The Cleveland Cavaliers are back. After nearly six months without a Cavaliers game, the team took the court Tuesday night in their preseason opener against the Atlanta Hawks. It was the perfect opportunity to see how the team had evolved since the last time they took the court.
There were newcomers to watch, with four offseason additions wearing the wine and gold for the first time. Max Strus, Georges Niang, Ty Jerome and Damian Jones all saw their first action as Cavaliers, with Strus starting and the other three all coming in off the bench as part of the second unit.
The team also unveiled a new offensive approach, pushing the ball in transition and moving more of their shots beyond the arc; that’s something that you can do when you add shooters like Strus and Niang. They moved away from last season’s steady diet of pick-and-roll offense and had more movement and cutting, ultimately taking 48 3-pointers.
Ultimately the Cavaliers lost the game 108-107 as their end-of-roster players gave up a double-digit fourth-quarter lead. Emoni Bates also proved the hero, hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds, but Trent Forrest drove into the paint on the other end for the Hawks for a game-ending and-1 finish with only a second remaining.
Wins and losses don’t matter as much in the preseason, but individual player performances do. How did each member of the Cavaliers play on Tuesday night? Here’s a player-by-player breakdown of all 17 Cavaliers to see the court.
Darius Garland (C+)
It wasn’t a great night for Darius Garland, who was repeatedly getting into the paint and then absolutely flubbing the finishes. He shot just 1-for-10 from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. What’s more, on a night when the Cavs had 30 assists, he tallied just two of them as the ball was spread around more.
Donovan Mitchell (B)
Mitchell’s night on offense was relatively mundane, as he scored 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field and only a single free-throw attempt. Where Mitchell actually popped was on defense as he was active in passing lanes, tallying three steals and nearly getting his hands on a few others.
Max Strus (B+)
The stat line for Max Strus was nothing to write home about: 1-for-4 shooting, three points, a game-worst -11 for the night. Yet his impact on the offense was undeniable, spacing the court and confidently shooting off the catch or moving the ball to a more open teammate. He took and made the first shot of the year for Cleveland, a smooth 3-pointer he should hit again and again this year.
Caris LeVert (C-)
Caris LeVert started with Strus as the two forwards in the absence of Jarrett Allen, an ultra-small look that made sense against the Hawks’ small starting lineup. He was the first starter out of the game so that he could return to run the second-unit offense. LeVert ran the floor well in transition but his work in the halfcourt was rough, with a number of errant passes (three turnovers that could have been six) and a few ill-advised jumpers.
Evan Mobley (B+)
Evan Mobley was clearly not in his top gear defensively but still had great pop around the rim, sticking with one player on the drive and swatting away his shot. Of greater import was his rebounding, with Mobley pulling down nine total rebounds including seven defensive boards. On offense he tried a lot of moves in the paint; some worked, some didn’t.
The biggest development was the amount of time Mobley spent on the elbow handling the ball, serving as a hub for the offense as shooters moved around him. This is a much more comfortable place for Mobley then as the roll man catching the ball on the short roll and trying to make passing reads on the move.
Ty Jerome (C+)
Ty Jerome operated as the backup point guard, replacing Darius Garland and facilitating the offense. He was something of a disaster defensively and was foul-happy on top of that, picking up four fouls in about as many minutes before settling in. On offense he pushed in transition but in the halfcourt generally worked off-ball as Caris LeVert was the No. 1 option with that second unit.
Isaac Okoro (A)
No words need to be spent on Isaac Okoro’s defense, which is top-notch. The question for Okoro is the offense; can he improve his shot, and can he bring enough else to the table to punish defenses that ignore him? Check and check on Tuesday night. Okoro was confident in transition, he cut into space and even pumped an Atlanta defender into the air and drove into the paint before getting fouled. Most importantly he shot 2-for-4 from deep with a quick, confident trigger; if he keeps that up, he has a rotation spot this season.
