Cavs Now At A Crossroad

After a four-game trip that started well in Miami, the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped the final three games and now seem to be at a crossroads. Their record has dropped to just two games over .500 at 14-12, and Friday, they received bad news.

Two of their starters, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, will be out for extended periods due to injury, Garland with a broken jaw, and Mobley is having arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Garland will miss approximately three to four weeks, and Mobley six to eight weeks.

As we said last week, the Cavs’ season has been weird, filled with several injuries, and with extended absences of two starters, the depth will really be tested.

We have complained about the make-up of the Cleveland roster for a while now, so coach J.B. Bickerstaff will have his hands full trying to keep his team in playoff contention, because injuries or not, missing the post-season after last season’s 51-win campaign, would be a disappointment.

We would assume that the loss of Garland means the ball will be put in Donovan Mitchell’s hands, and he is averaging 5.1 assists per night, and frankly, has been better with the ball than Garland in terms of turnovers this season, averaging one less per game.

That would move Max Strus to the two guard, giving the wine and gold a more traditional sized backcourt. However, moving Strus creates an opening at the small forward spot, and therein lies the roster construction problem.

Bickerstaff likes to bring Caris LeVert off the bench, so the candidates to start at small forward would seem to be Isaac Okoro or Georges Niang. Dean Wade might have been a choice as well, but he’s probably the starter in Mobley’s spot.

You would think a player who was the fifth overall pick should be the starter, but Okoro still is not a viable option offensively, so it is difficult to give him extended minutes because opponents don’t feel the need to guard him.

So, we would probably go with Niang, because it would seem to spread the floor for Mitchell. Having Strus, Niang, and Wade on the court together could give Cleveland the ultimate floor spacing.

There is a flaw to this though, and that is Wade is nowhere near the rebounder that Mobley is. On a per 36 minute basis, Wade gets 7.5 rebounds, compared to Mobley’s 11.2.

Wade needs to show up once and for all. The organization has a much higher opinion of him than we do, and now would be a good time to see why.

We have talked about the lack of big man depth for the Cavaliers for some time now, and here we are again. For some reason, Bickerstaff seems reticent to use Tristan Thompson on a regular basis, even though the veteran is just 32-years-old.

We know Thompson is offensively challenged, but he can still defend on rebound (he gets 11.3 boards per 36 minutes). He going to have to be out there every night now, we would think.

Garland’s injury would seem to force rookie Craig Porter Jr. on the court. He’s been impressive in limited appearances, and this should give him an opportunity to see if he can adjust since defenses will see him more often.

And as for the big men, maybe we will see Damian Jones and/or Isaiah Mobley get an opportunity to see some minutes.

The Cavaliers have a top heavy roster, with five very good players (Mitchell, Garland, Jarrett Allen, Mobley, and LeVert). Now, two of those guys will be missing for a while, and they will need more from the everyone. That doesn’t mean hoisting up more shots either.

They just need everyone to do a little more. For example, Mitchell to be more of a distributor, Allen, a couple more buckets per game, etc.

If players don’t step up, the Cavs might have too deep of a hole to dig out of when Garland and Mobley get back.

Cavs’ Start To Season? Weird.

As we hit the quarter pole in the NBA season, and the much awaited in-season tournament championship game (sarcasm intended), we find the Cleveland Cavaliers a bit of a weird team.

Part of it is the injuries that have plagued J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad all season. Cleveland has just two players, newcomers Max Strus and Georges Niang, who have played all 22 games thus far and only Strus has started all of them.

The Cavs currently sit at 13-9 on the year, good enough to be 6th in the Eastern Conference standings, but they have also won 9 of their last 12 games, so they are trending in a positive direction.

The have already lost six home games in 2023-24, more than any other team in the East that is above .500, and their 7-3 road record is tied with Minnesota and Oklahoma City for the best in the NBA.

Among those seven wins are quality victories at New York (6-3 at home), Philadelphia (8-3), and Miami, always a tough place to win for Cleveland.

That mark will be put to the test starting Monday when the Cavaliers travel to Orlando and then Boston for a pair of contests Tuesday and Thursday. Those teams currently have the best records in the East.

