3 reasons why the Cavaliers won’t go far in the playoffs
Rome was not built in one day. Similarly, the next Cleveland Cavaliers dynasty will not be built in one season. Clearly, Donovan Mitchell’s arrival to Cleveland and Evan Mobley’s offensive growth escalate the team’s title chances. In fact, there are numerous reasons to see the Cavs as a serious problem for the rest of the league, but in their current state the Cavs are unlikely to surpass the preestablished powerhouses in the Eastern Conference.
As an avid Cavs supporter, I hope to be proven wrong. On paper, this team has all the makings of a constant contender. Another championship in Cleveland would be a tremendous sight to see.
Still, though, there are three major hurdles present that the Cavaliers need to overcome before they can find themselves at the highest tier in the league. Here we’ll emphasize those three reasons why Cleveland won’t make a deep postseason run.
Reason No. 1: Competition
Currently, Cleveland sits at fourth in the East with their roster finally consistently healthy. Above them are Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Boston.
Two of those teams have recently won or visited the NBA Finals and have maintained a relatively consistent roster composition over those years.
Philadelphia is the one team above the Cavaliers that has not reached the NBA Finals yet and has made major roster changes lately. In fact, the Cavs may pass them in the standings by the season’s end; however, the Celtics and the Bucks are established juggernauts that Cleveland is unlikely to surpass in the postseason.
Looking at Milwaukee, their core of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, and Khris Middleton know how to compete side by side every game with efficiency and a natural understanding of each other’s abilities. Antetokounmpo is always a contender for regular season MVP, and his dominance in the postseason has already led the Bucks to win an incredible NBA Finals series against Phoenix.
Although Milwaukee’s core is on the latter side of 30 years old and will probably begin to regress in coming seasons, their present strength would almost definitely prove too much for Cleveland.
The Celtics are a less formidable matchup against the Cavaliers, but the Boston core’s outstanding talent and their staggering defensive rotations have had more time to develop than Cleveland’s.
The Cavs’ saving grace is the fact that Boston has little to contain both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen’s post games simultaneously. Cleveland’s lack of a consistent wing defender, though, would likely allow both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to exhaust the Cavs’ efforts.