No Big Moves For Cavs, But A Change That Can Still Be Made.

There is one thing that is certain with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And that one thing is change. You can be pretty certain every season that the roster that opens the season will have major changes by the end of that year.

We understand why. The Cavs are far from a finished product, in year three of the second post-LeBron rebuild, and GM Koby Altman should be looking for assets to keep the franchise moving forward.

Cleveland already took part in the biggest trade of the season, the one sending James Harden to Brooklyn, which netted the wine and gold center Jarrett Allen, a major building block for the rebuild, and forward Taurean Prince. The only roster player Altman surrendered in the transaction was guard Dante Exum.

This year was relatively quiet at the deadline, with the Cavs dealing veteran big man JaVale McGee to Denver for a pair of second round draft picks and a young big man, Isaiah Hartenstein.

Hartenstein is a seven footer, a second round pick of the Houston Rockets in 2017. He’s played in the league for three years, appearing in 81 games, averaging 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

He’s a project and can also play some power forward, something McGee really couldn’t do. And since he’s averaged just nine minutes per game in his time with the Rockets and Nuggets, he figures to get more time in Cleveland.

As for McGee, the franchise did right by the veteran. We will skeptical what kind of attitude he would come to town with, considering the Cavs’ rank in the league, and that he has played most of the latter part of his career with championship teams (Warriors and Lakers), but he took the veteran leadership role to heart and was a solid guy, by all reports, in the locker room.

The Nuggets have aspirations of getting to The Finals this year (they traded for Aaron Gordon from Orlando today as well), and getting a big man with McGee’s experience should help in that regard.

So, what do the Cavs do going forward? We would like to see playing time start to be based on merit rather than draft status.

It’s time for the organization to start bringing some mental toughness for the players. Yes, they are a very young squad, made even more so with today’s trade. The oldest guy who gets significant playing time is Larry Nance (28). The second oldest is Prince (26), who is currently injured, followed by Cedi Osman at 25.

There needs to start being accountability for the players. We understand fans want the team to lose and gain a higher pick in the NBA Draft, and maybe Altman feels the same way. And while the team might wind up getting a very talented player, you can’t have the other young players thinking losing is acceptable.

If a Lamar Stevens or a Brodric Thomas are giving Bickerstaff more than say, former first round pick, Dylan Windler, then play the former. This isn’t youth sports where everyone should get an equal chance. If you produce, you earn more playing time.

Ask Dean Wade. He took advantage of his opportunity even though some people, including us, thought he looked unplayable.

It’s called culture, and the Cavaliers franchise has been in a malaise since James departed for Los Angeles. The rest of this season should serve as the beginning of a change.

Cavs Should Consider All Avenues To Improve.

One of the worst things an organization can do to tie an excessive amount of promotion into a player who is either just coming into professional sports or hasn’t made their bones at the professional level.

The Browns kind of did this with Baker Mayfield, especially after his rookie season, when the team went from 0-16 to 7-8-1. It was all Baker, all the time in northeast Ohio, and Mayfield admitted he didn’t work as hard in the off-season after his rookie season. The result following was a 6-10 disappointment.

Mayfield learned and led the Browns to an 11-5 mark and the playoffs last season.

It appears the Cavaliers have painted themselves into the same corner with Collin Sexton. Sexton’s work ethic is not in question, the man is a tireless gym rat.

However, even before the third year pro out of Alabama was drafted, the pick he was taken with was held up as the ultimate prize in the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston. It was Brooklyn’s choice, but they spoiled it by playing tough minded ball, and instead of being projected as the NBA’s worst team, they won 28 games.

So, Cleveland wound up with the 8th pick overall, and selected Sexton, who has put up numbers in his two and a half season with the Cavs, a career 19.6 scorer, shooting 45.6% from the floor, and 39% from three point range.

He became the symbol of the new Cavs, the post-LeBron Cavs, although the team went 19-63 his rookie year, and then 19-46 in his second season, shortened by the coronavirus.

There have been many reports with the NBA trade deadline coming up, that GM Koby Altman has told teams several players are untouchable, Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, and Sexton among them.

