The Cleveland Cavaliers have not done much winning over the past few seasons, as injuries and a talent exodus left this team in a rebuilding state. Even so, the Cavs have managed to retain a few talented players and draft a few more, giving them a core with which to build on.
It is important for the Cavs, as with any team, to be continually evaluating their players as compared to their tiers. It matters whether a player is 5th, 15th or 35th at their position, or whether they are 50th or 150th in the league. Signing and re-signing players is based on this, as is negotiating trades.
The Athletic’s Seth Partnow ranked the Top 125 players in the NBA. Why were there only 2 Cavs on the list?
The media gets to do this ranking in public, and it’s a big task, especially when you write for a major publication or website. The Athletic’s Seth Partnow just dropped his Top 125 Players (subscription required) in the league article, sorting them all into tiers. As is expected from the Internet, he has been attacked and vilified online for some of his rankings decisions.
That’s not our goal here; Partnow is an intelligent basketball mind seeking to apply his reasoning to a ranking of the entire league. There will be places any of us disagree with him, but he is entitled to his opinion, and at the very least it’s an informed opinion.
Now to disagree. Despite ranking 125 players, and tacking on a few honorable mentions, Partnow only includes two Cavaliers on his list. Jarrett Allen and Collin Sexton both made the cut, but barely, falling in his final “Tier 5” of the rankings.
Why did Sexton and Allen make the cut, and who else should have been inside that Top 125?
The Athletic’s Top 125 players list: Just 2 Cavs make the cut
Collin Sexton: Tier “5A”
Partnow’s list was split into tiers, and his Tier 5A was the largest, encompassing every player from 80th to 125th. Collin Sexton fell in this tier, but whether he was 81st or 119th is unclear from Partnow’s article.
To provide some numbers for context, Sexton’s 24.3 points per game ranked 18th in the entire league, and his Box Plus-Minus ranked him 92nd. 538’s RAPTOR model ranked him 204th in Wins Above Replacement. Still just 22, Sexton’s arrow is pointing up, and if he continues to score at this rate he is certain to move further up the list next season. It’s reasonable to say he should be there now, when players such as Caris LeVert and Derrick Rose fell in Tier 4.
Jarrett Allen: Tier “5A”
Jarrett Allen likewise fell into Tier 5A, and his landing spot seems reasonable when compared to other big men in this range, assuming he is in actuality near the “top” of this tier. Richaun Holmes is older than Allen but had a breakout year for the Sacramento Kings, while Ivica Zubac is a rock-solid starting center who is basically 90 percent of Jarrett Allen on both ends of the court.
Even so, Allen also probably should have slipped into Tier 4. Some players that Partnow ranked in Tier “4B” are better than Allen, including Al Horford, Brook Lopez and DeAndre Ayton. Yet Jusuf Nurkic and Jonas Valanciunas also made the cut, and Allen is at least in the conversation with them. With an entire offseason in the Cavs’ program leading into next year, he is likewise a player primed to move up.
The Athletic’s Top 125 players list: More players should have made the list
Larry Nance Jr.
The Athletic’s list only included two Cavaliers, and the most glaring omission was combo forward Larry Nance Jr. He is simply one of the best defensive power forwards in the league, full stop. 538’s RAPTOR model ranked him as the 5th-best power forward on defense, and his Defensive BPM was 11th in the entire league.
Nance is not the most prolific offensive threat, but he has turned himself into a league-average shooter, and his combination of rebounding, steals and blocks make him a defensive game-changer who can guard small forwards or slide to small-ball center and provide rim protection.
He is a glaring omission from a list that saw fit to rank offense-first players such as Cameron Payne and Davis Bertans over him, and likewise slotted Nerlens Noel and Daniel Theis above him. Nance should have been firmly in Tier 5.
Ricky Rubio
Rubio was mentioned in the article as a player who “dropped out” but no reasoning was given (understandably so, as this was a wordy and ambitious project as it was). There is no question that Rubio had a down year last season, but he showed in the Summer Olympics that his down year was a function of environment and not evaporated ability. Rubio is one of the 125 best players in the league, and he should get a chance to show that as one of the league’s best backup point guards this upcoming year.
Darius Garland
Darius Garland didn’t deserve to be on the list, not at this point in his young career. Even so, he has a very good chance of making his debut next season if he can build on the gains he made from his rookie season to last season. Cameron Payne, Reggie Jackson and Immanuel Quickley all made the list; Garland should be better than all of them by the end of next year if he continues on his development track.
In the end, Partnow deserves credit just for putting this list together, and it’s a helpful look at one way the league might evaluate the Cavs’ players — perhaps even how this front office does. With the ages of the Cavs’ young core, Cleveland fans should expect to see many more names appear on these kinds of lists in the years to come.