How strong are the Cavs now?

[JShuttlesworth]

Group 1: BOS / MIL / PHI
Group 2: CLE / BKN / MIA / TOR
Group 3: ATL / CHI

Could be some movement within groups.

Brooklyn is the wildcard, they could be good or they could be a circus

[facothomas22]

Top 4-5 seed team in the Eastern Conference. Outside of the Celtics, Bucks, and maybe the 76ers I see no team in the east that's better than the Cavaliers. Maybe the Nets, but with the drama that has been going with that team + Steve Nash simply being a terrible Head coach, I not sure what to think about this team. The Heat are basically running it back with the same roster, but without Pj Tucker, so I'm expect them to fall off a bit. The Hawks are still one piece away from contending. The Bulls haven't really improve from last season and the Cavaliers at this point are clearly better than them. The rest of the eastern Conference is basically irrelevant.

[kanersen]

They moved up a tier for sure. I have the Bucks and Celts as the top 2 but they could fit in anywhere behind that realistically.

[cupcakesnake]

Isaac Okoro is 6'5" with average length (6'8.5" wingspan). People need to stop talking about him as a potential starting small forward in the NBA. Regardless of his 3-point shot, Okoro isn't going to be a big plus, defensively, as long as he has to play the 3. Too many giant 3s these days. He can survive at the 3, but I don't see him being a starter that his team is satisfied with.

Lauri was there starting SF last season. Right now they have a noticeable hole there that I'm not sure who else on that roster can fill.

If lavert comes back to form he’s their best SF. But will probably come off the bench. Also cedi was pretty good last year.

I see Levert and Okoro as clear guards and Cedi as a small ball 4. I don't think they have a legit SF on the roster, but like I've said in other posts, Mobley ability to guard the perimeter (while Allen plays behind him as a very mobile rim protector) kind of plugs this hole already. Their 5th starter can be whoever fits with their 4 young stars the best.

Crazy that they have 4 stars under 26! (Mitchell is only under 26 for another week though haha)

[Sidthekid87]

Call me crazy, but I think they're legitimate tittle contenders as soon as this year. They were firmly in the playoffs before injuries hit them hard last season. Now they've gotten healthy (they do have a few guys who don't have a great track record with injuries though) and you've got to assume that the roster naturally progresses with age, seeing as the 3 best players are under 24 years old. Oh and now they've added one of the top shot creators in the entire league to the roster. They have arguably a top 3 backcourt and a top 3 frontcourt in the entire league. Color this Raptor fan jealous. Scary hours I'm telling ya.

[Blacksheep25]

If they were only as good as last year they’d be excellent. But all these guys are young enough where improvement is expected. They should be very good, particularly after Rubio is back.

[Jazz9]

On a scale of Hercule to Goku they're probably somewhere around Piccolo strength.

I now want to know who the 29 others teams are..

[Crazy-Canuck]

Isaac Okoro is 6'5" with average length (6'8.5" wingspan). People need to stop talking about him as a potential starting small forward in the NBA. Regardless of his 3-point shot, Okoro isn't going to be a big plus, defensively, as long as he has to play the 3. Too many giant 3s these days. He can survive at the 3, but I don't see him being a starter that his team is satisfied with.

Lauri was their starting SF last season. Right now they have a noticeable hole there that I'm not sure who else on that roster can fill.

Is been rumored that the cavs have interest in wiggins, got to believe he's their number one focus next off season.

[GSWFan1994]

I think Mobley will, at least until his 4th season, make a jump to All-NBA status/range, ie, he will be the team's unquestioned best player. From my point of view, from what I've already seen from him and what I project him to stand in a few years time, Mobley has all the makings of a Hall of Fame player.

Along with that, you have 3 more players on the borderline All-Star range (Garland, Mitchell and Allen). At least in the top 30/35 range, obviously it could (and should) be better than this.

So, a core with these 4 players is definitely a contender. May not happen this season, but I believe the chances are great that it will in the future.

That's how strong they are.

On a side note: from a historical perspective, it will be interesting to see whoever gets voted All-Star from this team many years from now, and how that may change our perception about these players in the future.

Obviously you can't have FOUR All-Stars for years to come, even if this team becomes a surefire contender.

My guess using this logic, as of right now, is that Jarrett Allen arguably may not make more All-Star teams from now; Garland and Mitchell will get All-Stars nods a few times, but not be perennial choices, maybe one will cancel the other's stats in the long run and in the public and media eye; and Mobley, as I said in the 1st paragraph, will be a perennial selection.

Nonetheless, this is a contender, folks. If they can trade Kevin Love for some more wing depth, they may even reach the best team in the East status in a couple of years.

[Hobo4President]

It seems people don't remember the cavs were performing great before they had a bunch of injuries last year, with one of the biggest being when Rubio went down, when he was playing our offense was great. Then with the Mobley and Allen injuries we still managed to have a decent defence throughout the year. It's likely they are top 6 last year if those injuries didn't hit. It's obviously very dependent on health but I can see them being top 4 this season with further development from their core, they're also quite deep as well.