To be fair, the drafting of Sexton was followed by picking another ball dominant small backcourt player in Garland, under the guise of taking the best player available. While that is generally a solid concept in drafting, it is usually done with the expectation of trading from strength at some point to improve a position of need.

But the organization has said they are going to keep both smaller backcourt players. So, that theory goes out the window.

Sexton puts up numbers. He’s improved to 23.9 points and 4.2 assists per game, but his shooting percentage has leveled off from last year. He’s scoring more because he’s shooting more. His second year partner at guard, Garland, is scoring at 16.5 points and 5.9 assists per night, taking on the facilitator role.

Watching games, it is noticeable how much better the offense flows when Garland is on the floor.

Sexton doesn’t seem to have point guard instincts right now, and when Garland isn’t in the game, the offense should run through him, but it doesn’t. Too many times, he reverts to trying to do everything himself.

Cavs’ analyst Campy Russell said after Friday night’s loss to San Antonio, that the teams’ young guards have to learn to get everyone involved.

In our opinion, Altman should consider any move to improve the 2021-22 edition of the Cavaliers. However, there are players we wouldn’t trade either. It would be difficult to find a big man more skilled than Allen, so he stays. And the team needs (we might say desperately) someone with the feel for the game Larry Nance Jr. has. So, we wouldn’t move him either.

And we think Garland shows all the signs of being able to be a solid player in this league, but can a backcourt of Garland and Sexton co-exist and be successful in the NBA? Even the three point happy NBA?

Keep in mind, Sexton is coming off his rookie deal and the Cavs have to start paying him.

Put promotion aside. Yes, the organization held up Sexton as the first piece of the rebuild following the departure of James, but they need to listen on the young guy if they think it can help the wine and gold get back to the playoffs sooner.

We aren’t saying Sexton has to be moved, but we would not be opposed to listening. We are aware we go back and forth on the young player, at times, he looks like he has this game figured out. But then he reverts back.

It’s not easy to build a competitive basketball team.

Cavs: Exciting At Times, Frustrating At Others

The Cleveland Cavaliers have hit the stage in their development where they are a very frustrating team to watch at times.

After a stretch against a brutal schedule that saw them lose 10 games in a row, the last being an embarrassing defeat at the hands of equally mediocre Oklahoma City, coach J.B. Bickerstaff made a lineup change to bring Dean Wade, a shooter (stretch four) in the starting lineup and the team reeled off four straight wins.

In the last game before the All Star break, Cleveland was going for its fifth consecutive win and had a 19 point lead in the third quarter, blowing it after Darius Garland went down with a groin strain. Garland missed Friday night’s contest too, a 34 point blow out at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans (16-22), another team on par record wise with the Cavs.

Yes, Garland was out, and Larry Nance and Kevin Love, both of whom has been out for awhile played, so some adjustments were needed. However, the wine and gold were trailing by just six in the second quarter before the roof caved in.

Bickerstaff and his staff have some guy who can play in this league, this isn’t a roster devoid of talent, so losing by 34 on the road to a team that really isn’t much better than the Cavs is very frustrating.

It has to be maddening for the coaching staff too, because it seems like he has to constantly challenge them to compete. Too often they revert to bad habits, ones which go away from team play. And when the Cavaliers are playing well, they very much play together, moving the ball, etc.

Cleveland had 13 assists in Friday’s game. Some of that has to do with the team shooting 34% from the floor, and 22% from three point range. Newcomer Quinn Cook hit three of four from behind the line, meaning the rest of the team went a dreadful 4 for 28 (14%).

Moving the ball has been stressed since day one of training camp by Bickerstaff and the coaches, but without Garland out there, they come up with just 13 helpers. And that has to fall on to the player who has his hands on the ball most, Collin Sexton.

We go back and forth on the third year player out of Alabama. There is plenty of good in his game. He can score, there is no question about that. He shoots 48% from the floor and 39% from behind the arc. He dishes out 4.3 assists per game, second most on the team.

But when things aren’t going well, instead of trusting the other players on the floor, he tries to do everything himself. And that’s a difficult thing for a player to learn. Michael Jordan had to learn it as well, and we are not comparing Sexton to Jordan.

