Folks Don’t Want To Trade Jarrett Allen Now

Ever since the Cavs drafted Evan Mobley, there have been a segment of fans, usually younger ones, who wanted to trade Jarrett Allen. The logic being you can’t have two big men that cannot shoot from outside.

Part of this is the league has gone three point happy, among fans and players alike. We watch the end of many NBA games and are convinced players can’t help themselves. They’ve been playing the same style for so many years now, it has become a reflex action to hoist a three, even if there team is ahead by say six with under two minutes to play.

The smart play would be to take a little time off the clock and get a shot with a better than 50/50 chance of going in.

Anyway, back to the Cavs and Allen. So, the hope was Mobley could develop a reliable three point shot and that would solve the problem. But after two years of being in the 37% range (the first year with limited attempts, last season he averaged taking three per game), the reigning Defensive Player of the Year has dropped to 30%.

We always figured having the two bigs could work. You can stagger their minutes, and you can also space them better. Run sets with Mobley at the high post and Allen on the opposite low post. With the three-point shooters the Cavs have we don’t think doubling the post would be a problem, nor do many teams do that anymore anyway.

Allen has had a career renaissance over the last couple of months and has been even better since the trade for James Harden at the deadline.

Since February 1st, Allen has played in 14 games (he just missed 10 in a row with tendonitis in the knee) and have averaging 20.8 points per game on 66% shooting and has grabbed over 10 rebounds per contest.

And since we have talked about the lack of size on the roster, when Allen is out of the lineup it forces more minutes for Thomas Bryant and Dean Wade has to play minutes at power forward, thus Kenny Atkinson loses his biggest wing defender.

With Harden on the roster, there has been a resurgence for both starting big men, mainly because Harden is such a tremendous passer, particularly in the pick-and-roll game, he gets Allen and Mobley the ball going downhill most of the time.

As for those fans who didn’t think it would work, we believe they only look at the offensive side of the floor. We have seen that in discussions about Darius Garland. Many fans want to look at his gaudy offensive numbers, while ignoring that he is a liability defensively.

(And yes, we know Harden isn’t a lockdown defender either, but he’s also 6’5″ and can hold his own if being posted up)

With both bigs on the floor, it allows Allen to be the rim protector and Mobley to play more on the perimeter and the Cavs will need that in the playoffs, especially if the play a team with size on the wings.

There is room for teams to play differently and still win. The defending champs, Oklahoma City, play a different style than does Boston, and the Knicks and Pistons play a very physical style of basketball. It doesn’t have to be the free-flowing shooting threes game.

For example, since Harden came aboard, Cleveland has played at a much slower pace. And if they are advancing through the playoffs, no one is going to care.

A Frustrating Time For NBA Teams. Cavs Are No Exception

What is frustrating about the Cleveland Cavaliers these days is as one NBA play-by-play man would say, they seem to be “playing with their food”.

Like the other night in Chicago, when Kenny Atkinson’s squad were leading by 29 points in the third quarter and the Bulls trimmed that advantage all the way to one before the Cavs won. In a postgame interview, James Harden, who led Cleveland with 36 points, wasn’t really happy that his team went away from the basketball that got them the big lead.

On the other hand, look at the record over the last ten games for the rest of what would be the top four seeds in the East:

Detroit 6-4
Boston 7-3
New York 7-3
Cleveland 6-4

It’s a malaise that sinks in at this point of the year. The finish line is in plain sight and teams without a doubt do seem to lose focus knowing that the games which really count are about three weeks away.

However, that doesn’t make it less frustrating to watch.

When Koby Altman made the moves at the trade deadline, particularly the big swing for Harden, it was done with a lot of anticipation of getting beyond the conference semifinals and getting the opportunity to play for a spot in the NBA Finals.

Frankly, we can see the Cavaliers getting to the Finals, and we can also see them getting bounced in the first round. Right now, they are that kind of team.

