Post Mortem #23 - Cleveland Cavaliers

[wco81]

Mitchell led team will never go far in the postseason. He needs his Batman

History with the Jazz having great regular seasons but underperforming in the playoffs and now Cavs certainly make it appear the ceiling is limited.

Ultimately they have to split up that backcourt, try to acquire a 3 and D wing because they can’t go far with two short guards dominating their scoring.

[Dez]

Lonzo would be a perfect fit skill wise with Mitchell in the backcourt, 3 and D with some playmaking ability.

Also works in the always injured theme the Cavs are rolling with.

[Iwasawitness]

To the people saying they should move on from Garland... how?

Cleveland is now going to be a second apron team. Making trades, especially for a player like Garland, is going to be extremely difficult. Contracts have to match no matter what. And it's not like you want to get rid him entirely either, his playmaking and off ball play is extremely valuable. Mitchell can't run an offense the way he can.

So, if we can't make these kinds of moves then what do we do? Well, I have a few ideas...

1. We could put Hunter in the starting lineup. A trio of Hunter/Mobley/Allen is pretty deadly from a size standpoint. And it would be nice to have another player out there who can create their own shot opportunities like Hunter can. The obvious drawback with this is that you are killing your depth, as we are operating under the assumption that Jerome and Merrill both sign elsewhere this season (although if I'm Cleveland, I'm doing everything I can to retain their services).

2. A friend of mine actually suggested this to me, and I find it very intriguing. Start Mobley at center, have Allen be his backup, and create arguably the best center rotation in the NBA. The obvious issue with this is whether or not Mobley is ready to make that transition to being a full time center yet, and you are also taking away your two seven footers who can guard out at the perimeter to help make up for the two small guards. Even if you take Hunter and move him to the four, you are still creating a situation where the Cavaliers are pretty easy to pick apart at the perimeter.

3. I personally think this is the best route to go... you do the same thing as above but with Garland/Mitchell, where Mitchell starts and Garland is his backup, especially if you lose Jerome. Strus is better suited being your starting two guard anyways, and you can still go with Hunter as your starting SF if you wanted. And even if you manage to lose Jerome and Merrill, you are still left with a bench unit of Garland/Okoro/Tyson/Wade. The only issue with this is that Mitchell is simply not a natural PG. And while he may be a talented passer, he can't run an offense like Garland can. But we also can't deny that a Darius Garland coming off the bench would be pretty deadly, and that the Cavaliers are much better defensively when the two small guards don't play together.

[Iwasawitness]

Mitchell led team will never go far in the postseason. He needs his Batman

History with the Jazz having great regular seasons but underperforming in the playoffs and now Cavs certainly make it appear the ceiling is limited.

Ultimately they have to split up that backcourt, try to acquire a 3 and D wing because they can’t go far with two short guards dominating their scoring.

Again though, how do you do it? I don't think people realize how hard making trades through the second apron is going to be.

[Chuck Everett]

Get rid of Allen for a more versatile player. He should be making Nic Claxton money.

[KGtabake]

Garland, Allen, picks for Giannis.
Keep FO, Keep head coach.

[Johnny Bball]

So do you get rid of your core 4? Some of them? Run it back and hope you stay healthy?

If you ask me, the problems start in the backcourt. Mitchell and Garland don't seem to fit ideally. They seemed to play better without Garland on the floor sometimes. Cavs fans will probably call me crazy but I move on from Garland. To a PG that doesn't need the ball as much or can be a facilitator, and that can defend well on ball.

Then when CLE loses, the narrative will be that Spida is not a true PG, so he needs help in the backcourt

He isn't.

[Dupp]

The fact they lost this game makes it hard to blame injuries and just an epic game two choke.

Think they need to make everyone available other than Mitchell and mobley

[Iwasawitness]

Garland, Allen, picks for Giannis.
Keep FO, Keep head coach.

This is literally impossible to do.

[JujitsuFlip]

Get rid of Allen for a more versatile player. He should be making Nic Claxton money.

Claxton makes $24.2 million AAV and Allen makes $26 million AAV, they're in the same ballpark.

[JujitsuFlip]

Garland, Allen, picks for Giannis.
Keep FO, Keep head coach.

They're a 2nd apron team, can't combine contracts in trades. Also, they have no picks, used them all to acquire Mitchell.

[Dupp]

Wait why are people blaming Mitchell? Thats just silly.