When Garland is not playing, the Cavs need Sexton to be a playmaker. If he can’t do that, then the organization has to ask a difficult question, can an NBA team win with a 6’2″ #2 guard? We know Toronto won with a small backcourt, but they had one of the five best players in the league in Kawhi Leonard.

Right now, the Cavaliers don’t have a player like that on the roster.

At this point, the basketball IQ on this team isn’t very high. And that’s not just on Sexton. For example, Cedi Osman (or someone else is telling him) think he’s a three point shooter. He’s not. He takes the most threes on the roster, and he’s hitting just 32%.

At this point, Sexton is much like the team he plays for. It is alternately enjoying and frustrated watching he and the Cavaliers play.

Yes, they are a young team, but they do have some veterans to guide the way like Nance, JaVale McGee, and Love, and Taurean Prince has been around as well.

This squad can make a playoff push in the mediocre Eastern Conference. But they can’t have many more games like their first one after the break. It’s time for the young players to play much smarter and tougher.

What Does Second Half Hold For Cavs?

All Star Weekend is over, but the Cleveland Cavaliers still have a little while before they play their next game. They don’t take the court again until Friday night when the New Orleans Hornets come to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

That gives J.B. Bickerstaff a few days of practice time for his young squad, and it will give Larry Nance Jr. some time to get re-acclimated, since he should be back when the second half of the schedule resumes.

However, it also gives GM Koby Altman time to make some roster changes, although he does have until March 25, which is the trade deadline. But the rumors have already started.

It has been reported than there was an offer for Nance involved two late first round picks, and the Kevin Love rumors have started again. Both players should be of interest to contending teams because they both provide things that good teams covet.

Nance is an all around player. He can defend, shoot, block shots, and is a very good passer. Teams with championship expectations love to have players with his kind of basketball IQ. It’s the reason the Cavs wanted him when they still had LeBron James and were trying to win the title in 2018.

Love is a good three point shooter, a solid rebounder and outlet passer, and a better defender than he is given credit for. He was a large piece of a team that did win the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers.

We understand the biggest factor in moving Love is his extremely high contract, and at age 32, he’s not interested in a long range rebuilding plan, and would welcome a chance to win right away.

However, Nance is exactly the kind of player you want around to not only teach and mentor young players, but he’s at 28, he still could be a part of a playoff team. Heck, at just three games out of the eighth seed currently, the Cavs could make the post-season this spring if things break their way.

Keeping it simple, the Cavs need players, and Larry Nance Jr. can play.

That shouldn’t preclude Altman from making moves though. The Andre Drummond situation is still in play, and teams needing centers that aren’t located in Los Angeles or the New York metropolitan area would be wise to make a trade with Cleveland, because rumors having the big man signing with teams in those areas if a buyout become inevitable. Remember, he also carries with him an expiring contract.

Our guess is the wine and gold get something for Drummond, rather than buying him out.

There are also rumors about Cedi Osman and Taurean Prince as well, it would not be a shock if one was moved before the deadline, although it is interesting that the Clippers, coached by Tyronn Lue, who coached Osman here is interested in him.

Although unlikely, does Altman do something about the guard position? We go back and forth on whether or not the Cavaliers can win with a pair of starting guards under 6’2″. Remember, Collin Sexton can be a restricted free agent after this season, so he is in line to get paid rather handsomely.

Yes, we are aware that Toronto won a championship with two small guards, and both Portland and Utah are winning without height in the backcourt. But did those teams win because they played small at guard? And when you add in that Bickerstaff is using a 6’5″ small forward, it leaves the team very small at point guard, #2 guard, and small forward.

However, we feel that’s something to be discussed in the off-season, after a full year of play. Then the question becomes can Isaac Okoro improve enough offensively to play the shooting guard spot.

Again, this is something that will probably be handled in the summer unless Altman is bowled over with an offer.

It seems the one constant with the Cavs is the roster keeps changing. At least it keeps the people who stitch the names on the uniforms busy.

Left On His Own, Altman’s Been Fine

With the Cleveland Cavaliers were going through their recent 10 game losing streak, the natives started getting restless. Should the franchise replace GM Koby Altman, who has been at the helm since June 2017, taking over for David Griffin.

