The Cleveland Cavaliers are having a really solid season thus far, all the more impressive given the various injuries they have had to weather. Even after losing in Toronto on Monday night they still have the league’s third-best net rating and a top-5 defense.
Their success has been driven in large part by their stars. Donovan Mitchell has been a scoring machine, clearing 30 points 11 times already this season; the entire team only had 14 such games last season. Jarrett Allen is a monster in the paint when he has been available, and Evan Mobley and Darius Garland both look great. Dean Wade has been a steady force on the wing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing well as a team, but some of the players aren’t. Should the Cavs have patience or panic with struggling players?
Yet not everyone on the Cavs is playing well. Injuries have played a part in holding the Cavs back from a truly dominant start to the season, but so have some glaring weaknesses in some of their rotation players. The Cavs need to figure out who they can trust for when the playoffs come around, and whether they need to make a move to replace struggling pieces on the roster.
Let’s look at three players who have struggled to start the season and identify whether those struggles are likely to continue. Should the Cavs have patience, or is it time to panic?
Struggling Cleveland Cavaliers: Isaac Okoro
It’s no surprise to see Isaac Okoro on this list, as the Cavaliers have been playing “Panic or Patience” with him since he was first drafted. The 6’5″ wing is a good guard defender with quick hands and a great motor, and the team seems to genuinely love him. Yet the reality is that his offensive game is a real problem; will it turn around?
In 21 games this season Okoro is averaging just four points per game. He is shooting 37.5 percent from the field, a career-low, and has hit just six of his 32 3-point attempts (18.8 percent). Those numbers aren’t just bad compared to other Cavs players; they’re some of the worst around the league.
The only player averaging fewer points per game than Okoro while playing at least 19 minutes per game (Okoro is averaging 19.3) is P.J. Tucker, who is a legitimate floor-spacer from the corners. The only player to shoot worse than Okoro from 3-point range on as many attempts is rookie Jeremy Sochan on the San Antonio Spurs. It’s been a truly dismal start to the season, capped by a 1-for-11 effort in his most recent outing against the Toronto Raptors.
If Okoro had a track record of shooting the ball or providing something on offense, then this could be shrugged off. The problem is that when a player goes from bad to worse it’s a really bad sign for his future development. It is painful to say, but the outlook on Okoro does not look good.
Verdict: Panic
Struggling Cleveland Cavaliers: Raul Neto
Raul Neto was signed for a very specific role. When the Cavaliers decided they wanted to bring back Ricky Rubio this summer, they knew that they would need a fill-in point guard until Rubio was ready to return from the torn ACL he suffered last season. Signing Raul Neto for the minimum seemed like a brilliant move, a reliable caretaker option to back up Darius Garland.
When the Cavs added Donovan Mitchell later in the summer it only made the team less reliant on Neto, and accordingly, he hasn’t been a lock for the rotation even with Rubio out. Neto has played in 14 of the team’s 21 games thus far, averaging only 9.1 minutes per game.
The Brazilian guard is averaging only 12.7 points per 36 minutes, his lowest output in six seasons, shooting 30.8 percent from 3-point range. The Cavs have two elite shooters in the backcourt in Garland and Mitchell, so putting Neto in the game completely changes the look of the offense.
That being said, Neto is doing just about exactly what he has done the past few years. His true shooting percentage is above his career average, he has an assist percentage in line with his career mark, and his defense has been very solid. His Defensive Box Plus-Minus of 2.2 would check in just above Brook Lopez for 11th in the league if he had played enough minutes.
Neto isn’t going to razzle-dazzle you with his scoring, and his shooting could be better. What the Cavs need from him, even in a small role, is passing and defense, and that is what Neto is providing. He’s been just fine thus far, and the shooting might just come around.
Verdict: Patience
Struggling Cleveland Cavaliers: Caris LeVert
Anyone who watched Caris LeVert drop 41 points on the Boston Celtics in an overtime victory earlier in the season will question his placement on this list, and rightfully so. When LeVert is having a good game he can take over and score despite defensive attention. Few players in the league have his upside as a scorer.
The problem is the rest of the time, when LeVert plays like an elite scorer but just doesn’t have it. Let’s start with the good: LeVert is shooting 36.6 percent from 3-point range, a career-best mark, and is averaging 4.8 assists per game. His facilitation has been solid and has helped a Cavs attack that thrives on moving the ball.
Now for the bad: Caris LeVert is shooting just 35.1 percent from 2-point range. Yes, he is shooting better from outside the arc than he is from inside of it. Of the 214 players in the league who have taken at least 100 field goal attempts this season, Caris LeVert ranks 211th in 2-point percentage, just behind Killian Hayes.
As such, his true shooting percentage is the lowest of his career at 47.6 percent. That’s why the starting lineup with LeVert struggled, and why head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made the change to move LeVert to the bench. That’s likely the right choice, even if it likely chafes LeVert not to start. His 2-point percentage will probably improve closer to career marks (48.3 percent for his career) but it doesn’t solve the greater problem of his fit on the team.
His defense was fairly good to start the year but has also dropped off, and on a team with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, the Cavs don’t need an inefficient shooter taking a lot of shots. It’s always been the problem with LeVert fitting into this team, and the early season hasn’t proven any differently. He is good insurance in case one of the two star guards is out, but otherwise he is a prime candidate to be traded.
Verdict: Panic