Cleveland Cavaliers
The 2022-23 Cleveland Cavaliers can be defined as a solid regular-season team that got beat up in the 1st round of the playoffs.
What did we learn?
This became Donovan Mitchell’s team real quick.
It helped that Garland suffered a severe eye poke in the first game, causing him to miss five straight, instantly inserting Mitchell into the Garland role as the Cavs’ main facilitator and scorer.
Mitchell’s numbers to start the season were terrific, averaging 32 and 7 in October. The Cavs charged out to an 8-1 record, ripping off an 8-game winning streak after an opening-night loss.
When Garland returned, he and Mitchell coexisted nicely. 50 points and 12 assists a night from your backcourt is quite the luxury, and both are good free-throw shooters at 86 percent.
Adding Mitchell to this group not only added an All-Star and All-NBA level player, but it also gave them a leader who has played in a lot of big games in his 6-year career. Props to Garland for being cool with handing the keys over. Garland seems like the best teammate.
With an undersized backcourt, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley sure held it down for the Cavs on D, rim-protecting terrors roaming the paint, ready to block and alter any shot in sight. Mobley was so versatile and everywhere on defense that he finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in just his second year in the league.
Behind the foundation of the Block Brothers, the Cleveland Cavaliers finished with the No. 1 defense in the entire league. It’s such a stark turnaround from 2018 to 2021 when the Cavs had the worst defense in the NBA.
The Cavs were actually a streaky team, fairing much better at home.
A 5-game winning streak in December was followed by a 3-game losing streak.
A 7-game winning streak in February was followed by another 3-game losing streak.
The Cavs were 31-10 at the Rock and 20-21 on the road.
The Cavs closed the season by winning 12 of the last 17 games, finishing with 51 wins and the No. 4 seed in the East.
In the first round against the Knicks, Mitchell Robinson surprisingly worked Allen and Mobley, who did not seem quite ready for the bright lights of the playoffs. The Cavs’ offense also could never get going, scoring a lowly 94 points per game in the series. And Thibs outcoached J.B. Bickerstaff to the point that it was all over the timeline.
Trading for D. Mitch still looks like the right move (even despite Markkanen’s ascension), but there is still work to be done here.
This franchise is still heading in the right direction, though. It’s important to remember that despite high expectations this was their first trip to the playoffs in five years.
Cleveland is still out from the darkness post-LeBron, already in much brighter days and with more to come.
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Additional Notes
The Kevin Love situation was so bizarre, but it’s easy to forget that he had fallen out of the rotation and was having a rough season in Cleveland. It just looks so much worse when he was starting in the freaking NBA Finals.
Isaac Okoro’s scoring dipped, but his shooting numbers were actually up. Defenses still leave him be, wide open in the corner. That’s a problem in the playoffs. Especially with Mobley and Allen on the floor. Bickerstaff opted for more of Cedi Osman, but that did not work out so well either as the Knicks attacked him on defense.
Ricky Rubio eventually debuted in January after his torn Achilles last season. He understandably lost a step. A summer of getting back into shape and having an actual backup point could do wonders for the Cavs.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
This is one of the most exciting teams in the league, but the number just feels too high. Under 47.5 wins.
Cavs 2022-23 record: (51-31)
Nope. The number was not too high.
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What’s Next?
No first-round pick. They would rather have Donovan Mitchell anyway.
The Cavs have 10 players under contract for next season, so the roster is mostly set outside of working any trades. Caris LeVert is the one big free agent question.
It felt like Jae Crowder, or at least a Jae Crowder type on the wing, would be a helpful piece. Anybody and everybody could use another wing, but especially the Cavs.
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Favorite Cavs Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:
The craziest part about Mitchell’s 71 points is not that it only took him 34 shots, but that he also had 11 assists!