Dean Wade (B)
Fans of Dean Wade and his fit with the best players on this team had to be initially discouraged after Tuesday night, as Wade appeared to be the last member of the second unit, staying on the court for much of the fourth quarter with the “third” unit players. After struggling with his shot last season due to a shoulder injury, Wade’s form looked back to normal and he shot 2-for-5 from deep.
Georges Niang (B+)
The presence of Max Strus as a shooter will absolutely help the starting lineup, but Georges Niang filling much of the “Kevin Love” role as a stretch-big may be just as important to the Cavaliers’ rotation. On Tuesday Niang was a strong +13 as he unlocked the second unit’s spacing and shot 2-for-4 from deep himself.
Damian Jones (B)
The Cavaliers initially started small but then brought in Damian Jones to play alongside Evan Mobley with the other starters. While he has at times operated as a stretch big he was firmly in the paint for most of his 20 minutes against the Hawks, finishing 4-for-4 from the field and pulling down six rebounds. On defense he was more of a mixed bag, not providing much resistance for opposing drivers.
Emoni Bates (B+)
One of the big stories coming out of Tuesday’s game was the play of Emoni Bates, a player many Cavaliers fans are excited to see on the court this season. What we know about Bates now is what we knew coming into the NBA Draft: his shot is sublime. Bates shot instantly whenever he caught the ball, going 2-for-5 on 3-pointers. That included his pull-up 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to put Cleveland up by 2 points.
The question with Bates remains everything else. He scored 10 points in 13 minutes, but only had two rebounds, no assists and was a -6 for the night. If Bates is simply a tall shooter he may be able to see the court in a year or two, but to get into the court as a rookie and carve out a long career he has to learn shot discipline, improve as a defender and do all of the little stuff. Other than one good out-of-area rebound, that wasn’t present on Tuesday night. Don’t get too excited about Bates’ likelihood of seeing the court this season for anyone other than the Charge.
Sam Merrill (B+)
The process for Sam Merrill was exactly what the Cavaliers wanted. He flared out to the corner in transition, ran off of screens and shot the ball whenever he caught it to help stretch out the defense. The offense hummed with him on the court and he was a game-best +17 for the game. The only downside was that his shots didn’t go in, as he shot just 2-for-9 from the field.
Sharife Cooper (B+)
Sharife Cooper replaced Darius Garland late in the second quarter and got some run with other starters and he held his own. He then return for much of the fourth quarter to run the third unit and was his typical steady self, diming up teammates, many of whom he had chemistry with from Summer League and last year’s Cleveland Charge team. He still can’t shoot, and that has hampered his NBA dream, but his steady hand at the point had the offense humming.
Tristan Thompson (B-)
The veteran of the bench unit, Tristan Thompson operated as the “third center” behind Evan Mobley and Damian Jones but ahead of Isaiah Mobley, at least on Tuesday night. He did some good work handling the ball at the elbow but was mostly quiet on offense. Defensively he was playing in a deep drop, not able to move well in space but providing a big body inside.
Craig Porter Jr. (C+)
The Cavaliers’ undrafted rookie guard played less than six minutes on the night, the fewest of any player to see the court, but he immediately announced himself when he checked into the game. He rejected a screen, drove right to the rim and dunked in traffic for an And-1. It was his only shot attempt of the night as he was otherwise quiet, part of the Cavs’ unit than gave up a furious comeback by the Hawks in the final minutes.
Isaiah Mobley (D)
Isaiah Mobley hopes to work his way into the backup center role this season, but last night indicated he has a ways to go. He played behind both Damian Jones and Tristan Thompson, then when he came into the game he wasn’t able to get much of anything going. He had two points, two turnovers and no rebounds or assists, and on defense he was the target as the Hawks drove into the paint during their late-game comeback.
Zhaire Smith (C-)
The former first-round pick is hoping to make an NBA comeback with the Cavaliers this season, but nothing he did on Tuesday night indicates that will be a successful endeavor. He shot 0-for-2 from the field, neither shot coming close to going in, and looked lost on offense. On defense he seemed to be playing at half-speed; whether that was a lack of effort or the learning curve to processing NBA defense again, it didn’t speak well to his chances of making the roster.