[R-DAWG]

The peak scenario:
Evan Mobley turns into the next Anthony Davis level, or even better, anchor front court player.
The backcourt of Garland/Mitchell is as good if not better than Dame/CJ or prime Wall/Beal.

The rest of the roster is flexible with additional defense (Okoro/Allen) shooting (Love/Osman) and playmaking (LaVert/Rubio)

There is no guarantee that they hit that ceiling, and it most likely does not happen next year, but if you looked back in 5 years and Mobley is a top-7 player and Garland a top-25 player (we know Mitchell is at worst top-20 and most likely top-15). But the potential surely is there and I respect the Cavs for taking the risk that has the upside of being something special for a long period of time. In 3 years from now the Cavs are potentially legit title contenders and potentially a what-if story watching Mitchell walk out the door without control of their draft for the next 4 years.

[pingpongrac]

I see this as going one of two ways this season.

1. Mitchell plays passable defence for the first time since his rookie season due to a bit less of an offensive burden and having TWO very good-to-elite rim-protecting Cs covering his mistakes. Mitchell and Garland coexist in the backcourt and learn to play off each other rather than take turns trying to do their own thing. Mobley takes a bit of a leap on the offensive end by expanding his range which should give Mitchell/Garland a bit more spacing to work with. Allen/Mobley miss no more than ~10 games each and Cleveland's bench (which is now made up of a lot of injury-prone players or vets in their 30s) remains healthy. Basically everything clicks on both ends of the floor and health-wise for the Cavs en route to a potential ECF appearance.

2. Mitchell's defensive effort from Utah carries over to Cleveland and puts an immense amount of pressure on the two bigs up front which results in more fouls on Mobley/Allen (who were extremely good at avoiding fouls last season) and free throws for the opposition (Cleveland allowed the 2nd least FTA last season). The Mitchell/Garland backcourt brings to mind a better version of the Sexton/Garland backcourt that seemingly never had things going offensively at the same time while being poor defensively. Mobley makes minor improvements to his offence, but still isn't a threat outside of the restricted area. Allen/Mobley miss extensive time and some combination of LeVert (who has missed ~25 games per year the last 4 seasons), Rubio (32 and coming off a pretty serious ACL injury), Love (34 and has missed ~30 games per year the last 4 seasons) and to a much lesser extent Lopez (34) also miss significant time. Things go sideways for the Cavs a bit en route to a .500-ish season and they bow out in the 1st round.

I think both scenarios are equally as possible, and I don't just say that as a Raptors fan. I think this move is more than likely huge for Cleveland in the future (allowing a core of Mitchell/Garland/Mobley/Allen to grow together and seriously compete 2-3 years down the road), but I have my doubts that everything will go smoothly from day 1. It could very well take 2-3 months for things to click and by that point the Cavs would likely be far enough behind the top of the East that HCA would be hard to claim. Boston, Milwaukee and Philly are still clearly the biggest contenders in the East as well as Brooklyn assuming it's a drama-free season for the Nets.

[TravisScott55]

Perimeter defense is still horrible, but they have more depth now

[jehosafats]

Mobley reminds me of LaMarcus Aldridge. His jumper isn't Brita like LA, but the build and the feel for the game seem similar. He's a better defender than he ever was.

[perempe20]

A poll would have been nice.

[TheLand13]

That's the point. Dame and CJ made it to the WCF with Nurckic, Aminu, and Mo Harkless. This Cavs squad could be scary good.

Above all else, they have a bench unit consisting of Love (who was second in sixth man of the year voting last season), Rubio, Levert, Osman, and Lopez. I don't think people who don't follow Cleveland regularly realize just how deep this team is.

I keep forgetting Love is on the team. They're going to be able to create some big-scoring bench units.

AND Rubio is back on the team, who Mitchell loves playing with.

I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about the team.

[TheLand13]

Isaac Okoro is 6'5" with average length (6'8.5" wingspan). People need to stop talking about him as a potential starting small forward in the NBA. Regardless of his 3-point shot, Okoro isn't going to be a big plus, defensively, as long as he has to play the 3. Too many giant 3s these days. He can survive at the 3, but I don't see him being a starter that his team is satisfied with.

Lauri was their starting SF last season. Right now they have a noticeable hole there that I'm not sure who else on that roster can fill.

Is been rumored that the cavs have interest in wiggins, got to believe he's their number one focus next off season.

Good god if they can somehow manage to get Wiggins… what a starting five that would be.

[Memories]

If Mobley turns into a superstar as he is now projected to be, then top 3 team in the East no question.

As someone else said, this team will go as far as he goes.

[NZB2323]

They’re a top 6 team in the East.

[michaelm]

[code][/code]

They'll go as far as Mobley takes them

Put some RESPEK on JAFRO he's the undisputed leader of that team. Coordinates them on both ends and leads with his play, absolute monster.

Actually agree with you. JAFRO is the go. Nets never should have let him go.