Agbaji Should Help Right Away

NBA Draft night was uneventful if you were looking for blockbuster trades, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did alright for themselves.

We have said since the results of the lottery were known that it should be difficult for the Cavs to draft a project. We understand that’s what the draft has become, trying to project what a college player, usually 19 or 20 years old, will become.

Koby Altman and GM Mike Gansey should have been looking differently. After being in the top four in the Eastern Conference standings as late as the All Star break, the wine and gold (we guess we should say, new gold) need to finish in the top six in the East next year. That’s the next step for the franchise.

To that end, they needed to add either a veteran by dealing the pick, or take someone who is ready to step in and contribute immediately.

On a good team, which the Cavaliers are now, it is difficult for a guy picked in the middle of the first round to get minutes. Usually, it’s because they don’t know how to defend at the NBA level.

Cleveland took a four year college player in Ochai Agbaji from Kansas, voted the Most Outstanding Player at this past year’s Final Four. Agbaji is 6’6″, 215 pounds and has improved his shooting, particularly from three point range, every year.

And he has been a good defender at the college level as well, and can switch on the perimeter (which we think is a blight on the game, actually), the way most NBA teams do it.

He may not have a high ceiling, but he has a low floor, and at pick #14, that’s not a bad thing. Adbaji is probably a better player right now than many of the players picked ahead of him. Three years from now, that might be a different story.

But again, the Cavs aren’t in the business of long-term development anymore. And it’s not like they have a bunch of grizzled veterans. They were the 8th youngest team in the league last season, and that’s with Kevin Love, Ed Davis, and Rajon Rondo.

The age of their core players, Darius Garland (turns 23 in January), Evan Mobley (21 last week), and Jarrett Allen (24 in April), would put them in the top three in terms of youth.

Let’s not forget that Agbaji also fills a position of need. The Cavs aren’t exactly teeming with 6’5″ or 6’6″ players who can shoot the ball. The rookie should get plenty of opportunities to contribute.

The free agency period is coming up and the trades will probably start throughout the NBA after the calendar turns to July.

Hopefully, Altman and Gansey aren’t standing pat. We believe the wine and gold need another veteran wing and another veteran big man as well as a point guard, unless they have decided Collin Sexton fits as both a #1 or a #2.

And they still need shooting.

They did a good job in the draft though, getting someone who can help right away. This is a key year for the franchise. They can’t settle for another play in game season.

Next Season For Cavs Starts Next Week

Tonight is game six of the NBA Finals, and the season could reach its conclusion if Golden State takes the game, wrapping up the franchise’s fourth title since 2015.

However, most teams are looking forward to next season, and that kind of kicks off a week from today with the NBA Draft. For those hoping to be playing in the Finals, this is their first chance to start to improve their roster.

Since the Cavaliers did not make the playoffs this past season, making it only to the “play in” tournament, obviously they are a team that needs to get better so they can finish in the top six of the Eastern Conference standings in 2022-23.

Much of that improvement will come from experience. Remember, the wine and gold’s three best players are very young. All Stars Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen will be 22 and 24 respectively when next season begins.

And rookie of the year runner up (he was snubbed for the honor) Evan Mobley, will be 21. This trio will get better from experience if they put the time in on the practice floor.

That will make the team better.

And remember, if the Cavs can come to a contract extension with Collin Sexton this summer, he played just 11 games due to a knee injury and having him on the court will also improve the squad.

Conversely, how will Kevin Love play next season, a year in which he starts as a 34-year-old. His minutes were down to 22.5 per game, the lowest number of his career, as he embraced the bench role for J.B. Bickerstaff.

Love nailed 39.2% of his three-point attempts last season, his highest percentage 2017-18, the last time he made the All-Star team. He also played the most games since 2014-15, his first year in Cleveland, playing in 74 games.

We don’t anticipate much of a drop off for the veteran. He was happy last season because the Cavs were winning though, if they get off to a bad start, you have to wonder if Love will still be happy.

