The Cavs shouldn’t be satisfied with what they did this season

Going into the 2022 season, there were probably very few people who were predicting the Cleveland Cavaliers to qualify for the play-in tournament, let alone be in a position to make the actual NBA Playoffs. As the season progressed, however, the Cavs looked poised to qualify for the playoffs where they most likely would’ve matched up with their new rival, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Ultimately, the injury bug bit them hard and they lost key games down the stretch (including two games against the Raptors and Bulls that were make-or-break). As a result, they wound up playing in the play-in tournament.

In the play-in tourney, the Cavs lost to both the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks. Thus, the Cavaliers were not invited to the playoff party. Even if Cleveland had made the playoffs, it’s not likely they would have advanced to the second round. Had they beaten the Nets in the first play-in game, the eventual Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics would’ve been awaiting them. Had the Cavs defeated the Hawks in the second play-in game, then they would’ve been knocking on the door of Jimmy Butler and the no.1 seed Miami Heat.

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a giant step forward this season, but they shouldn’t be satisfied. They should want to improve and get better next season.

As stated above, it’s highly unlikely the Cavaliers would have been able to make a deep playoff run this past season. However, the team and fans shouldn’t be discouraged. Again, nobody expected the Cavaliers to be anywhere near the play-in let alone the actual playoffs.

Although the Cleveland Cavaliers had a successful season, don’t expect them to sit on their hands and be content with what they did. The expectation for this offseason should be to go out and make moves, through trades and free agency, which take this team from the play-in tournament to the actual playoffs.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. It’s easy to say that the Cavaliers should go out and acquire certain players, such as Donovan Mitchell or Bradley Beal, but actually making those things happen is a much different story.

Actually, the Cavaliers are in a similar position to the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Star players don’t want to play here. In order to bring star-caliber players in, the Cavs and Jackets have to trade for them (such as when Columbus traded for Artemi Panarin) or draft them (such as when Cleveland drafted LeBron James).

From 2015 to 2018, the Cavaliers had a rivalry with the defending champion Golden State Warriors. The two teams met in high-profile matchups during the regular season and they were the last two combatants standing in that four-year period. The Warriors won three out of four championships in 2015, 2017, and 2018, although one could make a solid argument that if Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were healthy then the Cavs would’ve won the title in 2015. So, the Cavs would have been back-to-back champions due to what happened in 2016.

If you look at how Golden State became the juggernaut that they are now, they did it through a combination of the draft and free agency moves. Of all those, the three most notable would be drafting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson (my favorite player on GSW), and Draymond Green. The Cavaliers don’t have Steph, Klay, and Draymond, because they’re not guys you can replicate. Especially the greatest shooting backcourt basically in the history of mankind.

That being said, the Cavaliers have some young pieces that look like they could be on their way to stardom. The Cavs drafted Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, and they acquired Jarrett Allen as part of the massive trade that sent James Harden to the Nets. This season, that trio played exceptionally well together. The Garland/Allen pick & roll was effective and caused opponents headaches. Evan Mobley was a great complement to Jarrett Allen and the Mobley-Garland connection was also effective. So that seemingly solidifies three-fifths of the starting lineup.

Aside from injuries that really derailed our season, the biggest problem was that nobody else besides Darius Garland could get their own shot. This means that Garland would be really worn down by the time it got down to the final five minutes when we really needed him. By drafting Ochai Agbaji 14th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers bring in a player who can get his own shot. Agbaji won’t need Garland to set him up offensively every time.

Issac Okoro was moved into the starting lineup out of necessity as Collin Sexton went down with an injury. Okoro was very good defensively, not great, but I didn’t think he was where he needed to be offensively. When my friend Chris and I went to the Cavs game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against the Chicago Bulls, we were on points watch for Okoro in the 4th quarter hoping that he would reach double digits.

We would not have to worry about doing this with Agbaji. When the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Villanova Wildcats 81-65 in the Final Four, Agbaji scored 21 points and he went 6-7 on 3-point field goals.

The Cavs made great strides forward this season, however, they shouldn’t be satisfied with what they did this season. They should want more.