[Iwasawitness]

Wait why are people blaming Mitchell? Thats just silly.

I don't want to blame Mitchell, but I will say this...

Situation's like this are where I sometimes wish we never traded for him. Bringing him in accelerated our team and increased our expectations. I think some people forget just how young the Cavaliers still are. Yeah, Mitchell's entering his prime years but Mobley is only 23 years old, Garland will turn 25 this year. Hell, Allen's only 26. It's pretty insane that we've had the kind of success we've already had, but because we have Mitchell on the team, the expectations are higher than they probably should be. Sometimes I wish we would have just went with our original route and kept it. We'd have our picks, we'd have more flexibility and we more than likely wouldn't be a second apron team right now.

If we don't get a championship out of this, part of me wonders if we will look back on this and wonder if we made a massive mistake in acquiring Mitchell. I don't want to think that way because the possibility definitely still exists that we can win a title someday, and we definitely couldn't have foreseen the second apron bull **** becoming a thing one day, but... yeah, not getting him and sticking with what we had before definitely would've been easier.

[vege]

Fire JB, he is clearly the problem. Oh wait.

Some Cleveland fans are looking really stupid right now.

[doogie_hauser]

Running it back is not an ideal scenario even if it's their only possible course of action due to the Apron Tax. Despite Boston being out next season due to Tatum missing, the likes of the rising Orlando and Detriot will be even better and have time on their side.

Not saying their chip window is closed, but this really was the year they had to cash in and at least make the finals.

I definitely would try shake things up if possible from a Cavs perspective (if it can be done) as I say we now have 3 young super talented and tough teams in the East with the Pacers, Magic and Pistons.The Knicks will be thereabouts again.

[JujitsuFlip]

Fire JB, he is clearly the problem. Oh wait.

Some Cleveland fans are looking really stupid right now.

Firing jb was the correct move, no amount of Pistons fans cope will change that.

[azcatz11]

Fire JB, he is clearly the problem. Oh wait.

Some Cleveland fans are looking really stupid right now.

Firing jb was the correct move, no amount of Pistons fans cope will change that.

I would like to see a blockbuster trade.

Would a Bam for Mitchell trade make sense or would something else have to be included on the Heat side? Bam + Mobley would be a great pair and would instantly bring the physicality because Allen is soft. You can flip Allen for a backup guard

[tmorgan]

Fire JB, he is clearly the problem. Oh wait.

Some Cleveland fans are looking really stupid right now.

Firing jb was the correct move, no amount of Pistons fans cope will change that.

Die on that hill, JFlip! I like you sticking to your guns, even though Atkinson showed nothing in the playoffs you hadn’t seen before.

As for my advice… it sounds crazy, but shop Mitchell. He’s killing your team offensive flow. I know how good he is, but you also see how he marginalizes everyone else, particularly Mobley. Free Evan Mobley!

Unlike Garland or JFro, Spida would have an absolutely huge selling price. People want a proven playoff scorer, and maybe some team with a different guard rotation (bigger guys) can fit him in better.

I don’t believe this will happen, but I still think it should. Mitchell-led teams don’t get it done.

[JujitsuFlip]

Fire JB, he is clearly the problem. Oh wait.

Some Cleveland fans are looking really stupid right now.

Firing jb was the correct move, no amount of Pistons fans cope will change that.

I would like to see a blockbuster trade.

Would a Bam for Mitchell trade make sense or would something else have to be included on the Heat side? Bam + Mobley would be a great pair and would instantly bring the physicality because Allen is soft. You can flip Allen for a backup guard

In 2026 if the Cavs decide to split the core 4 in half, Mobley needs to be next to a big who can shoot. Ideally if he's going to stay at the 4, the dude also needs to be like 250 pounds, minimum.

The corpse of Horford, the corpse of BroLo, Turner who just beat them, that is the archetype Mobley needs to play alongside.

[JujitsuFlip]

Fire JB, he is clearly the problem. Oh wait.

Some Cleveland fans are looking really stupid right now.

Firing jb was the correct move, no amount of Pistons fans cope will change that.

Die on that hill, JFlip! I like you sticking to your guns, even though Atkinson showed nothing in the playoffs you hadn’t seen before.

The 3-2 zone... jb would never do that. jb runs his playoff defense from the jump of the season in October lol

Having the #1 offensive rating in the playoffs... Yeah, I'd say we saw a lot of different schemes and tactics jb didn't show in his 3 post seasons here.

jb = a trash can