Cleveland started the season trying to push the pace, as most teams say they want to do, but have slowed things down a bit, and this has allowed them to play better on the defensive end of the floor, which has been their calling card.

They are playing faster than last season, when they ranked last in pace, as they are currently 18th. Defensively, they have dropped from first last year, to 8th right now, probably due to the faster pace, but really, anything in the top ten is very respectable.

Koby Altman tried to improve the wine and gold’s long distance shooting from a year ago by bringing in Strus and Niang, but Cleveland has actually dropped in three-point shooting percentage from 36.7% to 34.8%. They have taken about the same number per game, right around 32 per contest.

Niang, in particular, was off to a dreadful start from long distance, but over his last 10 games has knocked down 21 of 48 from beyond the arc, a 43.8% clip more in line with his career mark of 40%.

Darius Garland’s numbers in this area are way below his norm, making just 32.5% from three, and his lifetime mark is over 38%.

Donovan Mitchell is also down from a year ago at 35.7% compared to a 38.6% mark in his first year in Cleveland. We would like to see Mitchell attack more, particularly late in games.

You have to figure both of them will get it going from outside and then we can see the offensive potential of this group.

We would still like to see Altman find another solid big man at or before the trading deadline. Tristan Thompson has been better than expected when he’s played, but we don’t know if he can perform that well on a nightly basis.

He has provided solid to very good defense and rebounding when he has played but has played more than 10 minutes in just nine games so far.

We would also like to see Bickerstaff find more minutes for Craig Porter Jr. The rookie usually does well when called upon, but at times, he seems to be forgotten by the coaching staff. If he can be a solid backup at guard, that will help the depth greatly.

There is an adage that the NBA season doesn’t start until Christmas, which is only two weeks away. Quite frankly, we felt this current stretch would be tough for the Cavs, but they won the first two.

The Eastern Conference is tougher this year with the emergence of Orlando and Indiana, so the season will be a challenge for the Cavaliers. Let’s hope their best basketball is ahead of them.

Garland’s Play Is Becoming Cavs Problem

The Cleveland Cavaliers are going through a bit of a malaise to start the NBA season, highlighted by a terrible loss at home against Portland on Thursday night.

In that contest, they had a 16-point lead in the first half and wound up losing by 12 points to a team that has lost 12 of their first 18 games.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was upset after the game and rightly so, leading to conversation that his job could be in jeopardy. We have been critical of the coach, who has done a great job turning around a team that went 19-46 in the pandemic shortened season of 2019-20 (Bickerstaff was 5-6) and 22-50 in his first full season.

Bickerstaff set a defensive mindset with the wine and gold, but his substitution pattern has been questioned and his offensive sets seem to be very simplistic. The former could be a result of the roster construction which we will address later.

No one wants to have a hard conversation about this, but it is fair to ask if the backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland is working. Mitchell got the brunt of the criticism for the playoff loss because he is the team’s star and an all-NBA selection a year ago, but to us, Garland played worse in the first round series loss to New York.

Outside of the game two win and the third quarter in game four, Garland was pedestrian. Mitchell was still the leading scorer in the series at 23.2 points (down from 28.6 in the regular season), and shot 43.3% from the floor. He was way off from distance, making just 28.9% compared to his regular season number of 38.6%.

However, it was Mitchell who led the Cavs in assists in that series with 36 and had 19 turnovers. On the other hand, Garland shot 43.8% and had just 25 helpers with 18 turnovers. That type of carelessness with the basketball has carried over to this season.

This season, Garland has 88 assists and a whopping 64 turnovers in 15 games. The latter total is tied for the 7th highest total in the league, although all the players with more have played less games than the 14 Garland has participated in.

Also, all but Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry, and rookie Victor Wembanyama have more assists.

Garland is too sloppy with the basketball, getting stripped a lot when he drives to the basket, and too often putting getting in positions where he has left his feet and has to make a difficult pass in a tight spot.

Add that to the defensive issues that come with having two starting guards who are both 6’1″, and you have to wonder if Cleveland can have long term success with Mitchell and Garland going forward.

There are several mitigating circumstances though. Our preference would be to put the ball in Mitchell’s hands and let him be the scorer/distributor, but you would have to get a long-term commitment from him, which would allow you to make a move with Garland.