To be fair, Cleveland can’t seem to get their best players on the floor for any long stretch of games. Currently, Jarrett Allen is out with knee tendonitis, and regular readers know how we complain about the lack of big men on the Cavs’ roster. With Allen out, that shows up on a night basis, the lack of size up front.

Since Harden arrived in town, Sam Merrill, Allen, Evan Mobley, Jaylon Tyson, Dean Wade, and even Donovan Mitchell have missed games. Max Strus just played in his first game last Sunday.

It’s tough to develop continuity with players constantly shuffling in and out of the lineup. Meaning consistent play also suffers.

On the other hand, the old saying is that defense should show up every night, and in the last five games, the Cavs have allowed 128 points to Orlando, a possible first round matchup, and 130 to Dallas, a tanking team, and one the wine and gold obliterated two nights prior.

Frustration.

We seem to see Atkinson using a lot of groups including four guards, playing Harden, Mitchell, Keon Ellis, and either Merrill or Dennis Schroder together. Hopefully that’s an experiment because playing against a team with several 6’6″/6’7″ players will be a problem.

And this is where we advocate for Jaylon Tyson (again). Tyson should be the starter at the #3 because he brings a toughness to the starting unit and he is an offensive threat. If you ranked the Cleveland players, we believe he’s their 5th best player behind Mitchell, Harden, Mobley, and Allen.

For a team that has been accused of being soft at times, having Tyson out there to start a game puts some grit out there immediately. Then you can bring Schroder and Ellis off the bench to put even more irritants on the court.

A big week is coming up. Three games at home against playoff teams in Orlando and Miami. One solid week of games would help alleviate the frustration.

Not Every Cavs’ Loss Means They Aren’t A Good Team

We are getting to the point in the season where every loss for the Cleveland Cavaliers is viewed as a referendum on Kenny Atkinson’s squad. So, we expected to hear criticism after Sunday’s 109-98 loss to Boston at Rocket Arena.

The Cavs were pretty healthy, missing only starting center Jarrett Allen, and yes, we know Boston is ahead of Cleveland in the standings, currently the #2 seed in the East, and the wine and gold is now four games behind the Celtics, meaning it will be tough to pass them.

They do remain just a half game behind the #3 seed New York Knicks.

We hate to fall on the “it’s a make or miss league” argument, but the Cavaliers shot 40.7% from the field and just 29% from long distance, compared to Boston’s 39.5% accuracy from three. But we would say it is doubtful the Cavs will shoot that poorly the next time the two teams meet.

Some folks jumped on Atkinson’s comments after the game that the Celtics are a bad matchup for his team. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t think the Cavs can beat Bostom in a seven-game series, it simply means he and his staff will have to play a different way than they are accustomed in order to win.

Remember, in the regular season, teams do what they do best. Because they are playing another team in a day or two, you do your best to take away a strength or take advantage of a weakness, but it’s not something that’s practiced. When they meet in a playoff series, there is more of an emphasis on taking away what the opponent tries to do.

However, one thing that concerns us about a Cleveland/Boston matchup is the size of the Celts’ two best players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The former is 6’7″ and the latter is 6’8″, and the wine and gold don’t have a lot of wing defenders with size.

This is nothing new, we have brought this up many times.

Keon Ellis is a good defensive player. He’s also 6’4″. We watched Brown, guarded by Ellis, get to the elbow repeatedly in the third quarter and make 15-to-18-foot jump shots over Ellis, because he has a three inch height advantage.

In the playoffs, Atkinson can put Dean Wade, a 6’9″ wing defender on Brown, but does that force Evan Mobley on Tatum? We have no doubt Mobley, last year’s Defensive Player of the Year, can handle Tatum, but that matchup takes Mobley away from the rim. Note: He blocked three shots on Sunday.

That’s the challenge for Atkinson and his coaches.

Maybe the alternative is to use Jaylon Tyson (6’6″) on Brown and put Wade on Tatum come playoff time, which would mean Ellis guards Derrick White, which might be a better matchup.