Since Griffin was the architect of the only championship team the city has seen in the last 56 years, he is revered here so Altman faced an uphill trek because of that. And it didn’t help that he is the GM of record on the Kyrie Irving trade to Boston, which many feel had owner Dan Gilbert’s fingerprints all over it.

He did pull off the megatrade at the trade deadline of the 2018 season, bringing George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cavs, a deal that if isn’t made, the wine and gold probably do not make their fourth consecutive Finals appearance. Add to that, Nance has become one of the current team’s best players.

We feel in evaluating Altman, we should be talking about the man guiding the rebuilding of the franchise. It is difficult because early on in his tenure, it is difficult to judge what moves were made by Gilbert and which were made by Altman.

For example, we feel the signing of Kevin Love and the hiring of John Beilein as coach were moves made by ownership. Both were mistakes. Love’s contract seems to be an untradeable albatross, although we remember former GM Jim Paxson was able to move Shawn Kemp’s deal. And Beilein was an ill fit for the pro game, and left after half a season.

Several of Altman’s early moves were jettisoning veterans from the championship team for younger players. Kyle Korver brought Alec Burks, Hill brought John Henson and Matthew Dellavedova. Burks and Rodney Hood brought some spare parts and draft picks.

Altman has bad luck in the draft lottery too. The prize pick in the Irving deal, that of the Brooklyn Nets, was sabotaged a bit by Nets’ coach Kenny Atkinson, who made the team somewhat competitive, so it turned out to be the 8th overall choice. Would Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who went 11th, been a better choice? Perhaps, but over the last year or so, Sexton has shown he can be a solid NBA player.

Cleveland had the third worst record in the NBA in the 2018-19 season, but they fell to fifth in the draft and selected Darius Garland. The GM could be criticized for picking small point guards in consecutive drafts, but in this second year, Garland has shown signs he can be a player. And he added Dylan Windler late in the first round, and traded three second round picks for Kevin Porter Jr.

Porter looked like a solid pick, but the issues that caused a talented guy to drop to the last pick in the first round rose up again, and Altman was forced to deal hi to Houston.

The Andre Drummond situation seems to be a negative for Altman right now, but why not take a shot at getting a talented big man for virtually nothing. And when Drummond didn’t sign an extension, Altman got involved in the James Harden deal and picked up 22-year-old Jarrett Allen, who appears to be an all star in the making.

We know you cannot cancel parts of the schedule, but the Cavaliers just went through a brutal stretch of a schedule in which they played six games against top four seeds in each conference, and four more against likely playoff teams. Predictably, they lost 14 of 16.

Altman hasn’t been perfect, but no, repeat no GM is. He deserves to go through another trading deadline and draft to say what progress the Cavs can make in 2021-22. Besides, if he were to be replaced, it would likely mean a new GM would want to hire a new head coach.

Just think, since Altman got the gig, he inherited Tyronn Lue, and he was replaced by Larry Drew, John Beilein, and now Bickerstaff. J.B. will be the first coach to have an entire season since Lue guided the franchise to their fourth straight Eastern Conference crown.

There are more plusses than minuses right now for Altman, especially since the owner seems to not be involved. He deserves to see how it will play out.

Cavs Off To Tough Start To Home Stand

Last week, we said the Cavaliers losing streak was understandable because of the competition they faced over the past three weeks or so. We then said we would look at how the team was performing after playing Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Houston at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Well, the first game happened on Sunday night, and it wasn’t any prettier, as the Thunder whipped the wine and gold, 117-101. What makes the score seem worse was the Cavs had a 10 point lead in the first half.

The Cavaliers need to win the next two games at home. They are playing two teams with comparable records and they are in their own arena. We understand home court advantage doesn’t mean as much without fans in the seats (or in Cleveland’s case, not at full capacity), but the next two are winnable, although so was Sunday night’s contest.

We also understand the squad is short-handed, especially at power forward with both Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. out, but J.B. Bickerstaff might have to do some things differently with that duo both being out.

This is not a criticism of Bickerstaff. In fact, right now, the front office should start holding some players accountable for the recent play of the team. Yes, this is a young roster, but outside of Isaac Okoro and Dylan Windler, all of them have gone through an NBA season, and know what the league is all about.

The shot selection by some players is very questionable. You wouldn’t think you have to do this with professionals, but maybe the coaching staff needs to explain to every player what is or is not a good shot for them.