Garland’s shooting has also dropped with season, dropping from 41% from beyond the arc last season to 33.3% this season. Along with several other Cavaliers, he has battled injury issues all season, but even his free throw shooting is down from his norms.

Koby Altman made a bold move getting Mitchell a year ago to give the team some star power, but that created the roster construction problem we discussed earlier, the smallish backcourt.

We wonder if Cleveland would be better off with a more traditional guard tandem with a #2 guard that is around 6’4″ or 6’5″, perhaps like Max Strus.

And Mitchell would have to change his game from being a scorer to a playmaker who can also score. It would make him a more well-rounded player.

Because Garland was drafted by the Cavs and has developed here, it seems like many fans are reluctant to be critical of him. On the other hand, Mitchell is the hired gun, and so it is okay to blame him when the team doesn’t play well.

Our Likes And Dislikes So Far For The Cavs

After a bit of a slow start, the Cleveland Cavaliers have reeled off four victories in their last five games and in five of the last seven. They have now played 15 games and we feel that’s enough contests to see some trends, both good and bad.

First, the good.

Winning Despite Injuries. As we said, we are only 15 games into the 2023-24 season and only three Cavaliers have played every game: Evan Mobley, Max Strus, and Georges Niang. Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and Jarrett Allen each missed five games, and Caris LeVert and missed three.

Those guys are four of the top six players on the roster, and the Cavs are 8-7 anyway. That is absolutely a good thing.

Max Strus. We weren’t as enthused as many about the signing of Strus because of his size and his defense, but he’s provided another playmaker, which wasn’t thought to be a big part of his game.

He is averaging a career high 3.9 assists per contest, almost two more than his previous season high. The same for his rebounding, where he is at 5.6 per game, his career high set last year was 3.2. Add in 37.7% shooting from three-point land, and he’s been better than expected so far.

The Rookie. We know many people thought the Cavs got a steal in second round pick Emoni Bates, but we thought he was very raw. The real story so far is undrafted free agent Craig Porter Jr.

Because of injuries, Porter has played in 10 games, averaging 8.0 points and 2.9 assists per night. He’s fearless driving to the basket and looks like he can be a contributor this season. It will be interesting to see how defenses approach him as he gets more playing time.

Now, the not so good

Turnovers. This isn’t a team wide problem; the wine and gold are 17th in the league in this department. It has been an issue for Darius Garland though. Garland cut down last year going from 3.6 per contest in his third year to 2.9 last season.

This year, he’s up to 4.5 compared to six assists, also down from 8.6 and 7.8 in the previous two seasons. He penetrates and is either stripped by a defender or throws a difficult pass to connect on far too often. A possession without a shot attempt is lost opportunity to score.

Make the basic play, and not the one that gets you on highlight reels.

Criticism of Mobley. We know everyone wants the third-year pro to develop into Kevin Garnett in his prime, but really, Mobley isn’t going to score more unless he gets more shots, and that is a challenge with two scoring guards in Mitchell and Garland.

The big man from USC has increased his shooting percentage (55.4% to 56.7%), rebounding (9.0 to 10.5), assists (2.8 to 3.1), and blocks (1.5 to 1.6) from a year ago.

So, he can’t shoot threes. Big deal, at least he knows he’s not a good three-point shooter hoisting them anyway. He’s only 22 and still getting better. Maybe get him more touches.

Free Agent Disappointments. After the big splashes of signing Strus and Niang, who is slowly hitting his shooting stride, Koby Altman signed two players we thought could help in Ty Jerome and Damian Jones.

The duo has combined to play 54 minutes to date. Jerome has had a severe ankle sprain, which is unfortunate, but on the other hand, the most games he’s appeared in a season is 48. Hopefully, he can contribute soon.

Jones has appeared in just nine games, making all three of his shots and grabbing seven rebounds. Obviously, J. B. Bickerstaff has no confidence in him, because the Cavs could use another serviceable big man in the rotation.

The biggest issue for the Cavaliers has been the injuries. That said, it’s more important to have everyone healthy in April and May.

Is The Cavs’ Weakness What They Think It Is?

There is a lot of optimism about the Cleveland Cavaliers heading into the 2023-24 NBA season. After all, in the last three seasons, the Cavs have gone from 22 wins to 44 and then 51 in the last three seasons.

