Cavaliers stars rocket up The Ringer's Top 100 list; are they ranked highly enough?

Resetting our expectations is a difficult task.

What we think coming into an NBA season is called an "anchor" and we tend to evaluate what we are seeing anchored to that original thought. That's not wrong - in fact, it's necessary, or we would have been declaring the 2-2 Washington Wizards a playoff team before they collapsed into the worst team in the league, or we would have despaired at the 0-2 Denver Nuggets before they righted the ship and currently sit at 10-7.

It's why we expect the 9-10 Brooklyn Nets to fall back to earth and the 9-10 Indiana Pacers to play better than they have. Our preseason understandings of both teams influence how we view their play thus far. It keeps us from being a prisoner of the moment, changing our opinions based on the smallest of samples.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers, however, it's time to significantly change our preseason expectations. Perhaps you were already very high on the Cavs and their stars heading into the season, but a shaky year last season saw opinions of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen to drop and the popular opinion heading into the year was that this group was not talented enough to overcome their very real fit issues.

Then the Cavaliers got off to a 15-0 start with the league's No. 1 offense, as new head coach Kenny Atkinson found ways for those stars to thrive both together and opposite one another in the rotation. Even after a couple of losses, Cleveland is 17-2 with the league's best point differential.

While internally we may have adjusted our opinions of players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, it's hard to track that change around the league. Most media outlets did a "player ranking" before the season, but those tend to be published before or after the season.

The Ringer does something unusual with their Top 100 list in that they update it periodically throughout the season, seeking to balance preseason expectations with present realities. The most important information on a player's level of play is what they are doing now, and The Ringer is a way to see that information update in something closer to real-time.

In the preseason edition of the Top 100, four Cavaliers players made the list: Donovan Mitchell at 16th, Evan Mobley at 46th, Jarrett Allen at 55th and Darius Garland at 58th. Now the latest update is out, and it resulted in some upward movement for a few key Cavs.

Where do the Cavaliers rank now?

Donovan Mitchell, who is having a typically-great season in line with past years, essentially stayed in place; he moved a single spot up from 16 to 15.

More interestingly, Jarrett Allen didn't see any improvement at all despite an efficient two-way start to the season; as the attention has focused on other players, his solid play didn't register and he actually moved down from 55 to 56.

For Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, the change was more significant. Mobley sprung up from 46 to 34, one of the biggest risers in the Top 50. As The Ringer writes, Mobley's increased involvement in the offense has him looking like a "completely different player" this season. He is running in transition, touching the ball more and playing with increased confidence to attack mismatches.

It's likely that Mobley will be in the mix for an All-Star berth given his two-way contributions and the narrative focusing on his improvement and contributions to the Cavaliers' strong start. As The Ringer notes, however, if this is not just a step forward but one step of many, then the Cavaliers may have the superstar big man that they need.

Darius Garland also moved up, from 58 to 41. He has taken a much more prominent role in the offense, often closing games and operating with the ball in his hands more often even with Donovan Mitchell on the court. When Mitchell and Mobley rotate off, the combination of Garland and Allen dominates with shooters surrounding them.

He continues to shoot at an elite level, challenging for the famous 50/40/90 splits so far this year. When you add in his confident passing you get a guard who can thrive on-ball and off-ball with the team's other stars.

Did the Cavaliers move up enough?

Mitchell holding steady in the mid-teens seems right, and Darius Garland took a large leap that seems appropriate given his start to the season.

Did Evan Mobley rise up the rankings enough? He is one of the best defensive players in the league, and he is displaying that he can be involved at every level of the offense. Having a 3-point shot would be a major bonus, but his ability to destroy mismatches, push in transition and make the right pass have been on full display. If he continues that level of play all year, he'll continue to tick up the rankings. For now, his defense likely speaks to a Top-30 player, but his ranking makes sense for now.

Jarrett Allen is the true outlier; he shouldn't be light years behind in the 50s. His role is limited on the Cavaliers because Evan Mobley is there, but his ability to lock down the paint on defense and be an elite pick-and-roll center on offense when Mobley is off the court is underrated.

Finally, there is another Cavaliers player who deserves to be on this list. Names like Buddy Hield, Bilal Coulibaly and Nic Claxton pepper the end of the list, but Ty Jerome deserves to be on the list above them. He is not a one-trick pony like Hield, but combines incendiery shooting with high-level passing. Coming out of nowhere means his ranking is "anchored" for at least a while longer. If he continues playing like this, he'll make his way onto such lists.