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.

Jarrett Allen? He’s Not The Problem With the Cavs

The postmortem on the Cleveland Cavaliers season and roster continues and one of the scapegoats seems to be Jarrett Allen. Yes, we know Allen wasn’t much of a factor in the last two losses to the Pacers. Frankly, no one was a factor in the blowout that was Game 4, and we agree he didn’t play well in the last contest.

However, he, along with Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus were the best players wearing wine and gold in the first three games of the series.

He had 12 points and 5 rebounds in the first game, 22 points and 12 boards in Game 2, and 19 points and 12 caroms in the Cavs’ only win of the series.

The criticism comes from those basketball “experts” who believe the only way you can win playing two big men is if one of them hoists a bunch of three pointers.

But Kenny Atkinson made it work in the regular season (yeah, we know) by using a lot of motion so the lane was clear for drives by the guards. That seemed to ebb as the season went on, and the Pacers took them out of that style completely with their constant ball pressure by their backcourt.

The real problem is that Koby Altman put together a roster with only two big men who can actually play and contribute. Allen was probably overexposed against the Pacers because their “five out” style takes Allen away from what he does best, being a rim protector.

And too often, Allen was tasked with guarding Tyrese Haliburton on the perimeter because of switching. He did not allow the Pacers’ star to drive, but did give up threes because, let’s face it, it’s a terrible match up for the 6’11” Allen.

But what was Atkinson to do?

He was pretty much using De’Andre Hunter as the back up 4/5, a spot that at 6’8″ he really isn’t big enough for. Dean Wade could’ve been an option, but offensively he seems afraid to shoot and when he does, it wasn’t going in. Besides, much like Hunter, Wade is really a small forward.

We had been saying all year the roster needed another 4/5 that could contribute and preferably get one who could shoot from outside. The Cavs had several chances to add a serviceable big man but used their open roster spots on Javonte Green and Chuma Okeke, both of whom are in the 6’5″ range.

Maybe Nae’Qwan Tomlin can become a contributor next season. He’s 6’10” and averaged 20.8 points and shot 34% from three in the G-League this past year.

Remember that comment about the lack of size on the roster. Because if you move Allen, you need to get another big in return. That’s not to say Allen is untouchable, anyone can be moved if it upgrades the roster. But as it currently stands, the Cavs have no depth up front.

So, while you criticize Allen for what he’s not, remember he’s a rim protector and a solid rebounder, things you need over the 82-game schedule. We like to look at what a player does well and try to enhance those things.

Jarrett Allen isn’t the Cavs’ biggest issue. Was he overexposed in the Pacers’ series? Perhaps. But isn’t the real problem that Atkinson had no alternative?

That’s something the front office needs to think about this summer as they put together the ’25-’26 edition of the Cavaliers.

Standing Pat Shouldn’t Be An Option For Cavs

Sometimes patience is needed and sometimes it is not.

Since the Cleveland Cavaliers were bounced out of the NBA playoffs, and earlier than they and many people expected to boot, there has been speculation about should they run it back with the so called “Core 4” or not.

After all, the wine and gold won 64 games this season, had three winning streaks of 12 or more games, and was the top seed in the Eastern Conference. We are a big believer in Charles Barkley’s line of “if it ain’t broke, don’t break it”, but we aren’t talking about a single season here.

Since president of basketball operations Koby Altman made the big swing for Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs have been knocked out of the playoffs the last three seasons in “Gentleman sweeps”, that is to say five games.

The first year they lost to the Knicks in round one, the last two seasons, in the conference semifinals.

When something happens once, you can write it off as a fluke, even twice, you can point to circumstances, but when it occurs three times, it is time to admit changes need to be made.

There are people who think when you say Altman has to make some moves, you are saying he should blow up the roster. That is absolutely not the case. Cleveland is still a relatively young team, in fact, maybe too young.

Mitchell will be 29 next season. Jarrett Allen will be 28. Darius Garland will be 26 by the end of next season, and Evan Mobley will be 24. At the end of this season, no one who was getting significant minutes for Kenny Atkinson was 30 years old.

These Cavs are a very good regular season team, especially in the early part of the year. But second halves of the season and the playoffs usually come with more physical play, and that seems to bother the team.

One move we would make is to get a veteran, yes, someone over 30, and can still play meaningful minutes for next season. We think it would be good to have a player who has seen it all in the NBA on the court when things start to go wrong. For example, the Pacers have Pascal Siakam, who is 31.

And in basketball, it’s not always about talent and putting the five most talented players on the floor. It’s about the fit. They have to be able to play off of and enhance their teammates’ games.