They are coming off a playoff season but were manhandled by the Knicks in the first round losing in five games. The organization said all year that was the goal and they reached it.

However, we don’t like that messaging. In our experience, when you set a modest goal and reach it, there is a tendency to let up. President of basketball operations Koby Altman seems to embrace the “one step at a time” mentality that permeates throughout the league.

Instead, we think the franchise should keep pushing the envelope.

The Cavs added a lot of shooting in the off-season, probably overpaying for it. Right now, they are making Max Strus a starter, despite him starting just 49 games over the last two seasons with Miami. And Strus’ three-point shooting percentage dropped from 41% in 2021-22 to 35% in 2022-23.

Shooting is why the Cavs believe they lost to the Knicks. We believe they are wrong, they lost because they were not physical enough. The wine and gold shot 45% from the floor in the series, New York shot 42%.

From long distance, Cleveland shot 32.7% while the Knicks made 28.2%.

Altman seems to be like the new NBA fans who look at only one thing in watching games these days: Shooting. The reality is there is so much more to basketball, like defense, passing, rebounding.

The one sport where size matters is basketball and the Cavs’ organization has seemed to go away from that since they jumped from 22 victories to 44 in 2021-22 using a front line of three guys over 6’11”: Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

And that doesn’t mean we didn’t like the trade for Donovan Mitchell.

This is something to watch as the season goes on, is there a difference of opinion in how to win between the front office and J.B. Bickerstaff?

Bickerstaff likes size and since he took over as head coach has emphasized defense. Besides Allen and Mobley, there is little size on the Cavaliers. They signed Damian Jones to be a backup at center and power forward, so hopefully he can provide quality minutes.

Tristan Thompson was also signed, but based on what we saw in the preseason, we aren’t really optimistic he can be a rotation player. He is simply too limited on the offensive end.

And they need rim protectors because they really don’t have strong defenders on the perimeter, let alone not much size. Darius Garland and Mitchell are listed at 6’1″ and Strus is 6’5″.

Bickerstaff, like every other NBA coach, has said he wants to play faster this season. But if this causes the team to give up defense and thus lose games, we will bet the Cavs will go back to playing the way they were successful.

Again, being successful in a half-court game requires size, and that’s where the team is lacking.

It will be interesting to see how the beginning of the season plays out.

Summer League Isn’t Real Ball, But We Did Like A Couple Of Things

The Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged as the champions of the 2023 NBA Summer League!

Seriously, good for the players and coaches, it is better to win than lose anytime they are keeping score, but the Summer League is a glorified pick up game in our eyes, and we don’t take much of it seriously.

For example, we have seen the Cavs’ media influencers getting excited about the performance of Sam Merrill, who averaged 20.4 points in Las Vegas, knocking down 44.6% of his three-point shots.

We get it, Cleveland is starved for three point shooters, but let’s remind everyone that Merrill played five years in college and is actually older than the wine and gold’s best player, Donovan Mitchell, and since the 2020-21 season, he’s played a grand total of 11 NBA games, making 12 of 41 shots from behind the arc.

You see, the real NBA and the summer league are miles apart in terms of quality of play.

We said after the draft not to get excited about second round pick Emoni Bates because he will likely spend much of the season playing for the Charge in the G-League. Our mind has not changed.

Bates shot 40% from long distance, but we didn’t see someone who can defend on an NBA level right now, and let’s just say he needs to learn how to find teammates when they are open. He averaged 1.2 assists in the six games.

We aren’t writing him off, but he has a lot to learn before he can be a rotational player in the NBA.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t see anything good.

Again, knowing it is summer league, we thought Isaiah Mobley looked like he might be ready to contribute on a nightly basis. The Cavs need some big men who don’t look like they’ve seen better days, and they added veteran Damian Jones (6’11”) in a trade after the draft.

Mobley is 6’10” and averaged 17.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per contest. We love players who can do a little bit of everything, a complete player if you will. He also approached the games like he was a veteran in our eyes, taking a leadership role with this group of young players.

And the coaching staff put the ball in his hands at times to initiate the offense. We were skeptical when the Cavs drafted him last year in the second round, but we now think he can contribute on the big team, or at least be given the opportunity to get a standard contract.

