Post Mortem #23 - Cleveland Cavaliers

[NoDopeOnSundays]

It's not a bad idea but personally, I don't think the Cavs lost this series because they had a small back court.

I think it's a major factor in why Mitchell teams fall short, especially when his backcourt mate doesn't have it going. It turns into a cascading effect, the smaller guard isn't scoring well & they're a potential target on defense, whereas if his backcourt mate were bigger you could lean on defense if the offense isn't working.

He should be slotted in at the 1, and that has always been the mistake building around him.

The Cavs missed a lot of open shots and couldn't hold a lead. They had no problem going up 15+ points and then giving those leads away multiple times. I can't say that it's because they had a small back court or because he wasn't slotted at the 1. He's not really a PG and he needs someone who can run an offense next to him. The problem the Cavs are having now is that some fans want to trade Garland (I don't presume to know what the Cavs need, Cavs fans know much better than I do) but if Garland is moved for a 3&D player and you play Mitchell at the 1, the Cavs are going to lose a lot of shot creation and all the offensive load would be on Mitchell and that's not a good recipe for success.

Garland is averaging 17/6 for his playoff career, he's not much of a playmaker either when the game gets more physical. I'm just really against smaller backcourts, because it exposes you on the other end, and that is exasperated when they're struggling to score efficiently. The Mitchell stats without Garland are staggering -




It's not like SGA is a great playmaker for others, Brunson isn't a classic PG either, he's a score first guy. They need to get bigger on the wing so that Donovan is the smallest defender on the court, and increase his ball handling duties. I don't think they win that series even if they were healthy, there's just nowhere to hide two different small guards.

[JujitsuFlip]

Trade Mobley for Giannis.

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

[manlisten]

Trade Garland for Zion.

[Doctor MJ]

Trade Mobley for Giannis.

Definitely something to consider.

Were I Milwaukee, a trade package involving Mobley could be among the most enticing any team could offer.

For Cleveland, Giannis doesn't just become your best player, but matches up better timeline-wise with Mitchell.

But I would have concerns:

1. I would generally advise all franchises against aging-up their core when they're already a great team. That's what Phoenix did for example, and the result was them fast-forwarding through a young core (Booker/Bridges/Ayton) that could have been a winning team for a decade to end up right back in the lottery a few years later...sans draft capital.

2. As we saw with Giannis-Dame, there should be concerns about pairing Giannis with on-ball volume scorers. At the time it was perhaps reasonable to think that Giannis could learn to be better off-ball like a normal big, but at this point, I think prime Giannis is set in his ways.

[Doctor MJ]

Trade Mobley for Giannis.

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

Whoa, I was thinking they weren't there yet, but now I see that in '25-26 they will be.

However, I think they'll just barely be above it given the apron's rise, and so they might be able to unload contracts to get below the apron and then make such a move.

[basketballRob]

Trade Mobley for Giannis.

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

The Magic have Isaac as a trade chip, but he doesn't fit your team. He makes $25m this season and could be traded at $25m on draft night. Next season, it drops to $15m. The Magic could take on 125% of Isaac's salary because they aren't over the apron in 2025.

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[flow]

The problem is Strus felt he needed to send that message. He shouldn't have had to been that guy.

The problem is that anyone felt the need to send that message. Not just that Strus is the one who sent it. And they played like it, too. If they had defended with even a little bit of tenacity & desperation, they would have won the game.

.

[mikejames23]

Mitchell is more of a #2, if he understood this and the Cavs FO traded Allen or Garland for Giannis, they would win 1.

[JujitsuFlip]

Trade Mobley for Giannis.

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

Whoa, I was thinking they weren't there yet, but now I see that in '25-26 they will be.

However, I think they'll just barely be above it given the apron's rise, and so they might be able to unload contracts to get below the apron and then make such a move.

The moratorium will decide where it falls but with Mitchell and Mobley due % of cap raises, its kind of moot.

Between Mobley (30% bc of DPOY), Mitchell, Garland, Allen, Hunter, Strus, Okoro, Tyson, Wade's guaranteed portion, and Rubio's dead cap the Cavs sit at ~$212.25 million for 9 players against a projected 2nd apron of $207.83 million. But we have to keep in mind, the Cavs would have three incomplete roster charges too which was $1,160,544 this season but will go slightly higher. That would bring them to about $215.73. They do have the non guaranteed deals of Okeke and Porter Jr but those are higher than the incomplete roster charges. If they retain Ty Jerome his year 1 salary will probably be $14 million so that pushes the Cavs to near $230 million in salary next season. What about Merrill, he'll want a raise too. This roster could get even more expensive in a hurry.

[JujitsuFlip]

Trade Mobley for Giannis.

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

The Magic have Isaac as a trade chip, but he doesn't fit your team. He makes $25m this season and could be traded at $25m on draft night. Next season, it drops to $15m. The Magic could take on 125% of Isaac's salary because they aren't over the apron in 2025.

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No knock to him but with as bad of luck as the Cavs have with injuries come the post season, we need certified iron men on this team moving forward.

[JujitsuFlip]

Trade Garland for Zion.

Their money actually matches down to the penny, so financially it would work but Zion can't shoot, doesn't protect the rim, and most of all is never healthy. That is the last thing this team needs. We need dudes who never miss games, like ever.

[Doctor MJ]

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

Whoa, I was thinking they weren't there yet, but now I see that in '25-26 they will be.

