Tough Stretch Out Of The Break Should Show Cavs’ Progress After Deals

Certainly, there is a lot of optimism about the Cleveland Cavaliers after the trading deadline when Koby Altman swapped Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and Lonzo Ball for James Harden, Dennis Schroder, and Keon Ellis.

The Cavs have won 10 of their last 11 games and although they sit in the #4 position in the Eastern Conference, they are just a game and a half out of the #2 spot.

We don’t want to pour cold water on everyone, but of the three wins since Harden arrived, Cleveland has defeated the Kings, who have the worst record in the West, and the Wizards, who have the worst mark in the East.

Yes, winning in Denver was a quality win, we are not minimizing that. But the real test is coming for this group.

It has been documented the schedule for the wine and gold is considerably easier down the stretch, one of the lightest slates in the Association, but the new roster will be test coming out of the All Star break.

After a home game tonight against Brooklyn, the Cavs hit the road for games against the red-hot Charlotte Hornets and the defending champs in Oklahoma City. Charlotte is currently a “play-in” team, and the Thunder came into town on MLK Day and waxed Kenny Atkinson’s crew 136-104.

The Knicks, currently the third seed in the East, comes to town on Tuesday, and the Cavaliers end February with a game in Detroit, and after another home game with the Nets, have a homestand against the Pistons, Celtics, and 76ers.

We will get a much better evaluation on all the roster moves after this stretch.

And you would think that in this stretch of games, Evan Mobley should be back on the floor, so we can finally see how Harden affects him on the offensive end. We have already seen how Jarrett Allen has been much more of a scorer, not only with Harden, but on the western swing.

Remember the 40 point, 17 rebound game against Portland came before the trades took place.

With Mobley back, another thing to watch is how Atkinson will handle playing time. Right now, he is basically starting with Allen and four guards, which makes a lot of minutes available for the glut of wings on the roster.

We would think when Mobley is back in the starting lineup, Jaylon Tyson will start at the #3, with Sam Merrill and Dean Wade (when he returns) coming off the bench. But the coach might want Tyson coming off the bench and have Merrill’s shooting space the floor for Donovan Mitchell, Harden and the big men.

And doing this would make Wade the backup for Allen and Mobley up front. If Atkinson wanted to go big, he can always use Wade at the #3 as well, he has shown he can defend on the perimeter.

Also, Nae’Qwan Tomlin should stay in the rotation. His energy and length have earned being on the floor.

The minutes for the wings will likely work itself out before the end of the season and Atkinson will have a better idea of his rotation for the playoffs, but in the meantime, players like Merrill and Craig Porter Jr. will be on trial for earning time on the floor.

Being deep is a good thing overall though, and hopefully the injuries are behind the Cavs so Atkinson will have a tough decision when the playoffs start.

Early Return On Deals Very Good For Cavs

The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing much better over the last month, winning 10 of their last 11 and just coming home from a tough trip out west where they dropped the first game in Phoenix and then ripped off four straight wins.

Certainly, all of the attention is on James Harden because let’s face it, no matter how you feel about his style of play, he is a former MVP and was named as one of the 75 greatest players in the league’s history.

But this span of better play started before Koby Altman swapped out Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, and Lonzo Ball. We could also be a little snarky and remind people it kind of started when Garland got hurt. They won the game he was injured to raise their record to 23-19, so the Cavs are 10-2 since.

We still worry about the lack of height on the current roster, but we also understand it is unfair to judge them now because Evan Mobley, the Cavs’ starting power forward, is out, and so is Dean Wade, who at 6’9″ can play both inside and outside.

But there is no question Koby Altman improved the Cavaliers’ defense on the perimeter with the acquisition of Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis. Although the former is 6’1″, Schroder is a pest defensively, picking up opponents in the backcourt and making his man work to bring the ball up.

Ellis is long and seems to have good anticipation skills in the passing lanes.

As for the big trade, we have no questions about James Harden’s ability to score. The guy can put the ball in the basket. He’s a 24.1 point scorer for his career and is coming up on the 29000th point in the NBA soon and is 730 points away from moving in the top ten all-time.

We know about his playoff failures too, but for this current team, when Mobley comes back, he’s probably the third best player, so the burden isn’t on him like in the past.

We also know that at some point he is going to probably force his way out of town, but we choose to look at the situation as how it affects the Cavaliers this season.

An aspect that is overlooked about Harden is his passing ability. He is also 12th all-time in assists, and he is particularly adept at making passes into the post. Jarrett Allen has scored 29 and 22 points in the two games Harden has played, and no doubt he will aid Mobley when he is healthy.