So, when we say Altman should move away from a particular player, it doesn’t mean we think said player is devoid of talent. What we are saying is the fit just isn’t working with that guy.

We see the analytics community will come up with efficiency ratings, etc. for a group of players and deem them to be successful, and maybe they are, but perhaps switching out one of those guys makes them even better.

We get the familiarity factor. This group has been together basically for three seasons and most definitely the longer you play together the more you know about each other.

But the things that have plagued the Cavs in the post-season, outside of the injuries, aren’t currently on the roster. Toughness, mentally and physically, has to come from more players, and of course, there is the height that is desperately needed.

Altman and his staff need to make some changes. With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it won’t be easy, but change is needed. Hopefully, it’s an interesting summer for the Cavaliers.

For Cavs, It Turns Out Size Does Matter

Believe us, we would have loved to be wrong about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Even in the midst of the 15-game winning streak to open the year, we said the streak was nice, but the real tale for the Cavs was going to be told in the playoffs. We knew they were a playoff team coming into the year, it was always about how far they could advance in the playoffs.

Of all the reasons we thought the wine and gold would lose in the playoffs, we never thought the shooting would fail this team. Yes, they aren’t big enough, and their toughness, both physical and mental, can be called into question.

But we never thought the shooting would be an issue. This was a team that shot 49% from the floor, 38% from three, and 77.6% from the line. In the five-game series loss to Indiana, they shot 42.6% from the floor and 29.4% from three.

Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 36.8% from long distance in the regular season and knocked down 42.1% in the series. Andrew Nembhard made 29% during the 82-game schedule and suddenly became Larry Bird in the playoffs, making 11 of 22 threes.

Before this season ending series, we felt the Pacers would offer a challenge due to their length and athleticism. Cleveland’s pair of 6’2″/6’3″ guards had a difficult time getting the team into the offense against the Pacers’ trio of 6’5″ defenders. There were so many possessions where the Cavs got the ball over the timeline with 17 or 18 seconds left on the shot clock.

And Indiana stayed with the Cleveland players on the perimeter which caused the offense to morph into a lot of isolation ball, mostly Donovan Mitchell attacking the basket. And if they had possessions where they could move the ball, it seemed they overpassed.

They passed up good shots trying to get layups and dunks and Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam were there waiting.

Now, the focus shifts to Koby Altman. Altman has swung a big trade after losing in the play in tournament and fired a coach after losing in the conference semis a year ago. Perhaps it is time to look at the makeup of the roster, which continues to show there isn’t enough size.

We’ve talked about the backcourt, but beyond Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, there isn’t enough height on the team in a sport where absolutely size matters. Kenny Atkinson determined the Cavs’ back up big, Tristan Thompson, couldn’t play in the series unless it was garbage time.

Bringing in De’Andre Hunter helped, but there are still too many 6’5″ or 6’6″ players on the roster. And given opportunities after the trade deadline, Altman filled the open roster spots with 6’4″ Javonte Green and 6’6″ Chuma Okeke.

We like Jaylon Tyson a lot, he has versatility the Cavs need, but Cleveland passed on DaRon Holmes, 6’10” from Dayton and 6’11” Kyle Filipowski from Duke, who were rated around the same place as Tyson.

Perhaps Nae’Quan Tomlin and Luke Travers can move into the rotation in training camp, both players would add some size.

As for toughness, the Cavaliers have been dominated in all three series they were eliminated in over the last three seasons. They didn’t put up much of a fight in any of those losses.

That has to change.

It was a stunning defeat especially after a 64-win regular season, and we agree with Atkinson that the pain of defeat is a great motivating factor. We also agree when he said the season wasn’t a success because the Cavs didn’t make progress in terms of advancing.

It’s going to be a long summer for both the front office and the players. Let’s hope both are ready to work hard before training camp starts.

#1 Seed Clinched. Cavs Now Need To Get Some Rest

It’s all over in the Eastern Conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the best record in the conference and home court advantage in any series in the East with their win over the Bulls Tuesday night.

So now it is sit back and wait for the weird “Play In” Tournament to be over to see who the wine and gold take on in the first round. Right now, the contenders are the Magic, Hawks, Bulls, and Heat.

The best record out of that group is Orlando’s 39-40 mark, but we know the Magic gave Cleveland a tough series last season, and they lost Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner for significant time during the regular season, so they are better than their record.

The other three teams are currently at least five games below the .500 mark, although everyone is familiar with how the Heat play when it comes playoff time.

