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Message Board User

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  1. That Cleveland has been the hottest team in the league sans Mobley & Garland has brought up some interesting debates about the best way forward for the team and this article does a good job of breaking it down.

     

    https://theanalyst.com/na/2024/01/are-the-cleveland-cavaliers-better-without-darius-garland-and-evan-mobley/

    Normally, a team can hide one little guy, especially when that guy is as talented of an offensive player as Garland is (93rd percentile in offensive DRIP). But the problem is he shares a backcourt with Donovan Mitchell (6-3). And it’s a lot harder to navigate having two smaller guys on defense than it is to have just one.

    With Garland on the sidelines, Cleveland can play more defensive-first wings and forwards like Wade and Isaac Okoro. The latter is a below-average shooter for his position, but that’s OK because Cleveland is getting more spacing from the power forward spot without Mobley.

    Strus’ years spent rising up the ranks of the Miami Heat organization have made him one of the more underrated perimeter defenders in basketball. He’s been one of the best acquisitions of the offseason. Among non-rookies, he ranks fourth in DELTA – a metric that tracks the improvement in a player’s DRIP since the start of the season.

    To his credit, Mitchell has been super locked-in and engaged on the defensive side of the ball, as indicated by the fact that his steal rate this year is at a career-best 2.7%. And like CJ McCollum, he’s reaping the benefits of no longer sharing the backcourt with someone smaller than him. Now, he can draw the matchup against the other team’s weakest offensive player (an honor Garland normally gets).

    With more defense and size on the floor, Cleveland has experienced an increase in its point-of-attack defense and rim protection (two important parts of great defenses).

    What Does Cleveland Do Now?

    This isn’t intended to be a demerit on Mobley and Garland’s individual excellence. The issue here is fit. Mobley and Allen have overlapping skills (defensive anchors who can’t stretch the floor). And so do Garland and Mitchell (undersized offensive stars).

    Cleveland’s stars are redundant of each other. And redundancies produce inefficiencies. So, what do the Cavs do about this conundrum?

    Some have suggested that Cleveland stagger the Garland/Mobley minutes from the Mitchell/Allen ones and let Garland/Mobley be flanked by shooters and defenders. Then, do the same with Mitchell/Allen. This way, you always have a dynamic duo on the court.

     

    When you think about it, this formula isn’t too different from the theory of Mitchell’s old Utah Jazz team. Back then, the Jazz would try to surround Mitchell and Rudy Gobert with as much shooting and defense as possible. This model leads to great regular-season success. But as we saw in Utah, the ceiling of a team like this is limited. 

    The reason for this is the role players sharing the court with them are flawed. We’ll keep the focus on Cleveland here and look at Okoro. He’s a great defender, but we saw last year that his offensive limitations can get him played off the floor in the playoffs.

    Merrill is a wickedly good shooter, but his size will make him a moving target on defense. Wade is hitting shots now, but will this hold up in the postseason? Niang only averaged 14.3 minutes per game during the playoffs last year. And the Philadelphia 76ers were a minus-3.9 per 100 in his minutes.

    Cleveland can be a great regular-season team by following this strategy. But if the Cavs want to win big in the playoffs, they need to consider trading one or two of their core four to acquire a two-way wing/forward or two that they can trust in the postseason.

    This isn’t a bad problem to have. All four of those guys are valuable assets who could net Cleveland the player(s) it needs in a trade. It’s just about the front office pushing the right button on who it trades and who it gets back.

    But if they do, watch out for the Cavaliers. With the right move, they could compete for an NBA title.

     

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  2. 5 minutes ago, ztejas said:

    That sucks. He's having such an amazing season. 

    I think I read he cannot be miss more than 2 or 3 more games and still be eligible for MVP.

  3. 2 hours ago, ztejas said:

    Oof. There goes your season. 

    At least it's happening this year (the last season where the Cavs hold their first round pick) and not in the next...what...5 years?

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