac Okoro, who played small forward last year, but in reality is probably a #2 guard.

Our impression of Mobley hasn’t changed after watching him in these games, and we understand these aren’t anything like regular season NBA games, especially in terms of the talent on the floor. What does stand out though is who plays hard, that’s where players can make a name for themselves.

The rookie is frighteningly thin, several times opponents bumped him from behind going for rebounds, and Mobley didn’t grab the ball because the contact. It wasn’t called a foul, nor will it be in the regular season. He also shot just 35% from the floor, again, when he got the ball near the basket, and some contact took place, he couldn’t power through it.

That’s not to say he will never be able to, he will get stronger, and be able to handle this, but for the upcoming season, let’s say we have our doubts.

In fact, we thought for the upcoming season, Mobley might be best equipped to play the small forward spot. He’s a very good passer, as he showed in summer league, finding some easy baskets on backdoor cuts, and he did show a good ability to be able to defend on the perimeter.

No doubt, it would be tough for the man he was guarding to be able to get a clean look at the basket.

At playing him at the three would give him a chance to contribute while getting stronger for an inevitable move closer to the defensive rim. We aren’t saying use him at the spot exclusively, but it would be something to try.

As we said earlier, the Cavs’ front office didn’t do Mobley (or really anyone) any favors by not having a legitimate point guard on the roster. More and more, we have no clue what Koby Altman and his staff are trying to accomplish this season.

It was reported that the team was talking to Collin Sexton about a contract extension because attempts to trade him came up empty. So, you couldn’t get back in trade something commensurate to the value you think he has, and the solution is to give him a big contract?

It would seem that someone has the wrong value on the player. Either way, there doesn’t seem to be a huge market for Sexton, so why would the Cavs get involved in a big contract with him? We have said it before, we would wait until have this season to have any talks with him.

Since the season ended, the Cavaliers have drafted Mobley, and traded Taurean Prince for Ricky Rubio. If that’s all Altman does, we would anticipate another season where fans are hoping to be lucky in the draft lottery.

It looks right now like even a spot in the play in tournament is a long shot.

Cavs Sitting Back And Hoping

Since last Thursday night, the NBA has been full of action with the annual draft and then the beginning of free agency. Teams all over the Association have been making moves, trying to get into next year’s playoffs.

We guess the exception would be the Cleveland Cavaliers.

When you’ve won 60 games like the Cavs have done, you probably don’t need to do much. Oh yeah, those 60 victories have come in the last three regular seasons combined.

We realize there is still time, but more and more it looks like GM Koby Altman continues to be delusional in thinking the island of misfit toys roster he has assembled right now is going to result in at least a spot in the (very stupid) NBA play in tournament.

Right now, J.B. Bickerstaff has two players with the correct size and skill set for the NBA, point guard Darius Garland and center Jarrett Allen. Quite frankly, those are two pretty good building blocks to start.

But the rest of the starting lineup is made up of Collin Sexton, a relentless scorer, but still undersized compared to most of the teams in the NBA at 6’2″, Isaac Okoro, a 6’5″ small forward (by the way, on the Summer League roster, he is listed at 6’6″ and as a guard), and if they are starting rookie Evan Mobley at the four, he certainly has the height, but not the bulk.

Besides the drafting of Mobley, the major acquisition so far this summer is Ricky Rubio, a point guard, further crowding the backcourt. Bickerstaff now has to find enough minutes for Garland, Sexton, Rubio, and Okoro, who again, should be playing guard, although is his offense good enough to play that spot.

And although they might not be reliable sources, rumors are out there that Altman is pursuing a shooter, who likely will also add another body to the backcourt.

The roster screams for someone in the 6’7″ or 6’8″ range that can put the ball in the basket. We haven’t forgotten Larry Nance Jr., who probably should start at SF, but while he does a lot of things very well, he isn’t known for his scoring prowess.