Harden isn’t a force on the defensive end, but at his size we can hold his own if someone tries to post him up, but he never was a decent defender and at 36, he’s not getting better. But really, the player he was dealt for wasn’t proficient on that end either.

Now, Kenny Atkinson has to figure out who is going to lose time with the three newcomers in uniform. There is no question there is a glut at guard and at small forward. In the last two games, he’s gotten around this by playing four guards, but that doesn’t help the rebounding.

When Mobley and Wade get back, that’s when he will have to make an adjustment. Our guess is Sam Merrill becomes more of a specialist, a sniper if you will, and Craig Porter Jr. will have a lesser role because Schroder and Ellis do what he provided.

Yes, things look good right now, but one thing hasn’t changed for the Cavaliers. Nothing really matters until the playoffs. They need to get to at least the conference finals. At least.

Altman Takes A Big Swing

The so called “Core 4” is no more.

The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their remaking of their roster by trading Darius Garland and a second-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden.

And even with De’Andre Hunter trade and this deal, you still wonder if there is more roster shuffling to come.

It reminded us of the roster purge at the 2018 deadline when Altman moved Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, and Isaiah Thomas is a series of deals that netted the wine and gold Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., George Hill, and Rodney Hood.

Moving on from Garland has always made sense to us because of the small backcourt Cleveland had pairing him with Donovan Mitchell, and Garland’s lack of defensive and his propensity for turnovers, particularly late in games and in the playoffs.

Which brings us to Harden. We have had issues with the 11-time All Star, mostly because of his style of play, which is difficult to watch, and that he has orchestrated his exit from a number of teams. His conditioning has also been a question at times.

On the other hand, as a talent, he is better than Garland. Garland’s career high scoring average is 21.7 points and his best in assists is 8.6. He’s a 38.6% shooter from three, last year knocking them down at 40.1%.

This year, at age 36, Harden is scoring 25.4 points, dishing out 8.1 assists, and his career mark from long range is 36.2%.

And he’s 6’5″.

We guess if the Cavs were going to have a ball dominant guard who doesn’t play defense, they might as well lean into it and get one who is bigger and better.

Another factor for Cleveland is the diminishing value of Garland. He played in a career high 75 games a year ago, but prior to that, the most games he’s ever played was 69. And the toe injury he incurred at the end of last year appears to be chronic, so we bet Koby Altman figured now is the time to cash out on the guard who had the longest tenure on the roster.

We do have concerns about Harden’s fit with this group. He does he affect the chemistry? Will he accept playing less minutes in order to be fresher in the playoffs? On the other hand, he is also playing to get another contract so you would think he’d be on his best behavior.

Why do we expect another move? Look at the logjam Kenny Atkinson will have to deal with. In addition to Harden and Mitchell, he has Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, the two other newcomers in Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis, and Craig Porter Jr. to fit into the rotation.

That’s a lot of players at the #1-#3 spots. And that’s if you consider Dean Wade a #4.

And we will repeat, we still feel the Cavaliers need to get bigger up front.

It’s a big swing from Koby Altman for sure. We felt for a couple of years that the top of the Cavs’ roster was flawed. Did he fix it? We will know for sure in the next two months, but he did something because we think he knew that running it back wasn’t going to get the team to the next step, that is getting at least to the conference finals.

But make no mistake, Harden is a huge risk. But in another year, what would Garland have brought back in the teade?

Next Two Weeks Key For The Wine And Gold

After playing 47 games, you would think a coach would know what his team is all about. We are guessing Kenny Atkinson doesn’t know what to think about this year’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

No doubt injuries have played a large role in the inconsistency. The Cavs have just five players who have played in 40 games (meaning have missed less than seven) thus far, and only two, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, would be considered regular starters.

We talk about the lack of real size on the team, and one of the two reliable big men, Jarrett Allen, who played in all 82 games last season, has missed a dozen games already.

The Cavs have had a schedule advantage as well, playing 26 games at home so far, meaning they will have just 15 contests at the Rocket Arena for the balance of the regular season.

That’s why the next two weeks seem very important.

First, Darius Garland could be back by the end of next week. Garland has already missed 22 games this season after recovering from off-season surgery and injuring the big toe (guess we call it the “great toe” these days) on his other foot, the one that didn’t need a procedure in the off-season.

The first west coast trip happens this week too. After home games against Orlando and the Lakers on Monday and Wednesday, the home and road game disparity will even up with a five-game trip which will include games against Phoenix, Portland, the Clippers, Sacramento, and Denver.