The Cavs have three games remaining, two with Indiana, who sit in the #4 spot in the East, and are a possible second round match up and one more with the Knicks, who will probably be the #3 seed. The first two games are vs. Indiana and New York on back-to-back nights on the road, so we would bet many of the starters will either not suit up or will play very reduced minutes.

We know Jarrett Allen wants to play in all 82 games, so he will make an appearance in both road contests, but at least on Thursday, we would guess Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and possible Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter will sit that one out.

NOTE: Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Max Strus have been ruled out for tonight’s game.

So be ready to see lots of Craig Porter, Jaylon Tyson, Luke Travers, Chuma Okeke, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, and Emoni Bates over the next three games.

We are sure Bates is already dreaming of how many shots he can put up before the end of the season.

The players who carried the load to a 63-16 record deserve to rest up for the playoffs and stay healthy. And by the way, we aren’t greatly concerned about Mitchell’s sprained ankle. If need be, he could have two weeks off before the first playoff game for the Cavs.

Basketball players play basketball. And if they are on the court, there are chances for injury. And shouldn’t the Cavs be able to beat a first-round opponent without Mitchell if they had to?

Remember, the Cavaliers lost a second round series to Boston a year ago, and the Celtics didn’t have Kristaps Porzingis?

We are sure that Mitchell is fine and will probably be on the court in one of the last three games. And even if he isn’t he should be 100% when the playoffs begin.

So, the rest of the week should be about resting some key players and having everyone healthy heading into Easter weekend and the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, because of the tournament, the coaching and scouting staff cannot do a full deep dive, but we sure reports are being put together on all possible opponents.

It was a great regular season for sure, but these next two months will decide whether or not this season is a success or if some difficult decisions need to be made.

Despite Recent Struggles, Cavs Are Sitting Just Fine

If you listen to the national media, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a nice story. They’ve had a great regular season, but many don’t think they can compete with the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Frankly, a lot of this conversation has come because the Cavs are just 6-5 in their last 11 contests, and their opponents have only been held under 110 points three times in those games.

After their 16-game winning streak ended just prior to a west coast trip, Kenny Atkinson said he would be trying some different combinations, mainly because they had a 7.5 game bulge over Boston in the East entering the trip.

We can’t find any flaw in that logic.

Watching the halftime show Wednesday on ESPN (yes, we know, that’s our fault), a casual fan would have thought the wine and gold were trying to get into the Play in Tournament, not have the second-best record in the NBA.

We are not saying the Cavs are a shoo-in to get to the conference finals, but they have been one of the best teams in the league since day one. We write that knowing what we have said all along, this season for Cleveland will be determined by how far they advance in the playoffs, and we also think the front office believes they can win the title.

There have always been strange trades in the NBA, and we like to talk about the comment Gregg Popovich had when the Lakers obtained Pau Gasol from Memphis. Popovich made a statement to the effect that it must be nice to give up nothing and get Gasol.

We might be saying the same thing about De’Andre Hunter at some point, because he seems to be the perfect piece for the Cavaliers.

In just under 25 minutes a game since his arrival, Hunter is scoring 14 points and grabbing 4 boards while shooting 43.7% from three. Most importantly, he gives Atkinson some length on the wing.

We would not be surprised if the Cleveland-Boston match up occurs with a trip to The Finals at stake, we see a lot of this combination on the floor: Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, Hunter, Dean Wade, and either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley. That group has the length to give the Celtics some competition.

Still, the Cleveland player to watch most remains Darius Garland. The sixth-year guard is having perhaps the best shooting year of his career, making a career-high 47% from the floor, and his second-best year from three at 40.2%.

In his two playoff seasons, his shooting dropped 2% in both seasons. And he had turnover issues.

Let’s face it, in every playoff series, opponents hunt the weakest defensive player on the floor, and for the Cavs, most often it is Garland. He has to be at least decent on that end of the floor when the post-season starts.

We expect Atkinson to lean into what has been the Cavs’ advantage all year. They have depth, and we think the coach will play 10 until a player shows he’s not deserving of the time.

They will move the basketball, and when you do that, it makes it difficult to trap players in order to get the ball out of their hands. In essence, they will play their brand of the game and make the other team stop it.

The difference is we think Atkinson does a good job of adjusting and doing something else to counter the defense.

The playoffs start in about two weeks. We think part of the Cavs’ “struggles” have been because they are anticipating the post-season tournament.

Thinking Like A Coach Or GM

At times we are asked why we think Cleveland area teams should look to add to the roster. It has come up recently because we have written several pieces about how the Guardians should sign a veteran starting pitcher because there are several available on one-year deals.

