On April 26, 2023, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 5 of their First Round playoff series to the New York Knicks, a loss that eliminated them from the postseason and ended their season. That makes 167 days since the Cavs last played an official basketball game.
It was an eventful 5.5 months, for the Cavaliers and the rest of the league. Cleveland said goodbye to beloved role players Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens added shooting with Max Strus, Georges Niang and Ty Jerome. Victor Wembanyama is on the San Antonio Spurs, Chris Paul is on the Golden State Warriors, and Damian Lillard is on the Milwaukee Bucks. James Harden? He’s still on the Philadelphia 76ers.
The long wait without basketball ends tonight, as Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and company will suit up to face the Atlanta Hawks in their preseason opener. The game tips off at 7:30 PM ET in Atlanta, and two teams that kept together their cores will see how offseason tinkering works out.
Let’s look at three things to watch for in tonight’s action, starting with who will begin the game on the basketball court.
This question was likely an easier one to answer a few days ago when everyone on the roster was healthy. Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were locks, and Max Strus seemed like the obvious candidate to fill the final starting slot.
Now things are more up in the air, as Jarrett Allen is out for a few weeks with an ankle injury. Do the Cavaliers simply swap in their next center, likely former Utah Jazz big man Damian Jones? That would preserve the roles for everyone else that they would play once Allen returns.
The other option is to slide Evan Mobley to center and open up the offense. That preps the team in case Allen isn’t ready to go at the start of the season and gives them a glimpse of a life without him if the team decides to trade Allen during the season. In that scenario, Georges Niang could get a crack at the starting lineup, or Dean Wade could come in for more of a defensive presence.
The prediction here is Niang, but there are a lot of different options available to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
The idea that Evan Mobley somehow plateaued last season is fairly ludicrous. A strong rookie season led to the hype machine getting somewhat out of control for Mobley heading into his second season, and he didn’t suddenly average 20 points, 10 boards and four blocks while draining 3-pointers and making an All-NBA team; if that’s the measuring stick, he didn’t get there.
Yet in just his second season Mobley was named to the All-Defense First Team, finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was the best defender on the league’s No. 1 defense. He was an excellent rim protector, could switch onto the perimeter, and was truly lethal in space.
The question now turns to the offense. What steps will Mobley take on that end of the court? He likely doesn’t have the trajectory of someone like Chris Bosh or Kevin Garnett as a No. 1 option breaking down defenses, but he also doesn’t need to be that guy on this team. He does need to improve as a passer, both on the short roll and in dribble-handoff situations. Studying tape of Bam Adebayo, one of the best passing big men in the league, is a great step on that path.
Will Mobley add a reliable 3-point jumpshot? That would make his pairing with Allen even more sustainable than it is now and give the Cavaliers all sorts of lineup versatility. How does Mobley improve as a finisher, as an offensive rebounder, as a scoring threat from floater range? The young player has been impressive at every step thus far; what did he add this offseason?
The Cavaliers did not shake up their four-man core, but they made some major additions to give the rotation shooting around those stars. Max Strus is a true movement shooter and was a key part of the Miami Heat’s run to the NBA Finals last season. Georges Niang is one of the league’s most willing shooters from the power forward position. Ty Jerome has a long history of hitting big shots and developed in a high-octane setting with the Golden State Warriors last season.
How do those additions open up the offense in Cleveland? The Cavs were strangled by a lack of spacing against the New York Knicks in the playoffs last season; swapping Max Strus in for Isaac Okoro should flip that weakness into a strength. How does that affect the Cavs’ actions?
The two-man game of Evan Mobley and Strus will be something to watch, as Max was best deployed in dribble-handoff actions. When players like Strus, Jerome and Niang are on the court, does Donovan Mitchell have the space to knife through the paint? How does the pick-and-roll game with Darius Garland and a big take off without four bodies in the paint?
The final score of a preseason game doesn’t ultimately matter, but there is plenty of information to be gleaned by the Cavaliers getting onto the court in an actual game. That information could be a glimpse into how the season will go for the Cavs.