The Cleveland Cavaliers and the other non-Orlando teams might have some team work next month.
At this point, it’s hard to say anything is definitive involving non-Orlando teams potentially having individual/team work upcoming. The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of those teams, of course, that were not invited to the Orlando bubble.
For the Wine and Gold, it was understandable for them, being at 19-46 and having the league’s second-worst record going into the novel coronavirus-induced hiatus, to have had their 2019-20 campaign essentially done.
It was tough from a team dynamic standpoint, though, to have had their campaign over, with how the group seemed re-energized post-All-Star break. In that stretch in which J.B. Bickerstaff took over the head coaching reigns, the squad was 5-6 and had the league’s sixth-best assist rate and were 10th in effective field goal shooting.
That was a positive, but then the hiatus and eventual end of 2019-20 games for the Cavs ultimately ensued. For the Cavs, it’s rough that them not being able to play more games at the Orlando bubble was eventually the case, from a player development perspective for pieces such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr., for instance.
There was eventually a report of a potential bubble for non-Orlando teams that could have featured four Summer League-type games/team mini-camps from ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan in Chicago in September. Then there was a report from the Charlotte Observer‘s Rick Bonnell of teams potentially having in-market workouts at team facilities first in mid-August, and then potentially having two cities as host sites for possibly eventually having teams have some scrimmaging.
Bonnell did note that the NBA/NBPA did not okay that, though, and then a report came from Shams Charania of The Athletic (and Stadium) and The Athletic‘s Sam Amick (subscription required) that there was a “growing belief” of there not being a second bubble, feasibly involving intrasquad scrimmages.
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Then Amick shortly thereafter reported (subscription required) that the league had been “exploring” non-Orlando teams maybe going to the Orlando bubble for practices/team workouts after teams were eliminated from the bubble/postseason.
Albeit then ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported how the league had not been considering that, and “has no interest in that idea,” although Woj did then say how the league/NBPA would be set to at some point agree on “voluntary workouts in the team facilities.”
So that could lead to optimism? I guess, because considering that the next season for the Cavs could reportedly be starting even in March, per Woj, at least having some team workouts could be meaningful.
From there, we saw perhaps some traction for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other non-Orlando teams, per a recent report.
The aforementioned Charania noted this in a report on Friday involving “serious talks” about an in-market bubble program for those non-Orlando clubs, and provided other details as far as daily testing for COVID-19, and others, which you can view here.
Sources: The NBA and NBPA are in serious talks on in-market bubble program in September for the eight franchises that were not part of Orlando restart, with framework:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2020
- Daily testing
- One week of individual workouts
- Two weeks of group practices
- One hour of 5-on-5 per day
If the Cavs were able to get at least some 5-on-5 work in via this format, especially for Bickerstaff and the young pieces, such as KPJ and Garland again, that could be very productive from my viewpoint. The Cleveland Cavaliers could definitely benefit from a player development perspective by getting their youngsters some work in, if the protocols are in place, which the league and NBPA would need to ensure is set, obviously.
We’ll have to see, given the fluidity of this situation involving non-Orlando teams, but it would be a positive for teams such as the Cavs, and for last season’s leader scorer in Collin Sexton (20.8 points per game) for continued progression. Additionally, it was at least nice to hear that Kevin Love would “absolutely” go to the NBA bubble if non-Orlando teams would be able to at some point, per Love on an appearance on Talkin’ Blazers with Channing Fry.
Now it would seem that won’t be the case at least for now, but Love’s outlook is nice to hear, as he should be a key leader for the Wine and Gold next season.
Love, who had 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 2019-20, seemed especially locked-in post-All-Star with Bickerstaff at the helm, and if this proposal were to be granted, it could be great for team chemistry.
We’ll have to see with this situation’s fluidity, though, in relation to COVID-19.