On Sunday night, the bench play was deplorable. Windler hustles and plays presentable defense, but he was drafted with a reputation as a shooter. He’s making 30% of this three point opportunities. He needs to make shots to have a future in the league.

That isn’t to say we’ve given up on him, just that he needs to play better. We believe he’s at the stage where he’s giving opposing players too much credit, such as double pumping when driving to the basket. Take it in strong and go to the free throw line.

Outside of JaVale McGee, the coach is getting nothing from his bench, although he needs to realize this and not have four substitutes on the floor at one time. Play one or two in combination with the starters. Damyean Dotson has some talent, but he’s spent his entire career with the Knicks up until this season. He didn’t learn any winning habits there.

Love and Nance are out, and Dean Wade still can’t get into games. Maybe it would be best if GM Koby Altman cut bait with Wade and found someone in the G League who can play some serviceable NBA minutes.

Perhaps slowing the tempo a bit would help as well, especially to get Jarrett Allen, who really is the Cavs’ best player over this stretch more touches.

Even though we just said Windler needed to make some shots, maybe put him in the starting lineup instead of say, Cedi Osman and let Osman run the attack with the second unit.

We know Bickerstaff has used a ton of starting lineups this year, so what’s one more? Or maybe start Osman and Windler and bring Okoro off the bench. The starters can’t play 48 minutes every night.

The biggest remedy might just be getting a win. All the losing leads to bad habits and selfish play. The Cavs need to experience a win. Unfortunately, it won’t come through wishing and osmosis. It will take playing smart, not taking bad shots, and playing better defense.

Might Sound Crazy, But No Need To Panic About The Cavs…Yet

There is no question the Cleveland Cavaliers are going through a rough time. They just went on a five game west coast trip in which they didn’t win a game. And since they beat the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in consecutive games in late January, they’ve dropped 14 of their last 16 games.

They have said they will not play Andre Drummond for now, as they are trying to work out a trade for the big man, and they are also without one of their best defensive players and one of their best passers in Larry Nance Jr.

And, of course, they haven’t had Kevin Love for all but 1-1/2 games out of the 29 played thus far in the 2020-21 season. No matter what you think of Love, and no doubt he has been much maligned pretty much since the day he arrived in Cleveland, he’s a very good player, and he can provide what the biggest weakness the Cavs have on offense, the lack of three point shooting.

The Cavaliers have fallen to 14th place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of just the Detroit Pistons. It seems all of the defensive concepts coach J.B. Bickerstaff put in place prior to the season have gone out the window. Some of that could be because the availability of players changes on a nightly basis.

To play solid defense, you need to know where your teammates are, and just on this past trip, Bickerstaff used three different power forwards: Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince, and Cedi Osman. That’s difficult in creating continuity.

The bad news from the trip was punctuated with a disagreement between Allen and Collin Sexton at halftime of the most recent defeat at Golden State.

To be fair, as the trip went on, we did see more of the Sexton they played in his first year and a half in the NBA, a lot of possessions for the wine and gold where one person and only one person touched the ball, and that guy was Sexton.

We have enough faith in Bickerstaff that he will address this with the third year pro, and hopefully, the player listens.

However, after taking a couple of days after the latest defeat, we took a deep breath and realized most of the losses in these last 16 games have come against some of the best teams in the NBA.

Really, the only bad losses in this stretch were road losses to Minnesota and New York. Otherwise, they lost to Boston, the Lakers, the Clippers twice, Milwaukee twice, this latest trip was composed entirely of pretty good teams. If the season ended today, each of the last five games were against playoff teams from the Western Conference (Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Clippers, and Golden State).

Now, the margin of defeat is concerning.

The Cavs play Denver again on Friday, but the next three games are at home against Oklahoma City (11-17), Atlanta (12-16), and Houston (11-17). If they play poorly and get blown out against that trio at home, then it would be time for concern.

Perhaps we all got overly excited by the wins over the Nets, and overestimated how good the wine and good were. Quite frankly, they ran into a bunch of games against teams better than them.

On the other hand, losing can cause bad habits. It’s up to Bickerstaff to get his squad focused on playing the right way going forward and converting that into some wins to reinforce good play.