Bickerstaff and his staff need to be prepared to combat what other teams may do against the three seven foot front court starters the Cavaliers use. And if Caris LeVert is still here, how does the staff make best use of him.

The one criticism we had of the head coach was that he did a great job developing a style of play early in the year, but in the second half, they seemed to move away from it.

We get injuries were a factor, but the defense and rebounding did slide as the season went on, and that wasn’t due to injuries, the attitude seemed to change.

In conjunction with that, GM Koby Altman can’t have the end of the roster filled with G League guys and veterans there for locker room presence.

At the beginning of the season, Altman signed Kevin Pangos and Ed Davis for depth. While Davis contributed early, by the end of the season, he shouldn’t have been on the floor. As for Pangos, in his first NBA action, it was obvious he was not an NBA player.

That cannot happen again this off-season.

There are also players the organization needs to make decisions on, notably Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler.

It’s obvious the organization isn’t enamored with Osman, and most times, they don’t use his best skills (driving, creating). They seem to want to make him a three-point specialist.

Windler has had injuries and just hasn’t produced when he is on the court. Holding on to both doesn’t sound optimal.

Next year starts in one week. We will see if Altman has anything up his sleeve in moving playersa as the first round unfolds.

On Offering Big Money In Sports.

With all of the big money in professional sports today, many of the people not working in front offices are in a big hurry to spend.

For some players, like LeBron James, it’s a no brainer to give them the most money they can get as early as they can get it. People like James are destined for greatness, and their teams should do what they can to tie them up for as long as they can.

However, for most of the players, there should be no rush to bestow huge contracts upon them. Why not get as much information as you can about the athlete before entering into a huge financial commitment for the team with the person.

We understand that sometimes the player takes the lack of the big deal as disrespect. However, remember, most athletes do not have the same loyalty as say, Jose Ramirez did with the Guardians.

The Cavaliers have a decision this summer with Collin Sexton and it has been debated on several fronts. Sexton is a restricted free agent, which enables the Cavs to match any offer he receives from other organizations.

Sexton averaged almost 25 points per game in 2020-21, but played just 11 games last season with a knee injury. So what should Koby Altman’s contract offer be? We know there are a lot of Sexton fans out there that would say he should get the most money Cleveland can offer.

That’s probably because it isn’t their money.

The max deal for a player after four seasons is around $30 million per year. Personally, there aren’t many players coming off a season in which they played just 11 games, that we would offer that kind of cash to. And we understand, there isn’t any reason Sexton shouldn’t be able to come back from his medical issue.

Last year, we wondered what would the market be for Sexton, and quite frankly, we still have that thought. Would any other team offer him anywhere near that kind of cash?

That’s way we would let Sexton go out and see what is available to him. Let him go and see what the market is for him, and the Cavaliers would still have the ability to keep him at a reasonable salary. Remember, the NBA is a salary cap sport, although we know there are many loopholes, and Altman could be creative to give the team room.

We heard a few people the other day discussing locking up Guardians’ pitcher Triston McKenzie on a long term deal after he dominated Houston.

What’s the rush?

We think McKenzie is a very good young pitcher. He will be 25-years-old soon and might be the Guardians’ best pitcher right now.

However, he’s thrown less than 200 innings in his career and is under the team’s control through the 2026 season. And let’s face it, pitchers’ careers are more volatile than everyday players.

A few years ago, we advocated for Cleveland to sign Francisco Lindor at any cost. In his last couple of years here, Lindor seemed to embrace the “launch angle” movement and became less effective hitting. He went from a .280-.300 hitter to a .230-.250 hitter.

Is he reaching the value of the deal he signed with the Mets? We believe most would say no.

We know the owners of these teams are billionaires and none of them (not even the Dolans) are in danger of living in poverty. However, players and agents use what one person gets as the basis for someone else.

And for teams in a salary cap sport, overpaying a player can become an albatross. There is nothing wrong with getting as much information as you can before offering an athlete a boatload of money.

