How strong are the Cavs now?

[BrianInPhilly]

One theme reading these posts is actually underrating Garland.

In my opinion he could take a leap into being a top 10 player. He was so dominant last year from a scoring / passing perspective. Similar to Trae and Curry. To be that efficient last year as the only legit scoring ball handler was impressive. I think he’ll be at around 48-39-90 percentages this year.

He’s my dark horse for MVP actually. I put down some $ on the +24,000 odds yesterday actually.

[cupcakesnake]

I hope what doesn't get lost in the Donovan Mitchell injection of offense is the Garland/Allen pick & roll duo. Despite having pretty poor spacing last year (22nd in 3-point attempts, league average in efficiency) that duo made some pretty jaw dropping plays out of the pick & roll. We already know from his time with Gobert that Mitchell is not a good interior passer so far in his career (he makes good kick out passes though). So for the Garland/Allen magic to grow, Mitchell would need to be a spacer in some of those sets.

[Edrees]

Top 4 seed in the east for sure. Maybe even top 2 if things go right. They are a great team but I'd still say a year or two and move or two away from contender status.

[Lalouie]

That looks like a pretty monstrous team. Their youth and talent will be a problem, could they be a top 4 seed?

in the old days, when a team was this young i woulda said "they're not ready. let them grow for another 5 or 6 years"
other than portland in '77 and okc in '12 that is the way the nba worked. there's a learning/experience arc.

however today, almost ALL the new contenders are young or have no experience. phx went out and brought in experience with crowder and cp3. without those two phx is nothing

against all those younger inexperienced teams, the cavs look like they're sitting pretty.
but there's still the vets at mil, bn, lac, and gsw. those teams aside, there's bos, miami, mem, philly, phx, dal, minnie. the cavs look to me like they'll settle into the end of that second group

[Kobe187]

Top 10 team in the NBA, they’ll be fun to watch, a lot of talent. The SF position should eventually be upgraded. Need a bit more size, versatility, physicality and defence for wings.

[Johnny Bball]

how does salary cap work

When Love comes off next summer they have a ton of cap space so yeah...how does it work again?

They aren't winning anything now, but next summer is going to be tough to watch for the rest of the east.

how much cap do you think lebron going sign for? 28-33m

Uhh.... you're a Lakers fan. You should know his contract has one year on it next summer. They can't sign Lebron next summer... they would have to wait form his to demand a trade.

[Johnny Bball]

how does salary cap work

When Love comes off next summer they have a ton of cap space so yeah...how does it work again?

They aren't winning anything now, but next summer is going to be tough to watch for the rest of the east.

how much cap do you think lebron going sign for? 28-33m

Uhh.... you're a Lakers fan. You should know his contract has one year (minimum) on it next summer. They can't sign Lebron next summer ... they would have to wait for him to demand a trade (or even at the deadline). Which is not out of the question.

And it's not going to be difficult for Cavs to create near max cap space next summer, the question is why.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/2023/ufa/

[HMFFL]

The chemistry between Darius Garland and Mitchell intrigues me. I'm very curious to see how the two do.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[Blazing_royale]

that lineup is not scaring anyone

That lineup is going to be an eastern conference playoff staple for a very long time. Whether they'll be finals contenders or not depends on what Evan Mobley's ceiling as a player is. He has the talent to be one of the best players in the league. If he gets there then yeah this lineup will be more than good enough to scare some other teams.

Definitely depends on Mobleys development but just a few thoughts

lack a good 3/D + backcourt going to get burn on D + you just need to shut down mitchell/garland (again depends on evans development on offence)

[Ballerhogger]

I hope what doesn't get lost in the Donovan Mitchell injection of offense is the Garland/Allen pick & roll duo. Despite having pretty poor spacing last year (22nd in 3-point attempts, league average in efficiency) that duo made some pretty jaw dropping plays out of the pick & roll. We already know from his time with Gobert that Mitchell is not a good interior passer so far in his career (he makes good kick out passes though). So for the Garland/Allen magic to grow, Mitchell would need to be a spacer in some of those sets.

Mitchell 3pt % should go up . Since he’s not being forced create for himself all the time now . Pick and roll with Mitchell shooting 3 should be money maker for the Cavs

[Cavsfansince84]

I think people are sleeping mainly on how good the Cavs were defensively before injuries started piling up and even the offense suffered from a bunch of injuries as well. Lavert sort of concerns me. If he, Garland and DM can figure out how to blend together I think the Cavs can be top 4.

