3 ways Donovan Mitchell makes the Cavs a better team
By John Suchan
No. 2 way Cavs are better with Mitchell: Team becomes an offensive juggernaut
The discussion of how other teams in the NBA will plan on guarding the Cavs offensive players was brought up at the recent press conference. It’s a matter of picking your poison and the Cavaliers will have the upper hand on most nights of the NBA season. Who are you going to guard is going to be the regular question on game nights.
With Mitchell’s trade it now gives Cleveland four players that will be an instant concern to the opposing team. If you don’t guard Mitchell he’ll score at will, and if you lay off Garland then he’ll be dropping teardrops and three-pointers all night long.
If opposing teams try to take away the guard play then that leaves the Cavs big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen more chances at having big nights. We saw what the Cavaliers were able to do last season without the services of Mitchell and now with him in the fold, it will only create more trouble for other teams trying to defend the Wine and Gold.
The bench of the Cavs will be one of the best in the league because of the acquisition of Mitchell. The team can bring Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, and a player like Caris LeVert off the bench who are all very capable of scoring and carrying their squad. There have been many stories in recent days around the country about how the Cavs have climbed the Eastern Conference ladder with this trade. Many seemingly believe that Cleveland is now a top-three team in the East.
In the presser, Mitchell talked about how the Cavs were a third-place team but then got sidetracked by injuries and just got left out of the playoffs. He emphasized that situation a couple of times during the discussion with the media.
Adding a career 24 points per game player who has a ton of playoff experience to boot can only result in an even more powerful offensive team this season. The Cavs literally will have an All-Star team on the court when the season starts.