Cleveland Cavaliers
The 2019-20 Cleveland Cavaliers season can be defined by “Slugs, not thugs!” — and by the fact that for the second straight year, the Cavs had a midseason coaching change.
What did we learn?
As expected, hiring a 66-year-old first time NBA head coach was not a good idea.
John Beilein was a venerated college coach at Michigan, but he was a laughingstock in Cleveland. Beilein’s original 5-year deal looked ridiculous from the jump. Now it looks downright delirious. We were surprised Beilein made it as far as the All-Star break. He resigned shortly thereafter.
Kevin Love was able to stay healthy and on the court for the most part this season. Love made 37.4 percent of his threes on 7 attempts per game, but he did not touch the same overall numbers as good-stats bad-team Minnesota Kevin Love:
17.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season
26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds in Minny back in 2013-14
Hard to believe that K-Love has been in Cleveland for 6 years now. He’s only got three more years and $90 million left on his max contract.
Woof.
That’s still the word used to describe the current state of this franchise.
It’s always winter in Cleveland for Cavs fans post-LeBron. The night is truly dark and full of terrors.
The light shining through the darkness for us is dat boi Collin Sexton and dat rook Kevin Porter Jr.
Early in the season, Collin Sexton had that crunch time lefty power dunk in Wendell Carter Jr.’s grill (see below, our fav highlight of the Cavs season). Young Bull dropped another lefty hammer on top of Isaac Bonga on a random Thursday night in January. Sexton can score and he plays hard. His passing and assist rate still needs a lot of work, bottom of the barrel compared to other point guards. We are required to also mention that Sexton’s advanced defensive numbers are atrocious.
Despite playing inconsistent minutes as a rookie, we noticed Kevin Porter Jr.’s tenacity and his innate propensity to just fucking go for it. Down by 44, KPJ’s not afraid to power dunk and flex on ‘em.
Sexton and KPJ bring the fire, and we’re here for it.
The fire is needed to make it through the night.
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What are the answers to our Season Preview Final Questions?
In his first year as an NBA coach, can John Beilein improve the worst defense in the league?
The Cavs finished with the worst defense in the league for the second year in a row. However, despite being last in the NBA again, the Cavs defensive rating did improve from the worst rating in NBA history at 117.6 in 2018-19 to 114.8 this season.
What do the Cavs plan to do with their open cap space next summer when the free agent market is a barren wasteland?
The Cavs traded away three of their expiring contracts in Jordan Clarkson, John Henson and Brandon Knight. They also extended Cedi Osman at the beginning of the season, so only Tristan Thompson and Delly’s contracts are coming off the books. It’s such a light free agent class that it’s probably for the best. Hell, Koby Altman might end up re-signing both Thompson and Delly. Run it back!
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Would our preseason Over/Under prediction have hit?
We aren’t overthinking this one. UNDER 24.5 wins. (29.8% winning pct)
Cavs 2019-20 final record: (19-46) 29.2% winning pct
It would have been pretty close, but our preseason Over/Under prediction most likely would have hit. With 17 games remaining, the Cavs would have had to win 6 more games to get to 25 wins to hit the Over, a 35% winning percentage. As we know, it would have been in their best interest to lose those games.
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What’s Next?
With a bottom-5 offense and the worst defense in the league, there is room for improvement here.
At #5 in the draft for a second straight year, a defensive-oriented player would be ideal. The experts seem to think USC’s Onyeka Okongwu fits the bill. Hopefully he’s still on the board.
Get last year’s #5 lottery pick Darius Garland to improve in any way possible. Garland finished last in the entire NBA in Real Plus-Minus, Win Shares and Value Over Replacement Player. In other words, several analytics showed him to be the worst player in The Association. Woof!
Find a new head coach? Just kidding! The Cavs are rolling with Mr. Interim J. B. Bickerstaff, who took over after Beilein’s departure and then signed an extension in March.
We hope Bickerstaff plays more of the BIG BIG lineup of Drummond, Kevin Love and Nance at the 3. (Somewhere, KOC is fantasizing about this gargantuan lineup at this very moment.)
Speaking of Drummond, do we think Big Penguin will opt into his $28.7 million player-option for next season? Yes. Yes, we do.
Unlock more of February Collin Sexton (48.3 percent from 3!) and make sure December Colin Sexton (11.1 percent from 3!) never surfaces again.
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Favorite Cavs Highlight from the 2019-20 Season:
A power dunk dagger on Halloween Eve!
