The Cleveland Cavaliers made many improvements this past season and nearly got into the postseason after several seasons of ugly basketball. They found a point guard and NBA All-Star in Darius Garland who will be a handful for opposing teams to deal with for years to come. They also found a diamond in the ruff by drafting big man Evan Mobley out of USC. Mobley is a special player and made a huge difference in the team’s progress.
Despite the progress, the team really choked at the end of the season and missed out on a playoff bid. So while there is renewed hope in the team, there is that other feeling of disappointment because the team got so close to making the playoffs. While this can be a ‘feel good” moment, and some will stick to that, the reality is this team was rolling early in the season and then simply ran out of gas and that good vibe energy. Some will point to the injury bug affecting the final results but it was ultimately a failure. So with that, let’s try answering a few questions about the offseason and how the team will rebound next season.
Cavs Question No. 1: Should the Cavs stick with Isaac Okoro as a starter on Opening Night next season?
Isaac Okoro, the Cavs guard started most of the games this past season after another shooting guard Collin Sexton went down with an early-season injury. Sexton will return next season however there is a possibility still that Sexton might get traded this offseason. Let’s though assume that Sexton returns does Okoro go to the bench?
And let’s not forget about guard Caris LeVert, who the team picked up late in the season after a trade with the Indiana Pacers. I’d say that the chances of Okoro starting, going forward into next season are slim to none. While Okoro is an excellent defender, the Cavs want to insert more scoring and will go back to Sexton if he’s still here when the season starts.
Cavs question No. 2: Should the Cavs trade their first-round pick for an established veteran?
Considering that the Cavs have the No. 14 pick, I’d think that the team might have better opportunities with a veteran and they should try to trade the pick. The team really needs to find a more reliable scorer who can play the 3 or 4 position. A player like Pascal Siakam out of Toronto would make sense. He’d score averaging more than 21 points a game. The knock on Siakam is that when he is bearing a heavy offensive load he takes a step back as a defender.
If the Cavs keep the draft pick they could still find a veteran in free agency. A player like Robert Covington, a forward who the Cavs had been rumored at one point to trade for this past season is now a free agent. He’s a 10-to-15 points a night player and could be an attractive player to the Cavs.
Cavs question No. 3: How does Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff improve in crunch time situations?
I’m the first to criticize the Cavs coach because he’s made some horrible decisions in games. Either he’s not using his bench players efficiently or playing rotations of players during games that make no sense. But he’s also making bad decisions late and has cost this team games in the past? Again, why did Cavs veteran forward and $30 million man Kevin Love only play 10 minutes in the final “play in-game” That move likely cost the team a win they should have secured.
I’m honestly not expecting Bickerstaff to improve much in this department
Cavs question No. 4: Should Dean Wade start over Lauri Markkanen?
I’m a big fan of Dean Wade. Some might think that Wade wasn’t aggressive enough on offense and while he was a good defender for the Cavs this past year, he wasn’t producing enough points. If you have followed Wade’s past career you’ll see that Wade was more involved in the offense when he played at Kansas State.
Now with the Cavs, he’s been coached to stand along the perimeter and solely shoot three-point shots. That’s on the Cavs coach Bickerstaff for not utilizing Wade’s natural talents. While the Cavs current forward Lauri Markkanen has been a good three-point shooter from the outside, his poor defensive efforts hurt the team this past season. it’s a tough call on this question because the Cavs would be better off going with Wade for defensive purposes but would be losing a bit offensively. That could change if Bickerstaff would alter his philosophy on using Wade offensively, but I don’t expect to see that happen.
Cavs question No. 5: Will the Cavs get to the playoffs next season?
Yes, they will as long as this team can maintain that fun and encouraging team chemistry that it started with this past season. That chemistry somewhat wavered as the season came to a close. I think the team was running out of gas because of how Bickerstaff was using his players. Veterans like Kevin Love and Cedi Osman weren’t as engaged in the team support as the season ended. They were often just sitting on the bench and not as involved. That’s not a knock on them because I believe internally the Cavs coaches and Bickerstaff were aggravating the issues as the season finished up.
There was so much more pressure put on the squad after they got off to the good start. The team was in second place in the Eastern Conference standings in the middle of February. To be brutally honest, the team choked away a playoff appearance. While the injury bug was an issue it shouldn’t have kept this team from getting to the postseason. Again, that comes back to team chemistry and coaching. Sometimes you can’t stop a locomotive ready to crash. The problem was that locative didn’t need to get rolling but it did because there wasn’t enough confidence in key moments by the coach or his young players.
Hopefully, an offseason and a renewed spirit will get this team ready to rock and roll next year and get to the postseason.