The second trip west occurs at the end of the season, when the Cavaliers finish with five of their last eight on the road.

The trade deadline also looms, coming on February 5th while the team in on their trek west. Because of their position in the second apron on the salary cap, it will be difficult for Koby Altman to make a move, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a ton of speculation.

We will still insist the Cavs need more size, both height and bulk. De’Andre Hunter has been a disappointment this season, particularly his shooting, but we also wonder if a part of that is him having to play the “4” a lot, a position he isn’t very effective at.

The addition of Nae’Qwan Tomlin has helped a bit. So has Larry Nance Jr. getting healthy, but both of those players are lean and although they can block some shots, a physical rebounding opponent is still going to give the Cavs a problem.

Remember the Utah game where the Jazz bullied Cleveland on the boards.

It would be nice to also have less players who are one-dimensional. That’s why Jaylon Tyson has been a revelation. He’s a solid defender and can also play on the offensive end.

Atkinson has been playing Dean Wade down the stretch recently, and other teams don’t feel the need to defend him because he refuses to shoot, especially in the 4th quarter.

Tendencies like that will only be highlighted more when the playoffs come.

For all of the fussing and questioning of this team, they are still just two games out of the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. So, if they can start playing consistently, with better effort on the defensive end especially, the Cavaliers will be fine.

But can they do it?

It feels like the next two weeks can be a litmus test for Atkinson and his squad. Will they survive the long trip?

Altman Didn’t Adapt As The Game Did. Are Cavs Paying For That?

The fine line between patience and moving on is very delicate in professional sports, especially when a team is trying to come up from the bottom.

We remember the early days of the Cleveland Cavaliers. As an expansion team, they were terrible in their first year, going 15-67 after starting the season 1-27. The next year, they won 23 games, and in their third season, they added Lenny Wilkens and won 32.

They looked poised to make the jump to a .500 squad in the team’s fourth season. But after the third year, coach/GM Bill Fitch traded two then starters, John Johnson and Rick Roberson to get the second pick in the draft, and selected Jim Brewer.

They took a step back, falling to 29 victories, to take a leap forward to 40 wins and the following year went to the Eastern Conference finals.

To be fair, Fitch also added Jim Chones and other pieces in those two seasons, but the point is Fitch knew he needed to make a change to get the max out of his squad.

Fast forward to the current Cavs.

After being eliminated in the first round by the Knicks after Donovan Mitchell’s first year in town when the Cavs won 51 games, president of basketball operations Koby Altman has pretty much stood pat.

The next year was understandable, it was the team’s first year with Mitchell and you would hope for growth the following year. But in that series loss to New York, the wine and gold could not match the opponents’ physicality. That was obvious.

When the Cavaliers were bounced in the second round the following season, after needing seven games to win over a young Orlando team in the first round, the excuse was injuries to Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen.

Last season, with a new coach, Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland won 64 games, breezed through a round one series against Miami, before losing in five games to the eventual East champs, Indiana.

No changes to the four stars either drafted or acquired by Altman to form the foundation of the team.

And so here we are with this team, sitting at 15-14 after the 64 wins a year ago.

The NBA is always evolving, always changing. A few years ago, the league was dominated by quick guards who could shoot from long range. In 2020-21, the first of Nikola Jokic’s MVP wins, Curry, Chris Paul, and Damian Lillard all finished in the top ten of the vote.

The following season, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Curry, and Paul were top ten. In the past draft, of the top ten picks, six were guards who were over 6’6″.

Look at the Cavs’ two most recent losses to Chicago look how Josh Giddey at 6’7″ and a solid playmaker played. Rookie Kon Knueppel hurt them in last Sunday’s loss to Charlotte. He’s 6’6″.

Last year, the Cavs played at a high pace and shot the three ball remarkably well. This year, more teams are playing faster, taking the example of how the Pacers played in the playoffs a year ago when they got to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Miami and Chicago both play faster this season. Toronto is long and athletic, they’ve beaten the Cavs three times this season.

Yes, the Cavs have had a lot of injuries this season. But it is also true they need to adapt to the way teams are playing in the 2025-26 campaign.

Altman wanted to be patient, but he was stubborn in thinking the foundation of this roster didn’t need tweaking.

As in all sports, there is a thin line between patience and stubbornness.

Lack Of Size For Cavs Is Still An Issue

Over the past couple of years, we have written about the lack of size on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster. Outside of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, they have a plethora of smaller players for their positions.