We also know technically Kevin Love is on the roster. Actually, Love would be a good fit (still) at the #4, and would allow Bickerstaff to break in Mobley slowly, but if he’s not buying in to yet another rebuilding season, it’s best to move on.

This rebuild is moving at an iceberg’s pace, because Altman didn’t accumulate any draft picks. He did use some draft capital to get Kevin Porter Jr. two years ago, but we know how that ended. Nor, did he have any cap space, and apparently Cleveland couldn’t really participate in free agency because they didn’t have cap room.

We also think he made a mistake in not offering a qualifying offer to center Isaiah Hartenstein, who came over in the JaVale McGee deal last season. The big man showed he can play, and the Cavs shouldn’t be losing those types of players for nothing.

We know the drafting of Mobley precipitated the move, but you can’t get rid of players who have talent when you have one of the worst records in the NBA.

It would be prudent to level off the talent instead of having the roster super-stacked at two or three spots and devoid of players at other spots.

We have read that the team is targeting 2023-24 because they will have some cap room. That would mean five years of wretched records for the Cavaliers. That’s a tough sell to the ticket buying public.

Again, there is still time to make moves, but it doesn’t look like anything is imminent. Maybe all of the Cavs will get a lot better and their games will magically fit. That doesn’t seem like a good plan for success.

Cavs Take Mobley, Hopefully More To Come?

It has been rumored for the last couple of weeks that the Cleveland Cavaliers were taking Evan Mobley with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft, and they did just that last night.

Mobley, 7’0″, 215 pounds has tremendous skills, and is a shot blocker. Our concern with him is his weight. Can he withstand the pounding playing interior defense or if an opponent can get into him, could he be pinned to the floor.

We assume the Cavs want to retain Jarrett Allen, making a qualifying offer to the restricted free agent, so can Mobley and Allen play together?

Mobley has talent, but can he be an impact player next season? Because that’s what the wine and gold need, not another developmental piece. If he and Ricky Rubio (more on him later) are the only significant moves for Cleveland, our fear is another season of 25 wins or less might be the result.

Again, not categorizing Mobley as a bad pick, it’s just hard to see him being a guy who can play 30 minutes a game effectively next season. In three years? He could be a stud. If you want to tag on another two seasons among the bottom of the league, then we would guess you are okay with this.

GM Koby Altman has still assembled an odd roster. He has Darius Garland, who looks like he can be a good point guard in the league, but he has also drafted an undersized #2 guard in Collin Sexton and is using player who has #2 guard size at small forward in Isaac Okoro.

Now he has the twin towers in Allen and Mobley. Can this group win together? Maybe, we never rule anything out, but the general history of professional basketball says they would face an uphill battle.

One would assume the addition of Mobley also means the end of Kevin Love in Cleveland, probably as the result of buyout, meaning Altman gets no return for a key piece of the 2016 title team.

And it wouldn’t be a draft day without Altman getting another guard, this time trading Taurean Prince to Minnesota for Rubio and a second round pick. Rubio, who will turn 31 in October, will take over the Matthew Dellavedova guard mentoring role, except the Spaniard is a better player.

Rubio has been a starter for the majority of his seven year NBA career, and knows how to the play the game. He averages 7.6 assists per night for his career. He’s an excellent free throw shooter at 86.7%, but not a three threat from beyond the arc, just 32.5% lifetime.

There is still a long time between now and training camps opening in September, but it still feels like the Cavaliers need to retool their roster. They appear to have some rim protectors, which they will probably really need because the defense out front isn’t very good. Remember, J.B. Bickerstaff used Okoro on virtually every opponent’s best scorer, which created mismatches in other places.

Hopefully, more moves to change the roster will be coming with the free agent period starts, which is another time the league sees a lot of deals. They still need a legitimate scorer at small forward. They need more size in the backcourt or the ability to use Okoro there.

Said it all along, collecting talent is fine, putting talent together that fits and leads to wins? That’s a tough job.