However, I think they'll just barely be above it given the apron's rise, and so they might be able to unload contracts to get below the apron and then make such a move.

The moratorium will decide where it falls but with Mitchell and Mobley due % of cap raises, its kind of moot.

Between Mobley (30% bc of DPOY), Mitchell, Garland, Allen, Hunter, Strus, Okoro, Tyson, Wade's guaranteed portion, and Rubio's dead cap the Cavs sit at ~$212.25 million for 9 players against a projected 2nd apron of $207.83 million. But we have to keep in mind, the Cavs would have three incomplete roster charges too which was $1,160,544 this season but will go slightly higher. That would bring them to about $215.73. They do have the non guaranteed deals of Okeke and Porter Jr but those are higher than the incomplete roster charges. If they retain Ty Jerome his year 1 salary will probably be $14 million so that pushes the Cavs to near $230 million in salary next season. What about Merrill, he'll want a raise too. This roster could get even more expensive in a hurry.

Good details.

I would expect that in a situation like this, teams would hold off on their secondary signings, which could actually end up delaying the completion of the free agency cycle, but yeah, at best, it'd be a tight fit.

[jowglenn]

I think they need to make serious roster moves.

Definitely clear that Mitchell and Mobley are the two surefire keepers - everyone else should be on the table if the right move comes up. People out here criticizing Mitchell are crazy.

Garland, Allen, Strus, Jerome, Hunter - these are the guys who could all go.

Jerome had an awful playoffs, but... could that be a silver lining, where now they get to keep him for way cheaper than expected? Or conversely, not care as much about losing him.

Garland should have plenty of interest around the league. Can they get a bigger defensive guard to pair with Mitchell?

Allen has value.

Strus... is a basketball player.

[basketballRob]

Can't, he makes too much, salaries don't match. As a 2nd apron team, Cavs can't combine contracts in trades.

The Magic have Isaac as a trade chip, but he doesn't fit your team. He makes $25m this season and could be traded at $25m on draft night. Next season, it drops to $15m. The Magic could take on 125% of Isaac's salary because they aren't over the apron in 2025.

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No knock to him but with as bad of luck as the Cavs have with injuries come the post season, we need certified iron men on this team moving forward.

He only has one more season fully guaranteed.

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[Jadoogar]

Most overrated 60+ win team in history. I just knew their offense would collapse under playoff defense.

Atlanta Hawks erasure.

People really need to stop making this comparison. They have nothing in common and it’s just being lazy at that point. Once you dig a little deeper and actually compare the two teams, you quickly realize this is a stupid thing to say.

i'm not comparing them, i'm saying the Hawks were the worse 60 win team.

[Sixers in 4]

The problem is Strus felt he needed to send that message. He shouldn't have had to been that guy.

The problem is that anyone felt the need to send that message. Not just that Strus is the one who sent it. And they played like it, too. If they had defended with even a little bit of tenacity & desperation, they would have won the game.

.

Thats absolutely true but it was more to the point I don't want my role players feeling they need to make those kind of statements or back them up not just about something like this but in general.

Strus should be able to just do his role playing defense and hitting 3s without feeling he had to do more. The old football adage do your job when you start looking over and start trying to do someone elses too your entire team falls apart.

[JujitsuFlip]

Whoa, I was thinking they weren't there yet, but now I see that in '25-26 they will be.

However, I think they'll just barely be above it given the apron's rise, and so they might be able to unload contracts to get below the apron and then make such a move.

The moratorium will decide where it falls but with Mitchell and Mobley due % of cap raises, its kind of moot.

Between Mobley (30% bc of DPOY), Mitchell, Garland, Allen, Hunter, Strus, Okoro, Tyson, Wade's guaranteed portion, and Rubio's dead cap the Cavs sit at ~$212.25 million for 9 players against a projected 2nd apron of $207.83 million. But we have to keep in mind, the Cavs would have three incomplete roster charges too which was $1,160,544 this season but will go slightly higher. That would bring them to about $215.73. They do have the non guaranteed deals of Okeke and Porter Jr but those are higher than the incomplete roster charges. If they retain Ty Jerome his year 1 salary will probably be $14 million so that pushes the Cavs to near $230 million in salary next season. What about Merrill, he'll want a raise too. This roster could get even more expensive in a hurry.

Good details.

I would expect that in a situation like this, teams would hold off on their secondary signings, which could actually end up delaying the completion of the free agency cycle, but yeah, at best, it'd be a tight fit.

True, order of operations can help.

Ty has a cap hold of $3,329,268 and Merrill has a cap hold of $2,227,550. So will have to factor that in, when trying to get below the 2nd arpon, if they want to re-sign those guys and go back into the 2nd apron. Issue is they're UFA so they don't gotta wait on ya.

[Wizop]

Cavs fan may not know how good this podcast is.

Watch on YouTube

[Iwasawitness]

Atlanta Hawks erasure.

People really need to stop making this comparison. They have nothing in common and it’s just being lazy at that point. Once you dig a little deeper and actually compare the two teams, you quickly realize this is a stupid thing to say.

i'm not comparing them, i'm saying the Hawks were the worse 60 win team.

Oh. Fair enough.

[Dupp]

Wait why are people blaming Mitchell? Thats just silly.

Only blaming Mitchell is wrong. Realizing that Mitchell deserves part of the blame is correct. He shot poorly for the series, and that's his primary value on the team.

Actually surprised his fg% and ts% ended up being that low.