We know about the backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, but Max Strus and Isaac Okoro were getting a lot of time at small forward, and both are 6’5″, undersized for that spot.

In the off-season, Koby Altman addressed this a bit, trading for 6’6″ guard Lonzo Ball, signing Larry Nance Jr. as a free agent and moving De’Andre Hunter (6’8″) into the starting lineup at small forward.

They also brought in Thomas Bryant to back up at center and he’s 6’9″, but he’s really taking the roster spot used on Tristan Thompson a year ago.

So they still really haven’t addressed adding size up front. The forerunner for the new style of play in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors teams from 2015-2018 were based around the outside shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and the versatility of Draymond Green.

They still had serviceable big men on the roster.

In 2015, their first title, they had Andrew Bogut, Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli, and David Lee, all of whom are 6’9″ and taller, and all were in the top 12 in terms of minutes. On their second title squad, they had added Kevin Durant (conservatively 6’11”), replaced Bogut with Zaza Pachulia (6’11”) and had Javale McGee (7’0″) with David West (6’9″).

Look at last year’s champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have the combination of Chet Holmgren (7’1″) and Isaiah Hartenstein (7’0″ and don’t get us started) and have two other 6’9″ players who got minutes in Jaylin Williams and Ousmane Dieng.

Since Allen and Mobley have missed a lot of time with injuries this season, the lack of size has reared its ugly head for Kenny Atkinson once again. In the loss to Charlotte on Sunday, the coach was using Dean Wade at center with the next two tallest players being Ball and Jaylin Tyson, both a 6’6″.

Wade is listed at 6’9″ but is used primarily for his ability to defend on the perimeter, not as a deterrent to opposing players driving to the basket.

In short (no pun intended) that’s a very small group on the floor, especially with the Hornets going with no one under 6’5″ for most of the quarter.

So, once again, the roster construction should be questioned. A few years ago, the emphasis seemed to be on smaller, quicker players who can shoot. But in the past couple of seasons, those players are getting bigger and just as quick.

It’s a constant evolution.

Basketball is a sport by its nature where size is important and having bigger players who can play a spot where they have a size advantage with the same skill set is always desirable.

Can the Cavaliers make any moves to get bigger as this season progresses? The salary cap and apron will make it very difficult, but there’s usually some way to get it done.

Even when everyone is healthy, this Cavs’ roster needs to get bigger.

Cavs’ Current Style Is Not Conducive To A Title

There is something not right with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had five days off following a loss at home to something resembling the Golden State Warriors G-League team, watching plenty of film of their recent struggles, and had a players only meeting leading up to their contest last Friday against Washington.

And then they needed Donovan Mitchell to rescue them after falling behind by 15 points to the 3-19 Wizards and steal a victory. Mitchell scored 48 points, half of them in the fourth quarter.

Yes, the Cavs are now 15-11 on the year. And it is true many starters and rotation players have missed a lot of game with injuries. Jarrett Allen has missed 11, Darius Garland 16, Sam Merrill 14.

And now Evan Mobley will miss 2-4 weeks with a calf injury.

Yet, something is off with this group after going 64-18 last season and finishing with the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

The most logical thing to look at is shot selection. Cleveland leads the league in three point shot attempts, hoisting up 44.3 per game, which is 48% of their shots. Unfortunately, they are making just 34% of those long-range attempts, and that ranks 28th in the Association.

Last season, the Cavs were 4th in attempts, but were second in percentage, converting on 38.3%. It may not seem like a lot, but that 4% is huge. To put it in players’ terms, it’s the difference in shooting between Stephen Curry, perhaps the greatest long-range shooter ever, and Jalen Brunson, a great player, but not known for his long range shot.

We are sure Kenny Atkinson doesn’t want to tell players not to hoist threes, but right now, Garland is shooting just 27% from beyond the arc, and Lonzo Ball just 26% from out there. Maybe get a little closer until you get into rhythm?

We understand teams what to play with pace, but pace doesn’t come from firing the ball up the court and shooting a three with :18 on the shot clock. Generally, that doesn’t work out well.

Worse yet, Cleveland’s opponents are shooting 36.5% from three, so the advantage they enjoyed in shooting a year ago is gone.

For all the newer basketball fans who don’t think Allen is an effective player in today’s NBA, it looks like he might just be. Yes, Evan Mobley is a superb defender, but in watching Friday’s game, he’s guarding smaller players around 15 feet away.

That’s great, he has the ability at 6’11” to be able to go out and guard outside. However, without Allen, there is no one to protect the rim and rebound. The Cavaliers were 5th in rebounding a year ago and have fallen to 8th.

