As the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ 2022 preseason has ended, the regular season is right around the corner. This season has a lot of Cavs fans excited, as this team, on paper, looks to be one of the most talented in recent years. They are set to have 3 All-Stars from last season (Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and Jarrett Allen), and a player that many believe will be an All-Star sooner rather than later (Evan Mobley), and all of them are 26 years old or younger.
Nonetheless, the Cavaliers lost 3 out of their 4 preseason games. This shouldn’t be causing any alarms to sound off, as usually in preseason games, many teams don’t play their best players as much as they usually would in the regular season.
For example, Donovan Mitchell only played 26.9 minutes per night, and didn’t even play the last preseason game in a loss at the Orlando Magic this past Friday. Also, Evan Mobley only played 1 game because of a minor ankle injury he got before the preseason even started. And in his only game at Orlando, he played 16 minutes in total.
Anyway, there were some Cavaliers who seemed to have a great preseason, while others seemed to have struggled a bit. Like I mentioned earlier, this was only preseason action, so I don’t expect this to be everyone’s exact level of play as all 82 regular season games.
With all of that aside, let’s look at some metaphorical winners and losers of Cleveland’s preseason, examining two on each side of the coin, in particular.
Winner No. 1: Isaac Okoro
As it seems to me, Isaac Okoro will probably start this season off of the bench, as maybe the 7th man in the rotation. However, his play in these 4 preseason games was spectacular, in my eyes. He shot 66.7% from the field, and a tremendous 42.9% from three as well. Not saying I was right, but in an article I wrote a while ago, I wrote about how his 3-point percentage had a good chance of increasing significantly. I’m not saying Okoro will start being lights-out from distance, but I do think he could shoot above 40% from distance.
Also, Okoro’s defense and finishing looked better than the previous year, which is a good sight to see. He also shot 100% on his free throws, shooting 1.8 per night within 4 games. Free throws have never been Okoro’s weak point, but they’ve never been his best, either. He’s shot 74.7% from the charity stripe in his two-year career, so he’s around league average.
I do believe he’ll start the year on the bench, but he will end the season as the starting small forward. He’ll be more of a threat as a 3-and-D wing, and should seemingly get a solid contract extension next offseason.
Winner No. 2: Caris LeVert
I did think that last season, in his 19 regular season games played with the Cavaliers, that Caris LeVert didn’t get enough time to get used to his teammates and coaches. I do believe he’ll be better this season, and these preseason games showed he can be.
He averaged 11.7 points on 50% from the field and 41.7% from deep. Unlike Okoro, I do think LeVert will be the starting small forward, meaning his perimeter defense will have to be better, and I think it can and will happen. LeVert does have a 6’10” wingspan, so based off of that, he should be able to be a solid defender.
I’m not J.B. Bickerstaff, but I do like the idea of both Kevin Love and Caris LeVert off of the bench. The bench scoring and playmaking possibilities make me and other Cavs fans salivate. Also, considering Ricky Rubio will join that bench squad once he’s healthy, that should really make Cavaliers fans happy.
Loser No. 1: Cedi Osman
This pains me to put him here, as Cedi Osman is one of my favorite NBA players. Unfortunately, he shot 37.5% from the field and 28.6% from distance in all 4 preseason games. He also had more turnovers than assists.
As his contract next year is non-guaranteed, I’m not sure what his future on this roster is. Looking at the squad, there are wings like Okoro, LeVert, Dean Wade, and Lamar Stevens who seem to be more safe bets to play over Osman.
Do I think Osman’s going to be out of the league soon? No, I don’t think so. Do I think he’s going to be in Cleveland next year or the year after? I want to say yes, but truthfully, I’m not really sure. He is only 27 years old, so he is pretty much starting to be in his prime years of basketball.
Loser No. 2: Robin Lopez
It’s safe to say that Robin Lopez didn’t do amazing in the preseason. I thought he was just putting up shots just for the sake of it. His hook shots will always be solid, but I think the main reason Cleveland signed him was for him to be a locker room presence. His prime years are behind him, as he’s already 34 years old.
He shot a measly 22.2% from the field, and he only grabbed 2 rebounds per game. Now, Lopez has never been Dennis Rodman on the boards. As a center, he has a bit to be desired when it comes to rebounding. As a 7’0″ tall center, only averaging 8.5 boards per night while playing 31.7 minutes per night in the 2012-13 season isn’t the best. And that was when Lopez was 25 years old, and he’s 34 now.
I’m not trying to hate on RoLo here, but all I’m saying is rebounding is not his strongest suit.