On Christmas on Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers were not a club in game action. Big market teams, such as the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers were featured, along with the Memphis Grizzlies, an NBA darling.
Plenty of the NBA’s megastars were on display, too, which was the yearly move on a day filled with games. As a Cavs fan, though, one had to feel just maybe a bit dissatisfied, given how Cleveland re-emerged last season, and based on this year thus far, the Cavaliers appear to be well-equipped to contend.
The Wine and Gold are currently third in the Eastern Conference at 22-12, they’ve won seven of 10 games, and the team is second in the NBA in net rating. The Cavaliers are also first in the Association in defensive rating, led Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
With the group being one of the league’s still young and exciting teams on the rise and with Donovan Mitchell now in the fold, one would have to imagine we could see the Cavs be one of the teams in action on next Christmas Day next season.
With that segue, Mitchell voiced his strong desire for Cleveland to be in action as one of the teams featured next year then. Cavs fans would second that, too, especially with how the team was regularly one of those in that category in both LeBron James stints.
Christmas in The Land next season‼️ @cavs
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) December 25, 2022
Mitchell was on the ball with his Cavs-Christmas tweet from yesterday.
The Cavs have a ways to go to prove themselves, and we’re not quite at the seasons’ halfway point. Cleveland has to go out and prove themselves during the rest of the season.
That being said, the Cavaliers have the star power to be a squad that should be one of the ones featured on Christmas Day next year and feasibly looking onward. Donovan Mitchell is playing like an MVP candidate this season, and Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are the three other members of one of the league’s best cores moving forward.
This group has been and will be involved in more nationally-televised games to come this regular season, and the Cavaliers could be a force in the postseason, with the talent of this group. Not to mention, the likes of Ricky Rubio reportedly close to a return should only help the team from a playmaking, defensive and leadership outlook.
As we expressed, the Wine and Gold has to gradually continue to gel and they have plenty of more work to do to prove themselves in months ahead, and perhaps the team eventually makes a trade deadline move to round more into form to aid the core. Those are things to monitor from here, and hopefully, the Cavaliers can have Dean Wade back and re-acclimated relatively soon, too.
All things considered, however, the Cavs are a team to be reckoned with, and they’re still one of the younger groups in the Association. And based on the acquisition of Mitchell as a big-time boost to Cleveland’s star power, in a season where he’s had career-bests in points (28.9) and three-point shooting hit rate (42.0 percent), this team looks to just be getting started.
Needless to say, Mitchell definitely had the right call with that above tweet. These Cavaliers should be on that Christmas Day slate in 2023, and seemingly in future years ahead, particularly if Mobley keeps improving.