Let’s see how the next couple of weeks play out before panicking.

More Injuries For Cavs? Why Not Experiment?

The Cleveland Cavaliers got off to a decent start to the 2020-21 basketball season, but have struggled a bit recently, losing eight of their last ten.

And now, the injury bug has hit again with the news that their glue man, Larry Nance Jr., will miss the next six weeks with a broken finger.

Nance pretty much does everything well, and was just coming back from a sprained wrist, when he broke the finger Saturday night against the Bucks. Nance is a good defender, good passer, and is becoming a good shooter, expanding his range to where he is hitting 38% of his three point attempts this season.

His injury is just another for a team that really hasn’t been healthy all season long. Since he’s barely played this season, it’s easy to forget Kevin Love has played in just two games, a total of 46 minutes.

The only Cavalier who has played in every game this season is Cedi Osman. Collin Sexton, Nance, and Isaac Okoro have all missed five games. Darius Garland has missed eight, and Dylan Windler has not participated in 13 contests.

Even Andre Drummond sat out two games. And this isn’t a “load management” issue either, all of these guys have had physical issues which forced them to sit out games.

The injuries, particularly in the frontcourt, have led to two way player Lamar Stephens appearing in 14 games, a lot of someone who figured to be getting most of his basketball in the G League.

Add to the mix a mid-season trade which brought aboard Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince from Brooklyn (in exchange for Dante Exum, who by the way, was also hurt), and it’s no wonder the wine and gold have struggled a bit to find their identity, especially on the offensive end of the court.

When Nance missed time with his wrist, coach J.B. Bickerstaff decided to go with Prince in his spot, but although he can play the four at times, he doesn’t have the bulk to play starters’ minutes at the position.

But what alternative does Bickerstaff have?

We understand it’s thinking a bit out of the box, and you probably couldn’t do it for the majority of the game, but why not start Drummond and Allen in sort of the twin towers set up, with Osman or Prince playing small forward.

The Cavs have kind of played an old school game this year anyway, why not fully embrace it by putting the two big men together on the floor. Besides, Cleveland doesn’t seem to be much of a small ball team, except in the backcourt.

Why not get Allen, who has been impressive since his arrival, more minutes? In his lone start with the wine and gold, he scored 23 points, had 18 rebounds and five blocks in a win over Minnesota.

And Allen seems to be effective playing in the high point, so he doesn’t seem to clog up the area in which Drummond likes to operate, that of starting in the wing and backing down into the low post.

The move would also bring Okoro, who has started all of the 20 games he has played in, off the bench. He has scored in double figures just four times in the last 12 contests, shooting just 28% from three (9 for 32) in that span.

Offense wasn’t what made the Auburn standout the fifth overall pick in the draft, and we are confident he will improve in that area. Right now, though, it might be a good time to take a step back.

The Drummond/Allen pairing would be temporary anyway, because when Love returns, he presumably will take over at power forward.

This season should be for seeing what works and what doesn’t. Why not see what playing Drummond and Allen together looks like?

Suddenly, The Cavs Have Depth At Center

For a long time, the Cleveland Cavaliers played without a true center. Sure, Tristan Thompson was a solid player and did a fine job manning the position in his time in Cleveland, but he’s really a defensive minded power forward.

At 6’9″, he battled against guys taller than him, and basically outworked them, but he wasn’t a “true” center, even in today’s NBA.

Last season, the organizational philosophy changed at the trade deadline when Detroit decided they wanted to unload the contract of Andre Drummond, and GM Koby Altman decided to deal some spare parts.

Since getting Drummond, the Cavs have added veteran Javale McGee via a trade with the Lakers in the off-season, and recently picked up Jarrett Allen from the Nets in the James Harden blockbuster.

When Kevin Love is ready to play, which may be soon, along with Larry Nance Jr., J.B. Bickerstaff will now have cadre of very good big men to put on the court.

Even with Love out, McGee hasn’t been able to get on the court much as Drummond and Allen take all the minutes at the pivot.

Allen will turn 23 in April and is the future for Cleveland. He’s a restricted free agent after the season, and quite frankly we can’t see any scenario in which they do not match any offer given to him, if indeed, they haven’t come together on an extension before that.