The Cavs got very little from players who have done well since the All-Star break. Sam Merrill was 1 of 7 from three and had five points. Ellis took just one shot. Dennis Schroder made just one of his four shots and scored just two points and had two assists.

Meanwhile, Boston’s role players had big games. Payton Pritchard had 18 points, Sam Hauser made five threes, Baylor Scheierman had 16 points and made 4 of 6 threes. They won despite White making only 2 of 9 from the floor, although he did have seven boards and five assists.

We will remind you what we said before this season starts and we still stand beside the comment–the only thing that matters to the Cavs is what happens in the playoffs. The big evaluation on this group will come after the post-season.

Cavs Loss To OKC Wasn’t A Big Deal Here.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost Sunday to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and as people do in northeast Ohio, there was some freaking out.

We know the Thunder were missing two starters in MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams and two key reserves in Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell, so that played into the narrative from some that the Cavs failed a big test.

We said after the game we weren’t concerned about the loss on the road, the third game in four nights, but rather the bigger tests for Kenny Atkinson’s group would be Tuesday’s game against the Knicks would be more important as would the upcoming contest against the Pistons and the Celtics.

One reason is the way of the NBA. In the regular season, teams do what they do best and sometimes it doesn’t match up well with the opponent. The Thunder play very physically and in our opinion have adopted the style of the Pat Riley Knicks from the 90’s and the Warriors of the previous decade. That is, foul pretty much on every possession and figure the referees aren’t going to call them all.

Watch Lu Dort and Caruso defensively if you don’t believe us.

So, on Sunday, the Cavs didn’t adjust to this physicality until about the last three minutes of the first quarter and after that, played pretty well.

In a playoff situation, teams decide to react to what the opponent does well. Remember, last year the Thunder had to win two game sevens, one against Denver and the other in The Finals against Indiana, who lost their best player during the second quarter of the deciding game.

The point is the Cavs see the teams in the Western Conference so infrequently, it is hard to get a gauge on how they would handle being in a best-of-seven series. Against the East, these teams meet three or four times per season and play in the playoffs much more frequently, so you can see what those teams want to do on a more regular basis.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Cavaliers without some injury issues.

Now James Harden suffered a non-displaced fracture in his thumb, and it likely to miss some time, possibly a couple of weeks, meaning he will not be in there when Cleveland plays Detroit and Boston.

Harden has shown remarkable durability in his career so who knows how much time he will really miss.

And Atkinson did say Max Strus is getting closer to returning which will throw another player into the rotation, and another 6’5″ player at that. Now, the coach has these players in that height range: Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, Harden, Keon Ellis, and Strus.

With Strus missing the first 60 games or so, it’s tough to imagine he will be a significant factor in the post-season.

What may happen is the Cavs will use different rotations depending on the opponent, meaning players will get differing amounts of playing time on a per game basis.

That means plenty of questions about why a certain player didn’t get minutes on a certain night.

Atkinson is starting Dean Wade at small forward. It worked very well against the Knicks, but it didn’t work against the Thunder. So, he might play 25 minutes one night and five the next.

After this tough stretch, the schedule eases up quite a bit for the rest of the season, which likely will mean some games off for Donovan Mitchell, and perhaps some others. And remember, the Cavaliers are already pretty deep.

Again, how the Cavaliers do against the Pistons and Celtics are far more important than what happened last Sunday. No one wants to lose, but Cleveland wasn’t going to end the year on a 35 game winning streak.

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.

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?

Skeptical On Cavs’ Deal, Unless There’s Another Move Coming

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a deal Saturday night, sending De’Andre Hunter, who was acquired last season at the deadline to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal. The Cavs received Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder in the trade.

One first thought is that this move has to be followed up by yet another transaction prior to Thursday’s deadline because otherwise it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

As we have been saying for at least three seasons, the Cavaliers need to get bigger, and this trade does the opposite. Hunter was the one wing Cleveland had that had some size at 6’7″, and the two players who come back to the wine and gold are 6’4″ (Ellis) and 6’1″ (Schroder).

