The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have a banner season in 2020-21; they finished out 22-50. There was again, a bunch of L’s stacked up.
The Cavaliers ended up losing 12 of their last 13, and had a season-high 11 straight losses in that span. That stretch was not an eventful one for Cavs fans.
The Cavs being ravaged by injuries didn’t help their cause throughout the year, though, and Larry Nance Jr., Kevin Love (pre-All-Star more so), and Darius Garland missing 18 games at varying points in the season wasn’t ideal. Collin Sexton even missed 13, and in this recent stretch, other pieces weren’t available, for example, of which included Nance.
Other NBA teams have had similar issues, particularly with the league’s condensed season, though, as we know.
Nonetheless, with Cleveland finishing out in a less than stellar way, painting it positively, it appears that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert could be considering making front office changes this offseason, after another forgettable campaign.
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) touched on the Andre Drummond buyout, Kevin Porter Jr. being shipped out and the Kevin Love extension as being key front office mistakes, and noted that Cavs general manager Koby Altman‘s resume will be put “under the microscope” by Gilbert this offseason.
Sam Amico of Forty Eight Minutes and OutKick reported how ownership is wondering about the front office’s competence and “the culture in the locker room,” from there.
Amico cited how the Porter situation/essentially shipping out to the Houston Rockets for nothing and the Drummond situation “baffled the team’s veterans and were called into question by the agents for potential free-agent or trade prospects” reached by his sources.
Amico then stated two alternatives in his report to seemingly Altman being potentially terminated.
"“One option the Cavs are considering is hiring a respected voice to serve in a president of basketball operations role and oversee the entire front office, including Altman, sources said. Another option under consideration, per sources, is to bring in a proven front office man, perhaps a former player, as a high-profile team advisor, or ‘special consultant.’ Bernie Bickerstaff, the father of coach J.B. Bickerstaff, currently holds the title of Cavs senior advisor.”‘"
Putting the ride in reverse for a brief second here, glancing back at the Porter thing, the talent is there for him to be a potential star, and we saw flashes of that in his rookie year, and he’s flourished with the Rockets.
I’m not necessarily just brushing that off, but the Cavaliers reportedly gave him chance after chance off the floor, and after a tumultous offseason and a food throwing incident in the locker room early this season, I can’t necessarily blame Altman/the front office for their actions.
The Drummond thing wasn’t ideal, albeit he/his camp were dissatisfied with his minutes-share and Cleveland wasn’t getting much in return for him, anyhow, and didn’t want to take back bad contract money. Not to mention, Drummond’s inefficiences/finishing woes and lack of effort post-Jarrett Allen trade acquisition were detrimental to the team. So that one I’m not making a big deal about.
As for Love, his then-four-year, $120.4 million extension has been a flop, and that’s fair to say, largely considering his prior injury history even before having been set to be extended. With Love’s shooting capabilities though, I understood the reasoning.
But on the plus side, the core is seemingly forming.
The Cavs could have their core, regardless of if front office changes are made.
Whether or not there’s front office changes eventually made by Gilbert/ownership, the core pieces could be forming here.
The Cavs backcourt’s progression is promising
Garland, who had 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest, and hit 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts, had quite the bounce-back campaign, and before going on the shelf due to an ankle injury, was really on a tear.
The scoring and passing abilities he displayed throughout his second season has me excited to see what the future holds for him, and his pick-and-roll feel led to buckets for himself and others regularly.
From there, while we’ll have to see regarding a potential sizeable contract extension for him this upcoming offseason, Sexton again took further strides in 2020-21.
His 24.3 points per outing were nothing to sneeze at, and he did so on 57.3 percent true shooting, even with often lackluster shooting around him aside from Garland and with Love so limited injury-wise.
To me, though I’m not saying he could be a #1 guy for Cleveland looking onward, his all-around scoring abilities and for the most part in his career thus far, his durability and passing strides show that he should be a core piece moving forward, too.
And if the Cavaliers can get more consistency around him, that could aid in maximizing his offense, and defensively, adding a player such as Frank Ntilikina or T.J. McConnell for true stretches could be beneficial. The same could go for a 2021 prospect such as Jonathan Kuminga, Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley and/or Moses Moody.
Allen and Okoro could be in that mold, too, and the Cavs could add a few impact pieces
Additionally, whether or not Gilbert moves on from Altman, I would expect Allen to be a core piece moving forward, too, and one would expect him to be locked up this upcoming offseason.
He just wrapped up his first season averaging a double-double, and his chemistry with both Garland and Sexton has improved upon more experience with them following his trade acquisition from the Brooklyn Nets.
The rim protection from Allen and glass cleaning shouldn’t be discounted either, nor should him being just 23.
And lastly, while we’ll have to see if front office changes are eventually made, Isaac Okoro could be a core piece for coming years. I can’t say that’s a guarantee, but with the defensive abilities he’s displayed, even with such a tough rookie workload, he appears to be a keeper.
Okoro’s offense and shooting needs to continue to come along though, and hopefully, the assertiveness he displayed in the season’s closing stretch can lead to more success for him next season.
Albeit with Isaac, he does need to improve on-ball, become a pull-up threat and get better with his handle; that’s not to say that can’t happen, however, if he’s developed properly.
Anyway, though it remains to be seen what the 2021 NBA Draft will bring for Cleveland, they should be able to land a quality contributor, and that’s with a very deep and talented draft.
Now, if Okoro is potentially moved to a bench role in that process, it happens, but I’d still expect him to be a significant piece.
We’ll have to see what plays out with Kevin Love, in relation to his contract/whether or not he could be eventually waived and stretched before next season. That’s not the simplest ordeal.
But no matter what happens involving a possible front office set of changes, if the Cavaliers can add a few complementary pieces, such as McConnell/Ntilikina or Patty Mills, and with their high lottery pick in a deep draft, they could be pretty set.
To me, while I can’t say it for certain, also factoring in their pick to come feasibly, the Cavs could have their core, and if a front office change is set to be made, it’ll be up to them to ensure the core continues to mesh and Cleveland puts the right ancillary pieces around that core to return to relevance.
Some veteran leadership would help, too, whether that’s on the floor and/or off it/behind the scenes more, one would assume. For context, Fedor did touch on how this offseason, Cleveland’s key young pieces could potentially end up broken up, but his take on the progression of those guys appeared to make it seem that’s not a particularly high possibility.
The Cavaliers do need to learn how to win; I get that, and J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t have the strongest season, injuries aside. It’s not as if the circumstances were the best for him or the young guys, though.
Moreover, we’ll again have to see what plays out, but the progression of Sexton-Garland, the Allen add and Okoro’s defense/strong finish shouldn’t be discounted.