Cleveland Cavaliers fans should have positive feelings about the team after the season they had that wrapped up roughly two months ago.
No, the Cavaliers did not make the postseason, which was a bit disappointing with how the team played for much of the season. On the plus side, the Cavaliers did still have a heck of a turnaround, in doubling their win total from the year prior from 22 to 44 victories, and there were a number of quality performers for the team as a whole.
The most prominent guys were Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Garland had a big-time third-year leap, and he and Allen both repped the Cavaliers with Team LeBron in the Cleveland-centric All-Star Game. Mobley, meanwhile, had 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per contest, and finished in second for the Rookie of the Year by a narrow margin.
Aside from those guys, Kevin Love was huge for the Cavs in a move to a bench role, and actually finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting. I thought offseason sign-and-trade acquisition Lauri Markkanen settled in to a role adjustment as his season progressed, too, and Cedi Osman gave a notable lift to the team off the bench on plenty of instances. And others such as Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens made their presences felt, particularly defensively in that sense.
It was cool to see Ricky Rubio prior to his torn ACL in late December pop as a supersub-type player following his trade acquisition, too. His injury, especially along with Collin Sexton‘s (meniscus tear) early on in November, was so unfortunate, but it’s understandable that it’s long been rumored Cleveland could potentially bring back Rubio this offseason.
I have mixed feelings on that; I do hope Sexton is back, either way, and it appears he likely will be. Both can undoubtedly help the team, provided they can be mostly healthy and not have setbacks, anyhow.
As far as next season for Cleveland, while there were a number of bright spots for the team in 2021-22, regardless of who the Cavaliers select next week, even more so seemingly at #14 in the 2022 NBA Draft, there are two Cavs I could have doubts about.
Others could be in that realm, but these two guys I feel more strongly about, and the teams’ approach with these two players will be very telling, in my opinion.
To that point, we’ll take a closer look at them here, beginning with #1 next.
The first is a young wing heading into Year 3 who needs to show more if he again gets a large chunk of minutes.
#1: Isaac Okoro
The first player to comes to mind in this light that we touched on earlier is Isaac Okoro. In his first two seasons, Okoro has often done a fine job on the defensive end on the perimeter, even in such tough matchups game after game.
This now-past season, he did so again, and like other Cavaliers, should benefit from the Mobley-Allen defensive duo to help. I’m not discounting Okoro’s defensive work against quality perimeter options/primary initiators a bunch of the time, though, and his competitiveness is not something I take for granted.
Either way, Okoro’s offense is still something that many objectively have to have their questions about. Coming into the NBA after one collegiate season at Auburn, it was apparent that Okoro was fairly raw on that end of the floor, and as a shooter.
That’s generally what has played out through two seasons. This past season, with him more so playing at the 2 with Sexton’s injury, Okoro had 8.8 points per contest, with the minutes-share reduced a bit from 32.4 to 29.6 minutes per game.
Okoro did close out the season fairly well as a catch-and-shoot player from three-point range, and ended out shooting 35.0 percent from three on the year. He connected on 46.0 percent from deep in his last 28 regular season appearances.
That being said, his three-point attempts per contest decreased to 2.3 from 3.2 as a rookie, and in that aforementioned close to his second season, he attempted only 1.8 per game. So, needless to say, the volume wasn’t high.
So, looking onward, and with early next season in mind here, if Okoro doesn’t show more offensive growth, or at least more assertiveness I believe when he’s in, especially if it’s a starting-type minutes-share, I could foresee a minutes trim. After the first 10-12 games, we could see how the outlook is in that realm, I’d think.
Other guys such as Collin Sexton, to some extent, if he’s back, Caris LeVert, a potential combo guard/wing selection and Lamar Stevens could factor in more, and as far as defensive guys, Stevens could definitely impact Okoro’s outlook. Stevens can do similar things, and although Okoro is quicker, Stevens is more capable against some bigger wings and/or forwards, and showed encouraging offensive capabilities when given the chances last season.
It’ll be telling to see if Okoro can make more things happen offensively in the earlygoing next season, anyway. Regardless, I do question if he could potentially be a trade piece down the road, or be a player that’s more of a situational piece. He’s still only 21, but this next year is a crucial one for his future.
#2: Caris LeVert
Secondly, it’ll be intriguing to see the Cavs’ approach with Caris LeVert early on next season. LeVert wasn’t establish to really establish a rhythm in his regular season play with Cleveland following his trade acquisition near the past deadline from the Indiana Pacers, and had 13.6 points per game in 19 outings then.
That was alright on the surface, but LeVert just didn’t seem the impact game-to-game that one might have been expecting, as that 2/3 key perimeter scorer. The Cavaliers were in dire need of that to take some pressure off of Garland, and there were some instances where LeVert did so; it just wasn’t nearly to the extent one would’ve thought.
Of course, I give him some slack, given that LeVert missed the first nine games post-All-Star break due to a foot sprain. That didn’t exactly help.
And I give LeVert his due for the playmaking aspect, as he had a respectable 3.9 assists per game in that span post-trade, and for his career with the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana, he’s had 4.0 assists per contest. I personally could foresee LeVert being more impactful as a playmaker next season, if given the opportunities, too, as opposed to as a wing scorer.
However, with LeVert, it’ll again be telling to see how he does early on next year and Cleveland’s approach with his role when he’s in there, whether that’s in a starting or, as I’d more so expect, a bench contributor.
If he’s back and/or signed long term, does Collin Sexton play his share of stretches with LeVert, with LeVert more so as the primary playmaker? Does LeVert start with Garland? I’d prefer and more so believe it’d be the former, but if Cleveland makes a backup lead guard signing or drafts one, it’s tough to say how the dynamic is involving LeVert, in my opinion, with others in the fold.
Now, LeVert is set to be extension-eligible this offseason, so perhaps he could be signed long term. I have my questions about that, though, given his injury history, and lifetime, he’s only a 33.3 percent three-point shooter, and he’s not been necessarily a reliable catch-and-shoot player.
So with what we’ve touched on in mind, it’s understandable that LeVert, who will turn 28 in August, has seemingly often been a suggested trade piece, with his expiring deal currently.
We could potentially see LeVert dealt during the offseason it appears, but if not, it’s safe to say their approach with him early next season will be telling as well, similarly to what demonstrated in regards to Okoro.