We would also like the Cavaliers to add another big man, either on the buyout market or from the G-League.

First of all, and this probably comes from our coaching days, we have been trained to look for what needs improvement on a given team. We think there isn’t a team out there that doesn’t have either a weakness or could use a slight improvement to its roster.

Sometimes, it would be a subtle move, such as could you find a better “last man” on the roster. That seems silly to some, but it is how coaches and general managers need to think.

Fans look at players and teams and think if everything goes right, the team they follow will be very good. For example, there are people (influencers, since they were kind of in the spotlight this week) who believe Kyle Manzardo, Juan Brito will become all-stars, and Bo Naylor will return to his 2023 form and the Guardians will repeat as Central Division champions.

Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff are probably hoping that is indeed the case, but they also should be coming up with a contingency plan in case everything goes in the other direction. We believe they are concerned, but perhaps their hands are tied from making such a move.

There is an old adage in baseball that at the end of the year, a players’ numbers will be close to what the back of their baseball card says. But when a player only has one or two lines on that card, it is tough to judge him or her.

Not having a track record is likely the thing that worries an executive more than anything else.

We discussed the starting rotation for Cleveland the other day and really, there is only one hurler, Tanner Bibee, with any kind of record of success as a starter, and he only has two years in the big leagues. Every other candidate for the rotation should be viewed as huge question marks.

And, by the way, we are fans, just like you, and we want all of those pitchers to do well. But we haven’t seen any evidence that calms our fears.

As for the Cavs, on Friday night, we saw Jarrett Allen leave the game with a hand injury. Hopefully, all is good, and Allen plays tonight, but what if this happened near the end of the regular season or the playoffs?

If Allen were to miss a significant amount of time in the post-season, the Cavs probably are in trouble, but if it would be a game or two, you can’t just have Tristan Thompson as the only alternative. That’s why we (and the Cavs’ brass) would be looking for another big man.

They don’t need a starter, just someone who could provide five to ten minutes in an emergency situation.

The coaches and executives need to plan for any problems that should arise, and that’s how they are trained to think. It’s also why they have a lot of stress in their jobs and feel more relieved than happy when things go well.

Yes, Cavs Have Chemistry. They Also Have a Unique Opportunity.

There is no question the Cleveland Cavaliers have tremendous chemistry. They seem to share the ball, enjoy playing with each other and the results have shown this. They are sitting at 40-9, the best record in the NBA.

Their best player, Donovan Mitchell has accepted playing less minutes and taking less shots in order to get more people involved, allowing more players to play significant minutes.

This has allowed the wine and gold to survive when players have missed time due to injuries. Isaac Okoro has played just 28 games, Dean Wade has missed 14, Caris LeVert 13. Yet the Cavs continue to roll losing three in a row just once this season.

They are 24-3 at home, 16-6 on the road. They are 26-6 against the Eastern Conference, 14-3 vs. the West. There are probably three or four teams that can win an NBA title this season, and Cleveland is one of them.

One of the things we have praised team president Koby Altman for is he has brought in all these players, and they all have good character. There isn’t a knucklehead or a diva on the roster. And in today’s NBA, that is truly remarkable.

We have heard many pundits say because of the success Cleveland has had this season; Altman should stand pat at this week’s trading deadline. And there is certainly some merit to that. Don’t make a move just to make a move.

On the other hand, because character has mattered so much to the organization, shouldn’t we trust the front office to avoid bringing in someone who will upset the chemistry?

Look, the Cavaliers are having a tremendous season. No one, not even the most ardent supporter of the wine and gold would have imagined the team being 40-9 at this point of the season.

And you don’t know if the Cavs will ever be in this situation again. They could run it back next year with the same group and not have this kind of record. That’s the reality of sports.

We don’t believe the Cavaliers will make a huge splash at the deadline, and they may even wait for the buyout market or perhaps scour the G-League for what they need, but they should be pursuing another big man. And we aren’t talking about a stretch four either.

We mean a legitimate post presence. Tristan Thompson has been a great teammate, but if either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley have to miss any time during the rest of this season, Kenny Atkinson is going to have a problem.

The issue is Thompson’s offensive game which is severely limited. He cannot do the things within the offense that Allen and Mobley can do. The Cavs need someone who has to be guarded by the opponents.

We’ve felt Cleveland needed more size on the wing as well, and they probably still do for the playoffs, but getting a playable big man should now be the higher need.

And if a trade is out there, surely the Cavs have depth. As we said, they’ve kind of played without Okoro this year, and perhaps Jaylon Tyson could take his minutes in a pinch. A season like this may not come around again.