It’s the smart thing to do.

Shooting, Toughness Are The Needs For The Cavs

The NBA playoffs have reached the second round, and there is a percentage of fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers pointing out that the two teams they lost to in the play-in tournament went 1-8, validating their opinion the Cavs are better off with the lottery pick.

Our point continues to be a seven game series would have shown them the type of ball being played in the playoffs, and they would have grown as a team by it.

We didn’t think going in the wine and gold could have beaten either Miami or Boston, but the experience would have done them a whole lot of good.

We felt too many times during the regular season that the Cavs wilted against more physical teams. In the NBA, sometimes this happens with young teams. Instead of matching the physicality of the opponent, they wilt, they change the style of play that helps them win.

That’s not a recipe for success.

Sometime this month, the annual draft lottery will be held, and unless the Cavaliers are extremely lucky, they will have the 14th pick. Still, this pick is a trade asset and that’s probably the best use of it, since the team is already one of the youngest in the NBA. We don’t see how adding another inexperienced player helps next season.

Cleveland needs players who can make shots on the perimeter, particularly from beyond the three point line. They had a respectable percentage from long range, ranking 15th in the league, but their attempts ranked 22nd in the Association.

The players who took the most threes, Kevin Love, Darius Garland, and Lauri Markkanen, all made them at a better rate than the league average of 35.2%. But the latter was just barely over that mark.

So, the only real three point threats were Love and Garland. They get Collin Sexton back, and he can score, but he really isn’t a long range marksman. Perhaps they will get some improvement from him in that area next season.

Beyond those three, the next most threes were taken by Cedi Osman (35.7%) and Ricky Rubio (33.9%). A couple of players who supposed are on the roster for their shooting, Dean Wade and Dylan Windler, seem hesitant to take the shot. That doesn’t help the floor spacing.

So GM Koby Altman needs to find a consistently good outside threat, and one who has the confidence to shoot when he is open.

They also need toughness, as we alluded before. You would have to think this comes from a veteran player, someone who isn’t going to let his younger teammates get pushed around.

While the Cavaliers have height, they don’t have much bulk. They need some of that, not only inside, but on the perimeter. Some of that will come from the younger players getting older, their bodies maturing.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff talks a lot about “grit” and “fight”, and early in the season, the Cavs had that, but there is something to be said about physical play as well, and many nights, particularly late in the year, Cleveland seemed to fall short.

Again, the draft pick is nice, but it would be a surprise if Altman found someone in the middle of the draft who can make an impact on this team next season.

That leaves the trade market, but would the Cavs give up the assets that other teams want?

Cavs Should Be Looking At Top Four Spot in ’22-’23.

Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers did not advance to the real playoffs, which started Saturday, it’s time to look towards the 2022-23 season, and there will be expectations for J.B. Bickerstaff and his squad.

It will no longer be a nice story to get close to the playoffs. The expectation by most observers, will be making one of the top five seeds in the Eastern Conference.

The question is how will that be accomplished.

Cleveland has to get better offensively. They were 20th in offensive rating this season and seventh defensively, although that ranking declined after the midway point of the campaign.

The Cavs should have Collin Sexton healthy heading into training camp, barring a trade. We say that because what assets does GM Koby Altman have to try to improve the wine and gold?

Kevin Love’s contract is now expiring, and that used to have value, but in the past few seasons, it has been less and less important. And Caris LeVert has one more year on his current deal. Does the front office want to extend him?

They have a lottery pick, which will likely be the 14th overall pick barring some extreme luck in the draft lottery. We feel the Cavaliers would be better off moving that pick for a veteran who can contribute immediately.

The team is young enough right now, and to us it is obvious someone with more experience would be a bigger help.

Altman and Bickerstaff have to decide what kind of team they want going forward. Early in the year, it used size, playing slower, and playing defense. It was an old school approach.

Is that the way they want to continue? We asked because in the second half of the season, they seemed to get away from that style. We know injuries played a big factor, but the Cavs did go 9-17 in their last 26 contests.