We also continue to be impressed by Luke Travers, another second round pick from 2022.

He is committed to play in his native Australia this year, but we think he could help the big club if given the opportunity. He’s not a scorer, but he is a basketball player.

He scored 7.5 points, grabbed 6.3 boards, and dished out two assists per game, but when he was on the floor, the young Cavs played better. And he’s listed somewhere between 6’6″ and 6’8″, which is exactly the kind of size the wine and gold need.

We aren’t saying +/- is the best statistic, but he led the Vegas Cavs in that department.

The players on the roster should be proud of their accomplishment, no one else went undefeated in Vegas. But fans shouldn’t read too much into it.

Let’s see how much playing time any of these guys get in Cleveland when the regular season starts.

Don’t Put Much Into The NBA Draft For Cavs.

We have seen a lot of opinions on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ selection of Emoni Bates from Eastern Michigan with the 49th pick in the NBA Draft Thursday night.

If fans think this pick will impact the 2023-24 edition of the wine and gold, we feel they are sorely mistaken. It’s the 49th selection, not the 9th, and the Cavs won 51 games a year ago, they are a solid team, so more than likely whoever they picked in that spot was more of a project.

It’s not like football where a second round pick should be able to be on the field a lot and be a contributor.

For Koby Altman, it’s like a lottery ticket, he hopes the numbers come up in his favor and Bates will wind up being a rotational player down the road.

However, Bates’ selection seems like the antithesis of what the Cavaliers feel about themselves as a roster. J.B. Bickerstaff is always talking about the “grit” and playing tough-minded basketball.

The newest member of the team is seen as a “me-first” player, filled with a lot of hype put upon him as a teenager. By the way, that’s the media’s fault. Talking about any 15 of 16-year-old as the next LeBron James isn’t fair to anyone.

Right now, Bates is 6’9″ and weighs a reported 180 pounds, and by the way, according to scouting reports, isn’t very athletic, not quick or explosive. The report we saw says he’s not a great leaper and doesn’t run the floor well. And obviously at his frame, he needs to hit the weight room.

He can shoot and has good size for a wing player, something the Cavs need badly. He can shoot from distance and also has a solid midrange game, and has the ability to score points in bunches, he had four 30 point games and a career high of 43 against Toledo.

He likely will sign a two-way deal with Cleveland and spend most of the year with the Charge developing both his body and his game, as well as understanding what you have to do both physically and mentally to be an NBA player.

We are concerned about the selfish attitude he is reported to have. Getting drafted in the second round should be a dose of humility.

So, as much as fans wanted the Cavs to get someone who can make a difference for this year’s team in the draft, that likely wasn’t going to happen.

The way Cleveland is going to take the next step as an organization, moving into title contention is through trades and free agency, which will be difficult. We would bet Altman knows that.

And when we say “title contention”, it’s because we don’t want to hear the next step for the Cavs is to win a playoff series. When that’s your goal, that’s likely all you will achieve, something we think happened this past year.

It has been said (including us) that the Cavaliers need shooters, but really, they need some guys who can create their own shots. Right now, they have three of those players, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Caris LeVert. Everyone else needs to be set up.

They need shooters too, but with the offense currently used by Bickerstaff, the burden for creating offense falls pretty much on that trio.

We also believe the Cavs need more basketball players, and what we need by that is guys who can do a little bit of everything, not one dimensional guys.

When the free agent moratorium is set in motion on July 1st, the Cavaliers can start reshaping their roster for 2023-24. Then we will see if Altman was telling the truth about running back last year’s squad.

Cavs Need More Than Tinkering To Advance Next Year.

In watching the NBA playoffs, we continuously think about the Cavaliers’ first round defeat in five games at the hands of the New York Knicks. We think about it because the Eastern Conference’s 8th seed, the Miami Heat, advanced to the NBA Finals

We also think watching the Heat and this is a huge off-season for the Cavs’ organization, and the heat should be turned up on the seats of both Koby Altman and J.B. Bickerstaff.

In reading wrap ups about the series, it seems the scapegoats for fans and some media are Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen.

Mitchell takes blame because he is the star player, and when many national analysts look at a team’s failure, they perceive the problem as the best player simply didn’t play well enough.