If there is another move coming, then this deal may make some sense, but as it stands right now, it looks like this was a move to reduce the luxury tax bill the Cavs have to pay.

We aren’t capologists, but the reports are this trims Cleveland’s bill by $40 million, but we also don’t think Dan Gilbert worries about that if the team is a title contender.

Hunter was a disappointment this season, without a doubt. His scoring was about the same as it was after coming over from Atlanta last season, but his shooting dropped from 48.5% to 42.3% overall and from 42.6% to 30.8% from three-point range.

We believe part of this is because Kenny Atkinson was using him more than anyone would like at the “4”, when it is pretty clear to us he’s a “3”. Hunter was one of the Cavs’ bigger wings, so if either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley were out, he was the logical player to shift to the power forward spot.

But that’s because of the team’s chronic lack of size up front.

Ellis was the darling of this trade deadline, but frankly we don’t see it. He can shoot, a 41.6% career mark from three and he is a solid defender, but he profiles as another bench piece, and really at his size, he plays the same spot as Jaylon Tyson, the Cavs’ breakout player in 2025-26, and their first round pick last season.

It seems now like the Cavaliers have a logjam at guard when Darius Garland comes back. Along with the starting backcourt of Garland and Donovan Mitchell, Atkinson have to find time for Schroder and Craig Porter Jr. None of those players are bigger than 6’3″.

At the small forward spot, you have Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, Ellis, and when he is ready to play again, Max Strus. Tyson is the biggest at 6’6″.

Dean Wade is 6’9″, but more of a perimeter defender, and at this point of his career, so is pleasant surprise Nae’Qwan Tomlin at 6’8″.

That’s a lot of small lineups, which might work in the regular season, but in the playoffs, more often than not, teams need length.

It has been reported that if the Cavs can move Ball and perhaps Thomas Bryant by the trade deadline on Thursday, they would be out of the second apron and have more flexibility in making trades. If this deal is the prelude to that, and perhaps taking a bigger swing at some size, then perhaps it will make sense to us then.

But on its own merit, we don’t like this move. Size matters in basketball. And the Cavaliers seems to keep getting smaller.

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?

A Year Makes A Huge Difference For Cavs

It is amazing what a difference a year makes for the Cleveland Cavaliers. A year ago at the halfway mark of the season, the wine and gold were sitting at 36-6 and visions of a playoff run into the NBA Finals dancing in their heads.

Today, they are sitting at 23-19 and if the season ended today, they would be in the Play In Tournament. At the beginning of the year, we said it was pretty much a certainty that the Cavs would end up in the playoffs. We still would be shocked if they didn’t make it, but it is no longer the certainty it was.

Yes, injuries are a factor. But Kenny Atkinson’s squad was healthy on Monday night against Utah, and they Cavs laid a gigantic egg at home, losing to the 14-25 Jazz by 11 points, falling behind 23-4 in the first quarter.

There clearly is something missing.

The obvious problem is the defense. Last year, Cleveland ranked 8th in the NBA in defensive rating and this year they have dropped to 14th. Since they held Golden State to 99 points in a loss on December 6th, they have allowed more than 120 points eight times in the last 17 contests.

And in three of those other games, they’ve given up 119, 118, and 117.

In their most impressive win in that span, a victory over San Antonio on the road, they allowed the Spurs just 101 points. Let’s just say it’s a lot easier to win when you don’t need to put up 125 points to do it.

And last night, another impressive win, and again, they held the Sixers to 107.

They have forgotten to defend the three-point shot. Last season, they ranked 13th, allowing opponents to hit 35.9% of the long-range shot. Currently, they rank last, giving them up at a 38.6% rate.

Overall, they aren’t too bad, ranking 13th in defensive field goal percentage as a whole, but even that is a drop from last year’s #3 ranking. Isaac Okoro doesn’t make that much of a difference, folks.