Can they play two smaller guards together and be effective on the defensive end?

One thing is for certain, the team needs some wings that can shoot the basketball, someone in the 6’7″-6’9″ range. Yes, Love does that, but good teams have more than one player like that, and with guys like Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley inside, having shooters will make them more effective.

Speaking of Mobley, no doubt he will get stronger in the off-season and be more of a force next season and beyond. With so much discussion about Garland’s improvement and being the team’s best player, he is just renting that title because next year, Mobley will likely be the Cavs’ premier star.

Altman also has to make the roster deeper. Coming into the season, he filled two spots, Kevin Pangos and Ed Davis, with players who can’t play in the NBA. That can’t happen this off-season.

And decisions have to be made on Dylan Windler, who either can’t be a rotation player on a good team or needs a fresh start somewhere else and Cedi Osman, who ended the year not in agreement with the coach.

Osman is another guy who plays much better in international competition, when he is used as a playmaker, a drive and dish guy. He’s not used that way with the Cavs, so other teams may have an interest in him.

Lamar Stevens played his way into having a future here, but can the same be said for Isaac Okoro? Okoro has not developed any kind of offensive game, and the question is can he? He’s another player who may have value for a young, developing team.

The Cavaliers are not that any more. They won 44 games in the regular season, double last year’s total. They should be thinking about a home series in the first round of the playoffs and advancing.

In many ways, this is a bigger off-season for Altman and management that the last three summers.

Bring Back LeBron? Not That Simple.

Ever since the All Star Game in Cleveland and the comments made by LeBron James about his home area during the festivities, there have been rumors or speculation that James would consider coming back to the Cavaliers, especially now that the wine and gold are playing winning basketball.

James is 37 years old, but is still playing at an amazingly high level. He is currently averaging 29.4 points per game, the highest since the end of his first tenure in Cleveland, way back in ’09-’10.

He poured in 56 points on Friday night against Golden State, and you can still make an excellent case that he is the most dominant talent in the NBA, even in what figures to be the twilight of his career.

Adding James to the current Cavaliers’ roster would make them the favorites to hang a second NBA title banner from the rafters of Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

However, it isn’t as simple as that. It never is when it comes to LeBron James.

First, James is owed $44 million next year on the last year of his contract, so even if he told the Lakers he wanted out, the Cleveland would still have to make the numbers work in terms of the salary cap.

And of course, the Lakers would want something in return, a very good player more than likely to pair with Anthony Davis.

Would Koby Altman want to part with either of his new “Big Three”, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, or Evan Mobley to get a player, even a player with James’ greatness, who will turn 38 years old.

We know James keeps himself in pristine shape. Still, Father Time is undefeated and no one knows when age will creep up for The King. So, let’s say the Cavaliers are willing to give up Allen to the Lakers, and they only get one great season out of James?

That would be throwing away the rebuilding done by the front office over the last four years.

If James were to come back and just be a player and fit in with the current corps, there wouldn’t be any problems, correct? James can do whatever is needed on the court. He can score. He’s just around 1600 points from becoming the all-time leading scorer in NBA history.

He can rebound, averaging 8.1 this season, and the last time he was under 7.5 for a season, the Cavs won the 2016 championship.

And we all know he can pass. Two seasons ago, he led the league in assists. People who know the game say, he is a pass first player and is going to wind up as the greatest scorer in history.

We know James and his people wouldn’t just join the team and fit in. He would start making suggestions about adding veterans to the mix, he would rather play with guys who have been in the league.

He might start second guessing J.B. Bickerstaff or perhaps Altman. And he might put some burdens on the salary cap that will remain long after he is gone.

The latter might be a problem since the core of this team figures to be here for a while.

While bringing LeBron James back would make the Cavs instant championship contenders, they might be in the same position in two or three years without bringing him.

As we said earlier, it’s just not as simple as getting him and plugging him in. And it’s Koby Altman’s job to figure whether or not it’s the right move to make.