Allen takes blame because Cleveland was hammered on the boards, and since he’s the center, it’s his fault. We aren’t saying he’s blameless, but part of the problem was the Cavs’ defensive philosophy. Allen was in help mode and was caught out of position.

Our feeling is the coaching staff did little to help either player. The Knicks were trapping Mitchell and Darius Garland to force them to give up the ball, but it seems the coaches never came up with a counter.

Why not move Mitchell off the ball and have him run off screens to get open and get the ball where he can just shoot it with a good look? As of Allen and Mobley, it doesn’t seem like the wine and gold run anything for either offensively. Therefore, teams don’t really need to guard them to take away anything.

As for Altman, he gets a lot of praise for getting Mitchell and drafting Mobley. While we can debate the price for the former, it doesn’t take a special basketball mind to go after a multiple time all-star player. It takes guts to give up what is needed, but it’s not like he found a diamond in the rough.

He did take a chance on Mobley in some regards, as we didn’t think he would have made an impact so quickly because of his slight build. But there is no questioning his talent.

NFL general managers make their reputation on finding gems in the later rounds of the draft, the 4th, 5th, and 6th rounds. To us, NBA GMs make their bones finding solid players to make up the bench.

Right now, we would say Altman has not done a good job in that regard, and let’s face it, he whiffed on the Isaac Okoro pick at #5, despite what the organization continues to tell you.

Of the 58 players in that draft who played in the NBA, Okoro ranks 51st in VORP (Value Over Replacement Player). Among the players the Cavaliers could have selected are Tyrese Haliburton, who made the all-star team this season, Onyeka Okongwu, who was selected with the very next pick (9.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG this year), and the player we wanted, Obi Toppin, a 6’9″ player who can play on the wing.

Because of injuries, Dylan Windler simply hasn’t contributed, and when he has played, he’s made just 32.2% of his threes, belying his reputation as a shooter.

And the bench just isn’t there. The front office has decided to sign veteran big men the last two years who simply can’t play anymore (Ed Davis and Robin Lopez). They’ve put an immense amount of trust in Dean Wade, who we feel would be at the bottom of most team’s rosters.

He signed Sam Merrill after the trading deadline, apparently to add shooting, but Merrill has been hanging around the NBA for three years and has played in 11 games since his rookie year.

Despite Altman’s comments about staying the course this off-season, if the Cavaliers want to contend for a spot in at least the Eastern Conference finals, they have to bolster the roster from spots #8 through #10, and get much better at small forward.

Doesn’t sound like tinkering, does it?

We Agree Cavs Need Shooting. They Need Taller Shooting Though

In examining where the Cleveland Cavaliers need to go this off-season, we have focused on the need for size. The Cavs are small in the backcourt and at small forward, and we believe they need to get bigger in order to grow as a team.

They also need shooting. Cleveland finished 12th in the NBA during the regular season in three point field goal percentage at 36.7%, but they were 24th in attempts from beyond the arc. Their top three long range shooters, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Caris LeVert took 53% of the team’s threes.

To be fair, Golden State’s top three-point makers, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole took 57% of the Warriors’ shots from beyond the arc, but Curry and Thompson both make over 40% of their threes.

If you look at the number of threes taken per game for Cleveland, Mitchell took 9.3 (probably too many), Garland 6.0, and LeVert 4.4. (Note: Kevin Love took 4.8/game). Cedi Osman is next at 4.1/game. Beyond that, you have Dean Wade, Ricky Rubio, and Isaac Okoro, and none of that trio attempted more than three per contest.

And only Okoro ranked in the top eight in minutes played for the season.

In looking at the NBA’s final four teams remaining and the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the best record in the league, only Miami’s top three long range shooters in attempts (Strus, Herro, and Vincent) took more than 50% of the Heat’s three pointers.

Here are the other teams mentioned–

Denver (Porter Jr., Murray, Caldwell-Pope) 47.1%
Boston (Tatum, Brown, White) 44.8%
Los Angeles (James, Brown Jr., Walker IV) 35.4%
Milwaukee (Holiday, Allen, Lopez) 34.5%

It doesn’t seem like taking a lot of threes leads to success. The top five in attempts per game were Golden State, Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Utah. Three playoff teams. However, the top five in percentage made (Philadelphia, Golden State, LA Clippers, Denver, and Brooklyn) all qualified for the post-season.