Speaking of Okoro, the player he was dealt for, Lonzo Ball, seems to be out of Atkinson’s rotation. We liked the deal at the time because he added size and playmaking to the backcourt, but his shooting has fallen off a cliff.

He was a career 40% shooter overall and 36% from three, but with the Cavs is making just 31.2% from the floor and an abysmal 27.6% from beyond the arc.

And reports are that last year’s addition at the trade deadline, De’Andre Hunter, wants out. Hunter is still solid in the midrange and also provides the only real size Cleveland has on the wings, so hopefully that situation can be worked out.

However, a career 36.6% shooter from three, and last season, hit 42.6% for the Cavs, Hunter can’t find his long-range stroke, hitting just 31% this season.

And as a second apron team, team president Koby Altman’s options are limited. He will have to be very creative to make a significant move.

We will say it again; this team needs to add size. Long athletic teams give the Cavs trouble.

What Altman needs to do is add size, but if he works a trade involving Hunter, he is trading his tallest wing. So, that doesn’t do anything.

Sure, the Cavs could put it together and reel off six or seven wins in a row. But more and more it feels like this team is broken and the title window which appeared to be wide open last season, is only open very slightly.

Cavs Need To Start Playing Better…Now!

One can make a very good argument that the Cleveland Cavaliers are the most disappointing team in the NBA this season. As the season is closing in on the halfway point, Kenny Atkinson’s squad is around .500 at 22-18, currently the #6 seed in the East, but just a game and a half out of the 4th spot.

While no one was expecting the type of season the wine and gold had last year, starting off the campaign with 15 straight wins, and finishing at 64-18, we don’t think many had them being around the breakeven mark at this point in the year.

Yes, injuries have been a factor. Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs in games played with 35, so every other player on the team has missed at least five contests. And it is difficult for a team to find a rhythm when there are different players on the court every night.

Still, in watching the 2025-26 Cavaliers, it is clear something is off. Can it turn around before the playoffs start? Of course, but again, the second half of the schedule is on the horizon.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the other day that Atkinson sees a lack of intensity with his team. Against Minnesota on Thursday, he started Craig Porter Jr., a player who plays hard on a nightly basis, to have some intensity.

Minnesota took a 17-5 lead in the first quarter, and while Cleveland recovered and led at the half, they were obliterated in the third quarter.

Team president Koby Altman put together a roster of players with high character, stuck with them through three straight playoff disappointments, but no they don’t seem to be playing with intensity?

We aren’t putting the blame on all of them. Mitchell plays tough, second year player Jaylon Tyson plays hard, and we mentioned Porter does as well. Nae’Qwan Tomlin plays with his hair on fire. But the body language on most of the roster seems off.

And part of being playing with intensity is having a good basketball IQ, and recently we question the shot selection by the team. If the last two losses, to Detroit and Minnesota, late in the game, the Cavs took questionable three-point shots with the game in the balance.

Against Detroit, Lonzo Ball, shooting 26% from three was faced with a wide open 3 with the Cavs trying to comeback in the 4th quarter. He even hesitated before shooting. He knew it wasn’t a good shot. He took it anyway. He missed.

In the Minnesota game, with Cleveland down six with :35 seconds remaining, Evan Mobley got the ball beyond the arc. The big man has improved his three-point shooting, but he’s still at 34%. We are sure that’s not what the coach wanted at that juncture.

Anyway, Mobley shot and missed, and the Cavs couldn’t recover.

Yes, yes, we know, people will say they like the confidence there, but that’s where having a good hoops IQ comes into play. Mobley has to know either take the ball to the rim or find a better shooter.

And that’s part of intensity. Knowing when the team needs a basket or a stop to slow the opponent’s momentum.

The bigger problem is, because of the salary cap situation, there isn’t much Altman can do about it. The Cavs have hamstrung themselves, so either the players come together and play with more mental toughness and intensity, or it will be another disappointing post-season for the so-called “Core 4”.