With Tough Stretch Coming, Cavs Need To Get Back To Defense

When the NBA’s all-star weekend came to town a week ago, the optimism around the Cleveland Cavaliers was at a season high. The wine and gold was sitting as the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference with a 35-23 record.

While people should still be viewing the Cavs as a huge surprise and success this season, there is no question the good thought have waned a bit because of the injuries that continue to plague J.B. Bickerstaff’s team.

Even though Lauri Markkanen returned when the games started back up last Thursday, the Cavaliers have been without all star Darius Garland (bone bruise in the back), and Caris LeVert (sprained foot) in both games after the break.

And now, Garland’s back up, veteran Rajon Rondo is out for two weeks with a sprained big toe.

Those are three of the team’s top nine players, and with three games with playoff teams coming up (Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Toronto) coming up, the Cavs need to adjust their style of play and have some players in the deeper part of the bench step up in the short term.

The “easy” part of the schedule is now over. In addition to the next trio of opponents, prior to St. Patrick’s Day, Cleveland will also play Miami and Chicago, the top two teams in the East, along with another tilt against the Sixers, and Denver also comes to town.

Hopefully, Garland and LeVert will be able to play by those latter four games.

In the meantime, Koby Altman brought in veteran journeyman Tim Frazier to soak up some minutes at point guard. Brandon Goodwin, who wasn’t even in the organization at the start of the season, will start, but the best thing might be for the offense to run through Cedi Osman and Kevin Love when they are on the floor.

And perhaps Bickerstaff should keep at least one of them out there at all times. When Love is on the floor, they like to have him at the high post and pass out of that spot. Osman is more of a drive and dish kind of player, but both have good instincts for passing the basketball.

Until then, the Cavs need players like Goodwin to perform. Unfortunately, he is showing why he was available for Cleveland to sign in the middle of December.

The same can be said of Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens.

It’s tough for players to be productive on most nights. It’s what separates the rotational players in the NBA with the guys who are the 10th to 15th men on the roster.

The best way for those players to make their bones in the league is to not play outside of themselves. Do the little things, set screens, play defense, etc. Those are the things that can be done every night.

Goodwin is very good going to the basket, but is a 31% career three point shooter. He gets in trouble when he shoots them when they aren’t going in. Wade needs to make shots because he doesn’t do much else, although he’s a decent defender.

What we liked about Stevens was that he didn’t fall into the trap of letting the defense determine how he would play. He has a solid mid-range game. He needs to continue that and let the game come to him.

The Cavs don’t need all three to contribute, but two out of three have to.

Furthermore, with Garland and LeVert out, defense is more important and Bickerstaff made that clear to his squad Saturday night.

Again, hopefully the injured players are back soon and the Cavaliers can get momentum going down the homestretch. Until then, they need to get back to what put them on the NBA map early this season.

Cavs Checking All The Boxes On The Good Side.

In the end, Cavaliers’ GM Koby Altman didn’t make any more moves at the NBA trading deadline, meaning Caris LeVert was the only addition to J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad.

As we wrote a couple of days ago, that was a mighty big acquisition, getting a scorer who can do other things for a couple of draft picks that likely won’t yield a player as good as LeVert.

The early returns seem good as well. The former Pacer scored 11 in his debut and 22 against his former team, and visually, looks like he fits in perfectly. He even commented as to how he feels his defense has to pick up because he sees his new teammates putting the effort in.

That’s called having a good culture.

There was a lot of talk about Altman trying to get a better backup point guard with Darius Garland’s current back issues. About a week and a half ago, Rajon Rondo didn’t have a good game against New Orleans, and Brandon Goodwin led a come from behind victory.

He followed that game up with a pair of two point games against Houston and Charlotte.

In the last three contests, Rondo looks like he can be the solution, even at age 35. He has put up 37 points and 22 assists in those games, playing an average of 28 minutes.

