Predicting how the Cavaliers will do against the Northwest Division

How the Cavs stack up against the Thunder

OKC is a team that I can’t really seem to completely peg at this point.

This summer, they traded away Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets (as was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Royce Young) for Chris Paul and future first-round draft capital, and pick swaps in 2021 and 2025, too, and OKC also got a record-setting number of future draft picks along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari in exchange for trading away Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers (per Wojnarowski).

As of now, the Thunder have a squad that would look to be competitive, and I’d think would create some tough matchups for the Cavaliers. Paul, though he’s had injuries pile up in recent seasons, is still one of the game’s best lead guards when healthy and would probably be a handful in pick-and-rolls with big Steven Adams, and Dennis Schroder could be a tough cover for Cleveland, too, especially in switchout situations, as a combo guard.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who was Second-Team All-Rookie with 10.8 points and 3.3 assists for the Clippers last season, is also a player that is likely to give the Cavaliers fits in the pick-and-roll, and at 6-foot-6, could feasibly be a tough matchup for a variety of positions from 1-3 over the course of games both on and off the ball.

Though he’s only 21, Gilgeous-Alexander has incredible feel as a scorer in all three levels, can get to pull-ups well, and is a quality passer that I’d imagine will get plenty of kickouts to a number of OKC players, such as Terrance Ferguson and Gallinari.

On the offensive end, Sexton and Garland, along with maybe Knight and Matthew Dellavedova some, could be able to take advantage of Schroeder with drives and from handoff scenarios with Nance or Love, but if Paul is their primary matchup, he’s still very capable on the perimeter of locking up pretty well if healthy thanks to his active hands and great IQ.

On the wing, if he’s able to be back to full strength from his reported patellar tendon rupture way back in January of 2018 (and for now, he’s expected to play in the Thunder’s Blue and White scrimmage, per The Oklahoman‘s Maddie Lee), OKC’s Andre Roberson is capable of locking up against a variety of playmakers/wing threats, so if that’s the case, I wouldn’t expect much out of Osman or perhaps Porter.

Additionally, Roberson’s feel for getting in passing lanes could often result in deflections leading to run-outs, too. The fluid Ferguson, who is solid when it comes to closeouts and can get through off-ball screens, could give the likes of Windler and/or Porter trouble, too.

On the interior, Adams is as good as it gets when it comes to post-ups, and he uses his strength to keep lob and putback threats away from the rim very well, and is a formidable threat at the rim that alters his share of shots, too.

The question to me about OKC, though, is will their roster change a fair amount as say, the calendar turns to 2020?

Predicting how the Cavs will do against OKC in 2019-20: 1-1

With the Thunder seemingly having interest in dealing away Paul (per Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney), who is 34 and is not getting any younger, and with OKC reportedly setting their asking price for Adams in a possible trade (also per Deveney), I’d think that there’s a good chance Cleveland could be facing a rebuilding Thunder team that’s much less formidable.

Of course, trades can take time, though, and we’ll see what happens.

I’ll say the Cleveland Cavaliers split at this point, given the uncertainty surrounding OKC.