In the latest KJG roundtable, the group discussed the start of the 2019-20 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, how head coach John Beilein is doing and recent contract extensions.
The 2019-20 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers is still just getting going, and they have started the year 2-3 under new head coach John Beilein.
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I’d imagine that at minimum, the vast majority of Cavs fans would say that start for Beilein and company has been as good as it could have been.
Cleveland, when they’ve had most of their success, has had very productive ball and man movement, which is essential to executing Beilein’s offense. In the Cavaliers’ two wins over the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls, the ball has hopped around.
Along with that, the Cavs’ two starting bigs, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, have been playing outstanding. Love is third on Cleveland in scoring with 17.2 points per game, and has been a monster on the defensive glass.
He’s had 16.8 rebounds per game to start 2019-20, and his 84 rebounds through the first five games of this season are the most through that time span to begin a year in Cavs’ history, per the team.
K-Love has also led the Cavs with 4.8 assists per game (per NBA.com), demonstrating that he’s highly capable of getting his teammates good looks with his vision. Furthermore, his all-around start has put him in the same company as one of the most dominant big men ever, in Wilt Chamberlain (per Elias Sports Bureau and h/t Cavs Official Notes).
Through his first 5 games with the @cavs this season, @kevinlove has 86 PTS, 84 REB and 24 AST. The only other player in @NBAHistory to hit all 3 of those marks in his team’s first 5 games of a season was Wilt Chamberlain in 1966. (via @EliasSports) #BeTheFight #Cavs50
— Cavs Notes (@CavsNotes) November 2, 2019
In Thompson’s case, he’s displayed quite an array of offensive moves, and is second on Cleveland in scoring with 17.6 points per contest, only trailing second-year guard Collin Sexton (18.2, per NBA.com).
TT has been his usual terrific on the glass, too, with 11.4 boards per outing, which includes 3.6 offensive.
He’s taken on the role of being Cleveland’s primary rim protector this year for Beilein, too, and has had some big moments, and even had a career-year five-block performance against the Bulls on Wednesday (per ESPN).
In relation to notable reserves, guard Jordan Clarkson has been his usual self as a bucket-getter, with 15.2 points per game on a nice start with a 60.9% true shooting clip. Clarkson has also shown positive signs as a passer this year as well, which has been good to see.
Big Larry Nance Jr. has done his part, too, with 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and he always is active as a screener both on and off the ball, which always helps.
In terms of the younger pieces, Cleveland has gotten consistent scoring production out of Sexton, but he’s clearly had some rough moments, too, especially on the defensive end.
Wing Cedi Osman‘s role as a key scoring and playmaking option has been minimized to this point, but he has still a respectable 9.2 points and is shooting 52.4% from three-point land (per Basketball Reference), and his defense on and off the ball seems to be improving.
Rookies Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. have struggled putting the ball in the basket to this point, while having true shooting clips of only 36.5% and 42.1% (per NBA.com), so yes, that’s not great and defensively, both have had their share of problems.
On the plus side, though, Garland has shown good playmaking instincts (a decent 4.5 assists per-36 minutes, per Basketball Reference), and Porter has shown flashes of secondary playmaking potential as well. Again, they are both rookies, so I’ll cut them some slack.
Anyway, in the latest KJG roundtable, the group discussed who’s been the biggest bright spot on Cleveland thus far, who’s been the most disappointing, to go with Beilein’s rotation.
I also asked the group about their initial reactions to Cedi Osman’s reported four-year, $30.8 million contract extension he and the team recently agreed to. Lastly, from there, we talked about the group’s initial thoughts on the reported long-term contract extension Cavs general manager Koby Altman agreed to a few days ago, too.
Alright then, so on to roundtable question number one.