We are sure Bickerstaff doesn’t want Rondo playing those kinds of minutes on a nightly basis, but the veteran has shown he is still capable of being able to get the job done.

Bickerstaff has emphasized defense after the first couple games of the season (we are pretty sure he did so in training camp, but the results early were ugly) and the wine and gold now allow the fewest points per game in the league and are third in defensive rating.

Old school hoops people looked at defensive field goal percentage and Cleveland ranks third best in the league in that statistic (behind Golden State and Boston), holding teams to just 44% shooting.

As a contrast, the Cavs themselves knockdown 46.6% of their shots.

The other ranking that used to be judged was the average margin of victory, the reasoning being good teams win a lot of games by comfortable margins, “lucky” ones win a lot of close ones.

Again, the Cavs hold up well here, ranking 7th in this category throughout the league and 3rd in the Eastern Conference behind Miami and Boston at 4.61.

If you figure strength of schedule into the equation, the Cavaliers rank 1st in the East ahead of Miami and Boston.

You can’t help by being impressed by this group.

And while all teams this year have been affected by injuries and COVID, the Cavs have been no different.

Collin Sexton, who was starting at the beginning of the season, and Ricky Rubio, who was making a huge impact off the bench playing almost 30 minutes a game, are both out for the season with knee injuries.

Virtually every key player has missed time due the virus, and currently, Lauri Markkanen is out with a sprained ankle.

We don’t believe anyone understands the importance Markkanen has with his length defensively on the perimeter, and the spacing he provides offensively.

Yes, Dean Wade can shoot from outside, but Markkanen is much better putting the ball on the floor and attacking the rim.

We are anxious to see LeVert on the floor on a regular basis with Garland and Markkanen.

That will provide a much deeper team.

It won’t be easy. The Nets and Celtics both got better at the trade deadline too, and they will be formidable opponents.

But these Cavaliers check all the boxes as well. Spring basketball is always a lot of fun.

Cavs Are Fun, But It’s Time To Expect Success

Since the Cleveland Browns’ season ended last month, the sports focus of the city, other than the obsession with Baker Mayfield, has been on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and rightly so.

Not many people figured this would be a playoff year for the wine and gold, but as of today, they sit tied for the third best record in the Eastern Conference at 34-21, and they were buyers at the trade deadline, getting Caris LeVert from Indiana.

They have already exceeded the 30 wins we predicted they would get this season, and quite frankly, a 50 win season wouldn’t be a big shock.

Most of the commentary in the media has been about how much fun J.B. Bickerstaff’s club is to watch, and after three years of being among the worst teams in the NBA, absolutely it is a joy to watch this team play.

The thing that makes all this winning fun is the lack of expectation. No one expected the Cavaliers to be in this position. Fans were looking forward to the development of Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, and were anxious to see how rookie Evan Mobley would hold up under the grind of an 82 game schedule.

And no one figured Kevin Love would be drinking from the fountain of youth, playing his most energetic and enthusiastic basketball since perhaps 2016.

There are no impending free agencies on the horizon, save for Collin Sexton this summer, so Koby Altman doesn’t have to tiptoe around making players want to stay in Cleveland. This is just about basketball and putting together a team.

How far can they go this spring and summer?

Five of the primary players on this edition of the Cavs are under 25 years old: Garland, Mobley, Isaac Okoro, Jarrett Allen, and Lauri Markkanen. We didn’t include Sexton because he’s not playing right now.

Of that quintet, only Allen has ever appeared in a playoff game, being in nine of them with Brooklyn in 2019 and 2020. He’s played in one winning post-season contest. Newcomer LeVert has the exact same experience.

On the other hand, Love, Cedi Osman, and Rajon Rondo have plenty of playoff experience. Heck, Rondo even has a nickname (Playoff Rondo) built around his 134 games of experience. Love’s been in 63 post-season games and Osman 14.

You notice all of the experience is coming off the bench.

A realistic expectation for this group probably depends on whether or not they end up in the top four of the conference, which would mean home court advantage in the first round. And even then, it depends on the matchup.