The defense on the perimeter has been a problem. Too many guards are getting to the basket against the Cavs and as noted before, without Allen around the basket, these are turning into a lot of easy baskets.

We are almost 1/3 of the way into this regular season and Christmas, when it is said the NBA season really starts is less than two weeks away.

We have said this before, we believe Atkinson is trying different combinations right now, so he is still experimenting. That understanding doesn’t mean it’s not tough to watch.

It should not be on Mitchell putting on a red cape and being Superman in order to beat one of the worst teams in the NBA.

With or without the missing players, the Cavs should be better than that. At least playing a winning brand of hoops.

It’s Early, But We Have Some Fears Regarding The Cavs

We believe the Cleveland Cavaliers are experimenting for sure. They’ve had all kinds of key players missing to start the season, with the only real constants being Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter.

They have provided several young players like Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Jaylon Tyson, Craig Porter Jr., and rookie Tyrese Proctor good opportunities to show they can contribute as the season moves forward.

And with all of this happening, they are still 13-10 and at least in terms of the ratings, a top ten offensive and defensive team.

But we do have a nagging lingering fear for this group. Perhaps the window to win a title was open widest the past two seasons.

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting at 21-1. Two young, long teams in the East are off to great starts. The Pistons are 17-5 and the Raptors are 15-7. And long teams seem to bother the Cavs.

We have written about the lack of size on the Cavaliers’ roster over the past few seasons, and the move toward more size was never more evident than it this past NBA Draft.

Of the top ten picks in the draft, six of them were guards who were over 6’5″. This means the current duo of Mitchell and Darius Garland ranks even lower in terms of size among NBA backcourts.

We understand Garland is coming back from off-season surgery and he has missed time since re-aggravating the injury. He helps the offense greatly with his skill to penetrate and also shoot from distance.

On the other hand, one problem we have seen is his ability to take care of the basketball. It was an issue in his first playoff series against the Knicks, and it really hasn’t changed. He had two big turnovers down the stretch against Atlanta last week that cost the team a chance at a win.

Then we have the Mobley issue. The thought was always that the Cavs would be title contenders when he was the best player on the team. Can that happen? He’s a very good player, the Defensive Player of the Year last season. But does he have the temperament of an alpha?

We do think Kenny Atkinson is putting him in different situation to see where he fits best offensively. He’s bringing the ball up trying to initiate the offense, but his ball handling doesn’t seem to be strong enough.

Last year, he seemed to thrive with the ball at the foul line extended and set up his teammates from that spot on the floor or be able to take the ball to the basket. Again, our guess is Atkinson is trying some things out and may settle on what worked last season.

We know the Celtics won a title just a couple of years ago with heavy reliance on the three-point shot. However, they fell short a couple of years ago when they lost in the conference finals to Miami because of their shot selection.

Last year, 45.7% of Cleveland’s shots were from beyond the arc and they converted on 38% of them. This season, the number of long-range shots has increased to 48.8%, and even worse, they are making less at 34.8%. That 3% difference is huge.

Football people talk about “complimentary football”, but it can be used in basketball as well. The Cavs have two solid defenders inside in Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but when you miss threes, it generally results in a long rebound and a fast break by your opponent.

Fast breaks tend to make having interior defenders moot.

We know everyone loves to play with pace, but maybe it would be better to play a little slower, take better shots, and make better use of the two bigs you do have.

It is better to be playing their best basketball in March, April, and May (and hopefully June) than now. When the New Year hits, the Cavs need to tighten some things up.

Looking At Cavs, Looking For Toughness

Tomorrow night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will have hit the 20 game mark of the NBA schedule, about a quarter of the way through. Hard to believe right?

The team has had to deal with a lot of injuries. No Cavalier player has appeared in all 19 games to date. Evan Mobley has played in 18, Donovan Mitchell in 17, and next up is De’Andre Hunter with 15.

Max Strus has been out all season, while Darius Garland has seen action five times.

Pretty amazing considering they’ve only played 19 contests.

This has led to a lot of experimenting from Kenny Atkinson, so we really don’t have a true reading on what this team can be in 2025-26.

On the plus side, some players who probably wouldn’t have seen the court this season have emerged as possible rotation players for this team as the season progresses.

Most notably, we are talking about Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who Atkinson said the other night is a guy he has a hard time taking him off the floor. The 25-year-old is averaging 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 on the offensive end and at 6’8″, has played at guard and both forward spots.

