The Cleveland Cavaliers: 30-52?
Las Vegas oddsmaker Jeff Sherman recently gave the Cleveland Cavaliers an over/under of 30.5 wins.
NBA seas wins
— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) August 5, 2018
Atl 23.5
Bos 57.5
Brk 32.5
Cha 35.5
Chi 27.5
Cle 30.5
Dal 34.5
Den 47.5
Det 37.5
GS 62.5
Hou 54.5
Ind 47.5
LAC 35.5
LAL 48.5
Mem 34.5
Mia 41.5
Mil 46.5
Min 44.5
NO 45.5
NY 29.5
OKC 50.5
Orl 31.5
Phi 54.5
Phx 28.5
Prt 41.5
Sac 25.5
SA 43.5
Tor 54.5
Uth 48.5
Wsh 44.5
To me, this number seemed low (that probably comes as no surprise, this is a Cavs blog after all).
Still, I wanted to be responsible, so I wondered: what would a 30-win Cavs season look like?
Enter: the Knicks.
Remember last year’s Knicks?
Probably not. Unless you saw them before the All-Star break.
They hovered in-and-out of contention throughout the start of the season. On February 6, the team was 24-31. That same night, Kristaps Porzingis tore his ACL.
Soon after, New York began a “youth movement” (read: tanked). They traded for Emmanuel Mudiay, who, at the ripe age of 22, held the league’s worst plus/minus at his position when acquired. The team went on to win only five more games.
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To go from perennial Finals contender to last year’s Knicks is quite the fall from grace, even when considering LeBron James’s recent departure.
But it might not be so crazy.
K-Love (and the K stands for Kristaps)
Kevin Love could be the Cavs’ Kristaps Porzingis.
No, he isn’t a seven-foot-three Latvian phenom. However, Love is the Cavs’ best player like Porzingis is for the Knicks and both are vital to running their teams’ offense.
Furthermore, Kevin Love has a history of getting injured. In both the last two seasons, Love has missed large chunks of playing time.
Last season, he fractured his left hand in January and tore a ligament in his thumb in April. In 2017, he had surgery on his left knee—on February 14, only a week later in the season than when Porzingis had his injury.
Love played 59 games last year and 60 games in 2016-17. Porzingis played 48 last year.
Without Love playing more than 60 games, the Cavs will struggle to get into the playoffs.
If he plays less than 48 though… well, they probably turn into a 30-win team, especially if they start out with a record like the Knicks’.