Having to play say Philadelphia or Brooklyn in the first round would be very difficult for these young Cavs, because of having an opponent with a great player who has a tremendous amount of post-season experience.

It would be great to win a title for sure, but ideally, winning one series could be a stepping stone for this group. It will show them what playing in the playoffs is like. Defense gets stepped up, every possession is of even greater importance.

Teams can surprise, like Atlanta did a year ago, but usually there is a process to success once the calendar changes to April and May.

However, Bickerstaff won’t change his approach and neither should the players. They should expect to win. That’s half the battle.

Comparing These Cavs To The “Miracle” Team

Since the calendar flipped to 2022, the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken it to another level, winning eight out of nine, and currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, just two games out of the top spot.

However, the East is so competitive this season that the Cavs are also just 2-1/2 games ahead of the current 7th seed and finishing seventh through tenth gets you a spot in the (ridiculous) play in tournament.

Although Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are getting all star buzz, J.B. Bickerstaff and GM Koby Altman have put together a “team”, and we have discussed before how important it is that any addition made to the roster has to be done with an eye on the incredible chemistry and togetherness this group has.

That togetherness reminds us of the first Cavalier team to make the post-season, the 1975-76 Miracle of Richfield group. That team had nine players who averaged 16 minutes per game.

Out of the 11 players who have played 30 games this season for Cleveland, 10 of them have averaged 15 minutes per game. Now a couple of those guys (Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens) have done that because they move into the starting lineup because Bickerstaff doesn’t want to mess with the bench minutes.

The ’76 team was led in minutes per game by Jim Brewer, who averaged 35.5, while this year’s group is paced by Garland’s 34.7 a contest. So, playing time is spaced out among nine or ten players.

Both groups have veterans who were stars in the NBA embracing a reserve role.

Nate Thurmond was a 7-time all-star and started for Chicago the year before coming to the Cavs early in the 75-76 season. Coach Bill Fitch asked Thurmond to come off the bench and be the anchor of the second unit defensively. Fitch felt the veteran would have a huge impact as a shot blocker and rebounder playing 15-20 minutes per night.

This year’s group has Kevin Love, a key part of the 2016 championship team here. Love spent the post-LeBron James’ years being an undersized center, and the pounding of playing against bigger bodies took its toll on him.

With Allen, rookie Evan Mobley, and even Lauri Markkanen, Love can do what he still does very well. Shoot the three ball, score, and rebound. And as with Fitch in ’76, Bickerstaff has limited Love to just 21.6 minutes a game.

Love is hitting 40% from three and is third on the wine and gold in rebounds at 7.2.

Both squads made their bones on the defensive end of the floor. Fitch’s team was 4th in defensive rating, Bickerstaff’s team is 3rd.

There are differences though. The ’75-’76 team missed the playoffs by one game the previous season, the current edition came out of nowhere. These Cavs have the probable rookie of the year in Evan Mobley, while those Cavaliers were largely a young veteran core, many players with two to four years experience.

One problem Altman and Bickerstaff won’t have to worry about is the dispersal draft, which really hurt the Cavs. The NBA and ABA merged following the ’76 season, and not only the college draft, but the players from ABA teams not absorbed into the NBA were drafted in reverse order of their records, meaning Cleveland could not improve its roster.

Players like Artis Gilmore (Chicago), Maurice Lucas (Portland) and Moses Malone (Portland, but traded to Buffalo and then to Houston) went in that selection process.

By the way, Portland won the title the following season.

What strikes us as the most similar thing about the two teams is the togetherness, the unselfishness of the two squads. They are about winning, and that’s refreshing. They want each other to succeed.

That ’76 team went to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took Boston to six games. They did it despite losing starting center Jim Chones to a broken foot, meaning Thurmond had to start and did a tremendous job in the series.

Hopefully, these Cavs can stay healthy so we can see how far they can go this spring.

Oh, and one other similarity. Both teams are incredibly fun to watch.