Mike Brown is right saying Cavs are better off now than in his last year with them

Former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown emphasized that Cleveland is better equipped now than in his last year coaching them (which was a LeBron James-less season) and that is the right outlook.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished last season with a 19-63 record (per NBA.com), and yes, you probably are well aware of that. LeBron James went to the Los Angeles Lakers last summer via free agency (his second free agency departure from the Cavaliers), and though injuries played a huge role in it, Cleveland had a massive drop-off in play, and likely wouldn’t have been a postseason team in a better Eastern Conference, anyhow.

The Cavs do have some nice pieces, however, in young guard Collin Sexton, who was recently named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, to go with wing Cedi Osman, bigs Ante Zizic, Larry Nance Jr. and the team’s best player, Kevin Love.

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In the team’s last rebuild after LeBron left to go to the Miami Heat, Cleveland didn’t have close to as many building blocks, realistically, as the only clear young long-term pieces were Kyrie Irving (who was drafted first overall in 2011 but wasn’t on the team in the first LeBron-less season and is no longer on Cleveland now) and Tristan Thompson (who is still on the team).

A former head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers (over two separate tenures) and now assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, Mike Brown, who was Cleveland’s head coach in the last season (2013-14) before James’ return to Cleveland, recently emphasized how Cleveland is better off now than they were back in that year, and he’s right in saying that.

Additionally, that year was the fourth year removed from James’ departure, whereas Cleveland is going to be entering just their second in the second-post LeBron free agency exit.

Here’s what Brown initially said on that, courtesy of Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer.

"“I think they are in a better spot right now than they were in my one year,” said Brown, now an assistant coach for Golden State.”"

Pluto noted how Brown had players that didn’t really mesh well in that year, with an inexperienced Irving that seemingly wasn’t able to really lead due to lack of maturity, Thompson, Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett (who turned out to be a huge bust, but may make an NBA comeback, though), and Tyler Zeller, to go with aging veterans who weren’t very effective anymore.

Brown then mentioned how he didn’t have a player the caliber of Love, and how the Cavaliers have some nice young pieces to further build such as Sexton, again, per Pluto.

"“I had no one like Kevin Love,” Brown said. “They have some good young players in Nance and Sexton. Our cupboard was pretty bare compared to what they have now in their second season (after James).”"

As we’ve highlighted here at KJG, the Cleveland Cavaliers and their coaching staff headed by new head coach John Beilein (along with the front office headed by general manager Koby Altman) will seemingly be trying to build a culture that is predicated on hard work, being able to play team-first basketball on both ends, and having outstanding character.

Though Beilein does not have any NBA coaching experience, he has some nice core pieces (headlined by Sexton) to help build a winner with, along with a bevy of draft picks in the coming years (including two first-round selections in this year’s draft) of which the coaching staff and front office will have to make quality decisions on, and an experienced associate head coach in J.B. Bickerstaff, who should help make the NBA transition smoother for Beilein.

So, yes, Brown is right in saying that the Cavaliers are in a better spot now than they were back in his second go-round with them in even the fourth year first post-LeBron departure.

That’s a reason for fans to be excited about the near future, which should produce better results than in 2018-19, as long as majority owner/team chairman Dan Gilbert has what Altman said the organization needs, in “patience,” (again, per Pluto).

Gilbert did seem on board with that, though (per Pluto), in saying “it will take time, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

Be optimistic, Cavs fans.