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3 ways Cavs will prove ESPN Insider’s pessimism wrong

By Josh Cornelissen

Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /
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Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images /

How Cavs prove ESPN Insider’s pessimism wrong: Questions for other teams

It’s fair of Lowe and others to ask these tough questions of the Cavs. Any team that is trying to elevate out of the bottom feeders and into the realm of contenders deserves to be evaluated carefully. Yet the reasons for dropping the Cavs and not other teams around them seems inconsistent.

The Brooklyn Nets were in that tier despite all of their questions because of Kevin Durant. He is obviously an amazing player and deserves plenty of respect, but the Nets are an on-court and off-court disaster right now. Their work to integrate a “star” player is much more difficult than the Cavs’, they have a long ways to go to build a good defense, and their downside is lower than anyone in this conversation in the East.

What about the Toronto Raptors? They essentially tied in net rating with the Cavaliers last season and added just Otto Porter Jr., who revived his career in Golden State last year but still has major injury concerns. How do the Raptors take a major step forward? Where is their offensive upside coming from? They’re relying on leaps from Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa more than the Cavs are from Garland and Mobley.

The Milwaukee Bucks have an aging supporting cast and did virtually nothing to improve this summer. The Miami Heat didn’t just stand pat, they downgraded in losing PJ Tucker. The Boston Celtics are already down two rotation players and lost their head coach to an internal scandal. All of these teams have reason for optimism and have answers to their questions, but not in an appreciably different way than the Cavs.

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It’s fine for Lowe and others to “play it safe” and wait for the Cavs to prove themselves as a true contender in the East. Their ceiling as a team is further off given how young they are. Yet when you really look at this team, it’s clear they belong and are ready to prove that this season.