Reacting to the Cleveland Cavaliers initial NBA 2K21 ratings

The new game from the 2K franchise released and with it comes the ratings of each player in the league. Here, we’ll take a look at the Cleveland Cavaliers’ perspective from that.

Looking at these initial player ratings for 2K21 as a Cleveland Cavaliers fan is kind of disappointing especially when compared to where the players were rated at the beginning of the year this now-past season from their viewpoint. I will only be covering certain players and specific things that stand out and not the entire team.

All ratings are out of 99. For a point to contextualize the ratings, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo top out the ratings as 97 overall players.

The first thing that stands out is the team’s rating itself. The Cavs are considered a tier-three team which is the lowest you can be as a team. As a team they are a 79 overall, with a 77 inside rating, a 77 outside, a 78 athleticism rating, a 61 playmaking, a 60 defense, 61 interior, and the only bright side being an 84 in potential.

These ratings point out the clear fact that there is still a lot of work to do before the Cavs will be contenders again. Along with this, it shows that there is an evident need for a true primary playmaker on the team. Currently, the Cavaliers are lacking in that department.

Also, even with the defensive interior presence that is Andre Drummond, who seems extremely likely to pick up his $28.8 million player option for next season on the team, at least for now in the game sense, the Cavs still rank near the bottom of the league in defensive rating.

So what jumped out from the initial Cleveland Cavaliers NBA 2K21 player ratings, then?

Getting into player ratings, we will start with Drummond, who is the team’s highest-rated player at an 85 overall. This is only a single overall drop from the start of the season, which is accurate, considering statistically he had nearly an identical season.

More from King James Gospel

• 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
• The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
• 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
• 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
• This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead

Next up is Kevin Love who dropped from an 83 overall to an 82 overall. With him aging combined with seemingly at times in 2019-20, him having a lack of effort/showing visible frustration, the one overall drop was earned, if not generous, of 2K.

The third-best player according to 2K is Collin Sexton, who led the Cleveland Cavaliers in scoring during this-now past season with 20.8 points per game on 47.2 percent shooting. Sexton jumped from a 77 overall to an 80 overall.

Considering the incredible jump that Sexton had, this ranking was earned, however, I believe that he played to the level of an 81 to 84. He showed that he is a better player than Love with how he puts an immense amount of pressure on opposing defenses night-in and night-out.

Kevin Porter Jr. is another young Cavalier that made quite the jump from 2K20 to 2K21, at least in these initial rankings. At the beginning of the year last season, he was a 72 overall.

In the outset of 2K21, he is starting off as a 75 after a rather impressive rookie season that not many really saw coming. KPJ having 10.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 0.9 steals per contest as a rookie bench contributor in 23.2 minutes per contest was very encouraging, and as his second season progresses, I could very well see his rating improve, too.

The final player that had a major change in overall rating was Darius Garland. After a disappointing season, to say the least, he went from a 77 overall to a 74.

Hopefully, next season we can see him have a bounceback campaign and become a more efficient contributor than having a 40.1 percent overall shooting clip, show more as a pick-and-roll scorer, and get his footing in the NBA.

With him ready to roll and no longer affected by a prior meniscus tear he suffered in college in his short stint at Vanderbilt that seemingly had an impact on his play as a rookie, per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, perhaps that will play out.

We’ll see more on how the Cleveland Cavaliers player ratings change once the next season for them gets underway, and that should be interesting to see, especially when it comes to Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and Garland, for instance.