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The postseason is not a given for the Cavs in 2022-23

By Justin Brownlow

Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images /
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J.B. Bickerstaff, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports) /

It was a disappointing offseason and who will score?

Up to this point the offseason has been incredibly disappointing, at least in my opinion. After watching all the talent in last year’s postseason, you would think the Cavaliers front office would have realized that adding more talent this summer would have been a top priority.

Instead, they re-signed point guard Ricky Rubio, who won’t be available for the first few months of the season. Even more, the only other two signings were point guard Raul Neto, and big man Robin Lopez.

That’s an average age of almost 32 years old for all of their offseason signings; Rubio can still make an impact as a playmaker, but one has to question those moves, regardless. And picking up those guys seemed a bit odd considering the average age of the rest of the team is 26.4. It’s pretty clear that the Cavs are a team building around a young core, so these signings don’t really align with the philosophy they are trying to push.

Adding to that narrative is the fact that the Cavs really struggled to score at times, especially when Jarrett Allen was out. They finished the season ranked 25th in the NBA in points per game. Garland averaged nearly 22 points per game last year, all while dishing out almost nine assists a night in a breakout season. He will be the primary scorer and facilitator in the Cavalier offense, but outside of him there isn’t a lot of offensive firepower to lean on.

Collin Sexton and the team have dragged contract negotiations incredibly close to the beginning of the season, and even if I don’t really value Sexton, he’s shown us he can score very well. Not efficiently all the time, but he would be a nice scoring punch to have this season.

However, even if Sexton remains in Cleveland, the Cavaliers will need to figure out how to get their scoring numbers up. While Allen and Mobley down low will be a force on defense, both are raw on the offensive end. Allen rarely travels more than a few feet from the hoop, and Mobley’s game hasn’t progressed enough to think he will be able to be a clear number two option this season.

So yes, defense is very important, and the Cavs were one of the best defensive teams a year ago, but they may need some help on the offensive end if they want to find a way to the postseason.