When everyone gets healthy, we would like to see Tomlin replace Dean Wade in the rotation to see if the rookie can continue to produce like this once word gets around the league. If he doesn’t, we think you can always go back to Wade and he will be, well Dean Wade.

Craig Porter Jr. has done well too, and although we would like to see a better handle from Porter, the one thing he can do is create his own short, which is in short supply with the Cavs.

Porter is scoring at 5.8 per game, getting 2.9 boards and 2.5 assists per contest with 44.8% shooting from the three-point line. He should also keep getting time when the roster is whole.

And second year player Jaylon Tyson has earned his spot, mostly by being a defensive force, and unlike Isaac Okoro, has to be respected by the opposition when it comes to his shot. He’s scoring 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and is in the top ten in the league in shooting from three.

Conversely, Atkinson and the staff have to figure out why Mobley seems to be in a funk. Right now, he seems very passive when on the court. It could be because of using him differently offensively. He seems to be on the perimeter more often this year, rather than be at the elbow where he can attack the basket easier and also be a distributor.

However, we have concerns about Mobley’s aggressive nature. One comparison for him when he came into the league was Kevin Garnett, but their personalities seem so different, and frankly the Cavs could use Mobley to have more of Garnett’s mindset.

But can someone develop having that? Mobley looks to be a pretty quiet guy, can he adopt an alpha mindset? It’s one thing to have size, something we have advocated for, and certainly the team is bigger.

It still seems to lack toughness, particularly from the bigger players. We have no qualms about Mitchell’s will to win, but it would be great if one of the bigs adopted a “take no crap” philosophy.

That’s a real concern, particularly as the playoffs get nearer. That’s still the biggest question from our perspective.

Cavs Winning While Testing Things Out.

Do you want to know how you can tell the Cleveland Cavaliers are a real good basketball team? It’s because they haven’t played very well to date and yet they have a 10-6 record after the first five weeks of the NBA season.

There have been a lot of injuries for sure. Max Strus hasn’t played yet and like won’t until the middle of December at the earliest. Darius Garland has played in only three games. Sam Merrill has missed time. De’Andre Hunter has missed three contests. Jaylon Tyson has been out the last four games in concussion protocol.

So, there hasn’t been very much continuity for Kenny Atkinson, yet this team is so good, they still have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Frankly, we are fine with this. We have been saying since training camp started, we would be happy if the wine and gold got off to a slower start and approached the playoffs playing their best basketball.

Last year, Cleveland relied on the three point shot quite a bit and it worked. They took 45.7% of their field goals from behind the arc and converted on 38.3% of those long range tries.

This season, they are taking even more threes (49.1%) but making less at 34.9%. In watching the games, we don’t see enough of what analyst Brad Daugherty talks about, which is playing inside out, meaning getting the ball in the paint or in a post-up situation and then kicking out to a wide-open shooter.

One of the things about last season’s squad was the guys who took the most 3s also shot at a very good percentage. The leaders in three-points attempts last year were: Donovan Mitchell (36.8%), Darius Garland (40.1%), Sam Merrill (37.2%), Strus (38.6%) and Ty Jerome (43.9%).

The league average was 36% and all five of the players taking the most long distance shots for Cleveland a year ago were above league average.

This year, the league wide percentage is about the same (35.8%).

And two of the top five shot takers from beyond the arc, Hunter (31%) and Lonzo Ball (31.3%) are well below the league average. Both are historically better than that. Hunter has made 36.9% for his career, while Ball has knocked them down at a 36.1% clip.

So perhaps those two should take the ball to the hoop a little more until they regain their touch from long range.

Much has been made about the lack of minutes for Jarrett Allen in the fourth quarter of games, but at this point in the season, we chalk that up to experimentation by the coaching staff. Allen is still a solid defender and good rebounder, and that’s greatly needed if you have a lead down the stretch.

If you haven’t noticed, the NBA is getting longer and having more size, particularly on the wings will be even more important. We have talked about the Cavs not having enough size for a few years now. That’s why we are happy to see Nae’Qwan Tomlin have some success.

He’s 6’10” and very active on the glass, particularly on the offensive end. And having Tyson and Ball, both at 6’6″ adds some size to the backcourt when needed. Think about it, without the injuries, does Tomlin get any playing time?

But having Garland’s shooting is also important for offensive spacing. Perhaps in the playoffs it will be like baseball. Get the lead and then bring in the defenders.

We haven’t moved off of our belief that this is the time for the Cavs to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s a good thing they are able to do that and still win more often than not.