The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t supposed to factor into end-of-season awards. They did when LeBron James was around, sure, but this is a franchise that has not posted a winning season without James since 1998. This season they were not expected to sniff a winning record.
Nine games into a season with a brutal opening stretch, the Cavs are already posting a winning record at 5-4. They have been exciting to watch on both ends of the court, and are capturing some national attention from their combination of highlight plays and a standout rookie.
The Cavs have had a hot start to the season. Which standout players are entering their names in for end-of-year awards?
We wrote earlier this week that Evan Mobley (and Jarrett Allen) are in the fringe All-Star discussion but currently on the outside looking in. If the Cavs keep up a winning record someone on the team will get some All-Star consideration, but it’s likely to be split four-ways (with Darius Garland and Collin Sexton) so it’s a long-shot at best.
We also discussed Evan Mobley making the All-Defense Team, which is absolutely in view but would be historic; check it out here if you want to dig into it more.
We conclude our look at awards with a roundup of three remaining awards and which players are currently in the mix at this early junction of the season. We’ll begin with that upstart young rookie making waves throughout the league with his two-way play.