Cavs: 3 things to watch for in the preseason opener

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Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

The last game that the Cleveland Cavaliers played was on Sunday, May 16th in Brooklyn, a 123-109 loss to the Nets. Since that game the Cavs said goodbye to Matthew Dellavedova, drafted Evan Mobley, traded for Ricky Rubio and Lauri Markkanen, and filled out the back-end of a roster hoping to improve.

The key figures of this team, Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, are still the same. Jarrett Allen is still manning the middle. Yet the rotation around them could look very different than last season, with some players getting healthy and others falling off or departed.

After five months without basketball, the Cavs play their first preseason game tonight. What are three things to watch for?

We get our first glimpse of the new-look roster tonight, as the Cavs pick up the basketball once again and play an NBA game, albeit an exhibition. The Cavs take on the Chicago Bulls at 8:00pm EST. The Bulls will be trotting out a new-look roster of their own, with even more significant changes across their rotation.

Cleveland will play in back-to-back games to kick off their preseason slate, flying down to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on Wednesday night at 7:30pm EST. What are the key things to watch for in their first action in five months? There are many, but we’ve narrowed the list down to a top three, starting with the health of the Cavs’ shooters.