It’s too easy for opponents, especially when it comes to the playoffs to guard three-point shooters if you only have a few, particularly when one of those three are bringing the ball up the floor. It’s also tougher when two of your primary long distance shooters are smaller players.

Over the weekend, several players were mentioned as possibilities for the Cavs over the offseason. Players like Donte DiVincenzo (6’4″), Max Strus (6’5″), Jordan Clarkson (6’5″) and Seth Curry (6’2″) were discussed. Our problem with this group is it still makes the Cavaliers a very small team outside of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

We know it won’t be easy, but we believe if the Koby Altman and Mike Gansey are looking to upgrade the wing positions, it should be with someone in the 6’7″ or taller height wise.

Perhaps someone like Jerami Grant (6’8″) who the Cavs probably can’t afford after he averaged 20 points per game with Portland. But you might be able to get Jalen McDaniels (6’9″) who averaged 9.4 points splitting the year between Charlotte and Philadelphia. He shot just 33% from three this year, but shot 38% a year ago.

A dark horse would be Keita Bates-Diop (6’8″), who averaged a career high 9.7 points/game with San Antonio, shooting 39.4% from behind the arc.

Yes, the Cavs need shooting. Moreso, they need taller people who can shoot. It’s the proverbial killing two birds with one stone.

Clock Is Ticking Right Now For Altman

Sometimes when you set a goal, once you reached it you are satisfied, and the will to push further just isn’t there. That’s the way we feel about the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season.

After last season’s failure to advance in the “play in” tournament, the organization said they wanted to get to a best of seven series, which they did by finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference. And that’s why a lot of the message coming out of the team was that it was a successful season.

They attained their goal.

Of course, that’s what happens when you set too low of a standard. No, the Cavs weren’t going to win the NBA title this season, but the front office and coaching staff should set a standard of going as far as they can in a given year.

And if that was the goal, is that why Koby Altman and Mike Gansey did nothing at the deadline? After all, there was no one out there who would have put Cleveland in the NBA Finals.

We know what Altman said in his press conference after the wine and gold was eliminated by the Knicks in five games, no sweeping changes. Again, we hope this is just front office speak.

When Altman took a big swing and got Donovan Mitchell, the expectations for the Cavaliers changed. And they changed again when the team won 51 games and got home court advantage in the first round.

The front office didn’t adapt.

We have already addressed the lack of size on this basketball team. They are pretty much smaller at every position except for Evan Mobley at power forward and Jarrett Allen is pretty much a league average center.

The Cavs also need shooting, consistent shooting. When New York double teamed Mitchell and Darius Garland, beyond Caris LeVert, the Cavaliers had no one who could make the Knicks pay for the double team.

No matter how much the Cavs’ influencers tell you, opposing teams love when Isaac Okoro shoots three pointers. He is open for a reason. Mobley shot just 22% from distance this season, but perhaps more troubling was he shot just 36.2% from 10-16 feet.

If he became a decent three-point shooter, that would be great, but if you doubled the guards and they could get it to Mobley at the foul line and he could knock it down, that would be a great help as well.

Allen hits 51% from that distance, but rarely shoots from there.

LeVert is needed because beyond Mitchell and Garland, he is the only player on the team among the players getting big minutes who can create their own shot. That trio along with Ricky Rubio are the only players who were assisted on less than half of their made shots.

As a contrast, the Miami Heat, now in the conference finals have five such players.

If you are going to have Mitchell and Garland being your principal scorers, you have to build a team with shooters surrounding them. That opens up the floor come playoff team, when opponents start game-planning against you.

Mitchell has two more years on his current deal and then has a player option for 2025-26. That gives management two seasons to figure out a way to get this team deep into the playoffs, meaning getting to the Eastern Conference finals.

No more setting modest goals, they are on the clock right now.

So, running it back with the current group cannot be the plan, nor can the goal be to win a playoff series in 2023-24. They have to be in contending mode this summer.

Without a lot of assets, Altman and Gansey have to be creative in building a roster than can compete with the Milwaukees, Bostons, Philadelphias, and yes, New York and Miami.

That clock starts ticking the minute the NBA Finals end.