[stillgotgame]

Look at what the best player in the game thinks of this team. Giannis’ press conference after the Bucks getting their butts kicked by the young Cavs is humorous because of the bucket of wings he brought. That aside he had lots of good things to say about them. https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10025089-video-giannis-brings-bucket-of-wings-to-press-conference-after-loss-vs-cavaliers.amp.html

[mcfly1204]

I think people are sleeping mainly on how good the Cavs were defensively before injuries started piling up and even the offense suffered from a bunch of injuries as well. Lavert sort of concerns me. If he, Garland and DM can figure out how to blend together I think the Cavs can be top 4.

If LeVert accepts it, he could be a good long-term sixth man for Cleveland. After removing all doubt of who starts next to Garland, it feels easier to accept some things.

[ocelot17]

Skip to near the end of the video.

According to sportsline, Cavs went from 42.5 wins before the Mitchell trade and to an impressive 42.9 wins after the trade. Lol

Their chances at a title go from 0.3% to 0.4%

They traded all those picks for half a win. That’s so Cleveland.

Watch on YouTube

[OrangeBlueSkies]

On paper, they could be the best team in the East.

I want to see it all come together because I think they could be a legit contender.

Garland/Rubio
Mitchell/Levert
Okoro/Levert
Mobley/Love
Allen

Darn I think they had to unload all those picks. But it is so near sighted, you hope that it doesn't blow up in their face. Clippers, Hawks, Minnesota... all these teams feel some sort of pressure to win it all.

[mcfly1204]

Skip to near the end of the video.

According to sportsline, Cavs went from 42.5 wins before the Mitchell trade and to an impressive 42.9 wins after the trade. Lol

Their chances at a title go from 0.3% to 0.4%

They traded all those picks for half a win. That’s so Cleveland.

Watch on YouTube

Was there much of a shift in the odds?

[QingJames]

On paper, they could be the best team in the East.

I want to see it all come together because I think they could be a legit contender.

Garland/Rubio
Mitchell/Levert
Okoro/Levert
Mobley/Love
Allen

Darn I think they had to unload all those picks. But it is so near sighted, you hope that it doesn't blow up in their face. Clippers, Hawks, Minnesota... all these teams feel some sort of pressure to win it all.

On paper they could be the best team in the East? What?? Did Giannis fall off the face of the Earth? Are Tatum and Brown out for the season? Durant, Embiid, Harden - those guys go anywhere?

That’s some crazy talk.

[TacoLord]

Skip to near the end of the video.

According to sportsline, Cavs went from 42.5 wins before the Mitchell trade and to an impressive 42.9 wins after the trade. Lol

Their chances at a title go from 0.3% to 0.4%

They traded all those picks for half a win. That’s so Cleveland.

Watch on YouTube

That's pretty dumb, considering they won 44 last year with a decent amount of injuries and no Mitchell. Sexton played 11 games, so it's not like he was a huge factor. Lauri was the only contributor involved in the trade, and Mitchell will have a much more significant impact than him. That site probably isn't up to date on this change yet.

I think 50.5 is a good over/under mark for them. Top 4 in the East is very doable. They now have a great scorer in Mitchell, who will help close out games, and add to the gravity on the perimeter pulling help defenders away from the frontcourt. Cavs should be looking at 53+ wins and a 1-3 seed in the East.

[Hugi Mancura]

I hope what doesn't get lost in the Donovan Mitchell injection of offense is the Garland/Allen pick & roll duo. Despite having pretty poor spacing last year (22nd in 3-point attempts, league average in efficiency) that duo made some pretty jaw dropping plays out of the pick & roll. We already know from his time with Gobert that Mitchell is not a good interior passer so far in his career (he makes good kick out passes though). So for the Garland/Allen magic to grow, Mitchell would need to be a spacer in some of those sets.

Mitchell 3pt % should go up . Since he’s not being forced create for himself all the time now . Pick and roll with Mitchell shooting 3 should be money maker for the Cavs

Maybe. If you play smartly against Cavs you don't help from Mitchell. Cavs have two bigs who can't shoot (as right now, maybe Mobley have learned), so you help from the big guy who isn't involved in pick&roll. And also if Cavs start Okoro then there is one more guy from where the help can come instead of Mitchell.

And teams actually takes Cavs seriously this year. Last year Allen & Garland pick&roll was very effective in the beginning of the year, but then died because other team started to help and they helped from Mobley and Okoro. Which are not 3 point threat's.

What Mitchell brings is another scorer and Cavs hope that his and Garlands scoring is enough when you add their defense to the mix. I still think Mitchell need to score most of his points in isolation or in pick & roll ball handler.

[Dupp]

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

I’ve never sensed so much power