The last game the Cleveland Cavaliers played before meeting up with franchise icon LeBron James and the Lakers came on Monday against Detroit. Ironically enough, that matchup might’ve given the team a look at a troublesome long-term future post-LeBron if they aren’t careful.
Monday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons was not too much of a contest, despite the Cavs’ late surge to try to make the contest interesting. The Pistons posted a 38-point first quarter to set the tone in the 113-102 Cleveland loss, as Andre Drummond led all scorers with 23 points on the night.
But the game on Monday provided the Cavs another look at a rebuilding process. Detroit’s roster shares a fair amount of similarities, oddly enough. That isn’t really a good thing.
If the Cavaliers are taking notes on how to properly rebuild, the Motor City’s blueprint shouldn’t be what they follow. Detroit once had a ton of promise to nail a successful rebrand. But they’ve rushed the process too many times and the current structure won’t amount to anything past a first or second-round exit.
How did it get there? Well, one could say that would be the LeBron effect. After years of getting sent to the bottom of the playoff pack, Detroit continued to touch up the edges of a rather shaky makeup to try and stop James. Obviously, it didn’t work and it did some damage to the future.
For instance, the Pistons more than likely have stunted the growth of Stanley Johnson. Johnson, the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, came out of Arizona as one of the stronger two-way forwards. His offense wasn’t anywhere near a finished product, but as NBADraft.net put it during the time of his draft process, Johnson “can score the ball in numerous ways”. With his scoring average never eclipsing a total of eight points per night, one wonders if the ship has sailed for the former Wildcat ever becoming anything more than an alright offensive player.
Aside from Andre Drummond, Detroit has three first-round picks on their roster. Johnson is the first of the selections dating back to 2015. His case has to worry that fanbase due to the lack of time the organization has spent developing him into a building block. And if Johnson’s case is worrisome, the other two selections might have fans feeling trapped in a nightmare.
While you can’t judge the book of 2017 first-rounder Luke Kennard due to his extended injury absence, it must be mentioned that he only started nine games last year in 73 games played. Why isn’t a top-ten pick getting more than twenty minutes of playing time, especially if the Pistons were a team that fell short of forty wins? Kennard is a lengthy guard who can hurt defenses in a number of ways. His three-ball isn’t anything to scoff at and his ability to drive isn’t too shabby either. A grittiness on the defensive end surely fits right into the Detroit mold, if given a chance to shine once he returns.
Henry Ellenson is the final first-round pick on this roster. He’s played in one game this season for Detroit, otherwise spending his season thus far with the G-League’s Grand Rapids Drive.
The Cavs should take notes on this particular area, as they were slow to push Collin Sexton to the top of the depth chart. Delaying the growth of top picks is not a smart move for teams that have no real business fighting for playoff relevancy. If you aren’t playing in June, why not take the time to build something right? Luckily, Cleveland has been more willing to give Sexton, Cedi Osman, and the other young players a chance to work on their flaws while no one’s watching.
Once you get past the foreseeable futures, the Pistons’ makeup highlights even more similarities between them and Cleveland.
They have their All-Star, two of them to be exact. A frontcourt of Drummond and Blake Griffin is tremendous to have. But what’s the point in having two dominant bigs on a team that’s destined for no more than a first-round playoff exit?
The problem is Detroit can’t afford to ship out either one right now. They’ve thrown their chips on the table and have shown the league that their mindset is solely competing again. And even if they scratched that idea and tried to go with a development route, who are they going to develop? The lack of patience has already been displayed and it may have disrupted two if not all three of their latest first-rounders’ future.
A team with two highly-paid All-Stars, a slew of average veterans, and undeveloped rookies is not where you want to be after a rebuilding process. But Detroit finds itself locked in NBA purgatory after their own stubbornness did them in.
The timetable is still in the early stages for the Cavaliers’ rebuild. But with some heavy veteran contracts and an All-Star who can’t manage to stay healthy, it might be time to tear this thing up and let the developing begin. Even with Love and the vets sticking around, this squad may not hit twenty wins this season.
Hopefully, Dan Gilbert and Koby Altman are taking notes on how to reset the franchise.