He has averaged 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots per game in the eight games he has played with the Cavaliers, and that is in just 25 minutes per night.

Everyone figured it was going to be a long shot for Drummond, who has been outstanding this season, leading the league in rebounds at 15.1 per night, while scoring 18.5 points and adding three steals or blocks per contest, to sign with the Cavs long term, but now Altman can deal from strength because Allen would be an outstanding replacement.

Going forward, the combination of Allen and McGee makes a lot of sense because they seem to be similar players, giving Bickerstaff a seamless transition when he substitutes, especially on offense.

Drummond plays a different game when Cleveland has the ball. He likes to back his way down into the low post with the dribble, which doesn’t put him a good position to pass the ball outside when double teams come. He also plays more with his back to the basket, traditional center play.

It would not be surprising if the 27-year-old free agent to be will be traded soon to either a contender or to an organization looking to use his expiring contract to create cap space for the off-season.

And contrary to rumors nationally, we don’t think there is any way Altman will buy out Drummond and allow him to become an immediate free agent. He’s too valuable as a trade chip.

Despite how well the Cavs have played this season, a credit to their head coach, they still are a ways away from having a roster that can rank in the top half of the Eastern Conference standings, and they are playing well enough that a high lottery pick isn’t likely.

Even though the NBA game has changed and guards are featured more, there still is a place for big men who can protect the rim. It seems like the Cavs’ organization has remembered that, and are now the place to come to for other teams looking for the same thing.

Cavs Back To Being Short On Big Men

For years, we have wondered about the Cleveland Cavaliers and their aversion to have big men on the roster. And it has raised it’s ugly head once again.

After winning the title in 2016, the franchise has seemed to ignore having traditional big people (read: rim protectors) on the roster.

And when they have signed these guys, such as Chris Andersen and Andrew Bogut, injuries have occurred, so neither player could make a real impact.

Since the middle of last season, that seems to have changed a bit, with GM Koby Altman trading for Andre Drummond, and then trading for Javale McGee before the 2020-21 campaign. That gave J.B. Bickerstaff four solid players at power forward and center. The two we mentioned as well as Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr.

Unfortunately, Love has pretty much been absent this season (he has basically played one game) with a calf injury and once again, Bickerstaff’s rotation has a big gaping hole.

Nance is kind of a swiss army knife, contributing some scoring, rebounding, and passing as well as being able to block shots (8.3 ppg, 7rpg, almost 5 assists), so the starting lineup is probably better defensively, but they lose Love’s outside shooting.

The problem is not having someone with Nance’s versatility off the bench. Dean Wade appears to be over matched and we believe we weigh more than Thon Maker, the coach’s first options to soak up the minutes at the #4 and #5 spots on the court.

So, Bickerstaff and the Cavs are back to having a shortage of big people. We think it is possible to play small for a limited amount of minutes in a game, but generally, you need players who can contest shots around the basket. Right now, the Cavs rank 13th in the league in blocked shots, a dramatic improvement from last year’s ranking of dead last.

And if Love were only going to miss a handful of games, it would simply be something the team would just have to battle through. But he’s going to be out a month, so we think Altman should be hunting for a replacement.

One name that comes to mind is John Henson, who was here a year ago before being dealt to Detroit in the Drummond transaction.

Henson is just 30 years old and can play both PF and C, and averaged 5.5 points and almost three rebounds in 15 minutes per game last season. He would have to be a better option on the court right now than what is on the roster right now.

Another option would be Dewayne Dedmon, now 31-years-old. He put up almost 6 points and 6 boards per night with the Kings and Hawks a year ago.

To be fair, we don’t know what kind of shape either player is in at the present time.

We understand the Cavaliers probably aren’t going to make the playoffs this season, but we know Bickerstaff wants to win as many games as he can, and in terms of big men, he has one arm tied behind his back.

Besides, the back end of the wine and gold roster is filled with developmental players who will get action in the G League when it starts play. It’s not like Altman would have to cut loose someone with all star potential.

If the franchise wants winning to be part of the learning process, then get some players with size who can stay on an NBA court for 8-10 minutes per game.

That would be the right thing to do for Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Isaac Okoro.