In the next set of divisional breakdowns, we predict how the Cleveland Cavaliers will do against the Northwest Division in 2019-20.
The NBA season is just a few weeks away now, and fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers, including myself, have to be chomping at the bit for the 2019-20 season to get here.
The Cavaliers recently began their training camp on Tuesday, and after what was a pretty mundane offseason because of their lack of salary cap flexibility, the main difference in the team going into this season is Cleveland’s 2019 batch of rookies along with new head coach John Beilein, and Cleveland’s mostly-new coaching staff around him, consisting of now-top assistant J.B. Bickerstaff, along with newcomers Antonio Lang and Lindsay Gottlieb joining others.
As has been often discussed by KJG contributors, the Cavs’ three draft selections of guard Darius Garland and wings Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr. all appear to have the makings of meaningful contributors in coming years, and even during their rookie years, with Cleveland’s primary focus being on their rebuild.
It was unfortunate to hear that according to the Cavaliers, Windler is likely to be a limited participant in training camp and might not play at all during the preseason, given that he reportedly is dealing with a left tibial stress reaction and is (as of last Friday) out four to now five weeks when it comes to full-go action.
Garland, for the record, has been a limited participant in training camp and his missed time according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, due to reported foot soreness, but that’s been precautionary and it seems as though Garland will be fine for the regular season and perhaps preseason some, even.
So anyhow, it’s still nice to hear that Beilein’s imprint is already being felt in training camp with the season rapidly approaching, as that back-to-back basics style is something this Cavaliers team, which only was 19-63 last season (per NBA.com), should really embrace to get going in the right direction.
With the preseason, which begins on Oct. 7, almost here and the 2019-20 season starting on Oct. 23 at the Orlando Magic (for reference, you can view the schedule here, per the team/NBA.com), we’ll get into our next KJG divisional breakdown, which will involve the Northwest division this go-round. For reference, you can view our Cavs-Central Division, Cavs-Atlantic Division and Cavs-Southeast Division breakdowns as well.
Anyway, the Northwest Division is comprised of the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz.
First up, we’ll examine how the Cavaliers match up with the Nuggets.