Game 64: Cleveland Cavaliers (18-45) vs. San Antonio Spurs (26-35) - 7:30 PM ET

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[Stillwater]

Be interesting to see how they fair in this one short staffed esp after such a high level effort yesterday. luckily the Spurs pace is usually manageable

[JonFromVA]

Nice to see Drummond contributing to the win - even if the Spurs were starting a 2 way player at C.

[Revenged25]

Sexton with another good game. I'll admit I don't think he'll ever be the primary player on a team that wins a title, but I think that about any single PG, especially a score first one, no matter who it is, Steph, Kyrie, Wall, etc. It comes down to either having a dominant Forward to a championship, or multiple players being among the best at their positions, such as the Warriors with Steph, Klay, and Green all being top 5 at their positions and the entire team just complimenting each other extremely well. I do think however Sexton could be a major contributor to a championship team as you always need a player that can score and with Sexton seeming to learn when/how to pass better when teams collapse he will only improve.

The pairing with Delly seems to be working well less because Delly is a better at passing, I think it's just a mindset change where he's looking first to pass and to score second, but because Delly can run the offense and give Sexton a chance to catch his breath on offense. I don't think it exactly has to be another guard, but if the Cavs can get another ball handler on the court with Sexton that can run the offense efficiently then the Cavs will have something to work with.

Also I really think Drummond will end up opting in. Not only because he knows he won't get that kind of money in FA this summer, but also because it looked like he was really starting to settle in with the team and having a good time. If the Cavs and do well to end the season, though not too well, I expect the Drummond to opt-in and the Cavs will likely still pick someone like Wiseman depending on where their pick falls simply as BPA. That will give us insurance as well if/when both TT and Drummond are gone in 2 seasons. Though if we do finish the season strong and pick between 6-10 I think Deni Avdija would be a great fit with the team, and Sexton in particular, as when given the chance he's shown to be able to score, distribute, rebound, and defend, though the question about his competition is warranted, just seems like an overall good fit and an upgrade from Cedi.

[JonFromVA]

I don't think it's any one thing ... Delly brings a whole slew of advantages and disadvantages including years of experience setting up and playing with bigs including some of our bigs, he's a big/tough PG that will try to defend anyone, he moves the ball well, he makes passes that lead directly to high % shots, he keeps his teammates involved, and he's a vet that's helped a team win a championship.

On the flip side, he's operating mostly on that experience and moxy, can become predictable, and with his shooting problems he contributes to our spacing problems.

There are other ways to get those things, but let's not discount Delly's skills. He actually has some PG skills on an organization which hasn't seem many players with those skills over the years (and I'm including LeBron and Kyrie).

But, the presumption has been that he doesn't fit in with our long-term plans and he's had constant injury issues.

We're in rather a weird situation for a rebuilding team as our front court is good enough to win some games if he we could settle down our back court. If Drummond and Thompson decide to walk, that will change things quite a bit.

We do need to keep expectations in check ... for instance, hoping Deni would be ready to contribute at a higher level than say Cedi (who's had plenty of international success) is likely wishful thinking. Anyone hoping that Kevin Porter Jr can develop PG skills is awfully premature thinking at this point as well.

IMO, our best bet is staying the course with Garland, but sure, if he doesn't see marked improvement he could find his way to the bench in favor of ??? Maybe Delly? Maybe Exum? Or perhaps someone new.

JBB seems to be coaching to win a lot more than Beilein was, and it looks like it's re-energized the vets on the team to play harder. Unless Koby forces his hand by dumping the vets from the roster, the team next year may be a lot more focused on playing vets and winning then we've seen ... and then fitting in the young players based on merit.

I mean, for example ... second night of a back to back, we lose Thompson, Love struggling, Spurs are starting their own 2-way player, over-time game ... and JBB can't find minutes for Dean Wade? Dude stunk in his first real action of the season the other night, but if we can't get him another extended look under these situations will we ever?

Yeah, maybe we would have lost the game in the minutes he's out there, but how are we going to know what we've got?

[Revenged25]

I don't think it's any one thing ... Delly brings a whole slew of advantages and disadvantages including years of experience setting up and playing with bigs including some of our bigs, he's a big/tough PG that will try to defend anyone, he moves the ball well, he makes passes that lead directly to high % shots, he keeps his teammates involved, and he's a vet that's helped a team win a championship.

On the flip side, he's operating mostly on that experience and moxy, can become predictable, and with his shooting problems he contributes to our spacing problems.

There are other ways to get those things, but let's not discount Delly's skills. He actually has some PG skills on an organization which hasn't seem many players with those skills over the years (and I'm including LeBron and Kyrie).

But, the presumption has been that he doesn't fit in with our long-term plans and he's had constant injury issues.

We're in rather a weird situation for a rebuilding team as our front court is good enough to win some games if he we could settle down our back court. If Drummond and Thompson decide to walk, that will change things quite a bit.

We do need to keep expectations in check ... for instance, hoping Deni would be ready to contribute at a higher level than say Cedi (who's had plenty of international success) is likely wishful thinking. Anyone hoping that Kevin Porter Jr can develop PG skills is awfully premature thinking at this point as well.

IMO, our best bet is staying the course with Garland, but sure, if he doesn't see marked improvement he could find his way to the bench in favor of ??? Maybe Delly? Maybe Exum? Or perhaps someone new.

JBB seems to be coaching to win a lot more than Beilein was, and it looks like it's re-energized the vets on the team to play harder. Unless Koby forces his hand by dumping the vets from the roster, the team next year may be a lot more focused on playing vets and winning then we've seen ... and then fitting in the young players based on merit.

I mean, for example ... second night of a back to back, we lose Thompson, Love struggling, Spurs are starting their own 2-way player, over-time game ... and JBB can't find minutes for Dean Wade? Dude stunk in his first real action of the season the other night, but if we can't get him another extended look under these situations will we ever?

Yeah, maybe we would have lost the game in the minutes he's out there, but how are we going to know what we've got?

Well if JBB is more focused on winning games, Sexton will getting a lot more minutes than Garland IMO. I don't think anyone expects KPJ will get PG skills, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him become a player in the mold of Beal/Harden who can be highly proficient scorers with the ability to kick the rock out if they are driving for a bucket.

[JonFromVA]

I don't think it's any one thing ... Delly brings a whole slew of advantages and disadvantages including years of experience setting up and playing with bigs including some of our bigs, he's a big/tough PG that will try to defend anyone, he moves the ball well, he makes passes that lead directly to high % shots, he keeps his teammates involved, and he's a vet that's helped a team win a championship.

On the flip side, he's operating mostly on that experience and moxy, can become predictable, and with his shooting problems he contributes to our spacing problems.

There are other ways to get those things, but let's not discount Delly's skills. He actually has some PG skills on an organization which hasn't seem many players with those skills over the years (and I'm including LeBron and Kyrie).

But, the presumption has been that he doesn't fit in with our long-term plans and he's had constant injury issues.

We're in rather a weird situation for a rebuilding team as our front court is good enough to win some games if he we could settle down our back court. If Drummond and Thompson decide to walk, that will change things quite a bit.

We do need to keep expectations in check ... for instance, hoping Deni would be ready to contribute at a higher level than say Cedi (who's had plenty of international success) is likely wishful thinking. Anyone hoping that Kevin Porter Jr can develop PG skills is awfully premature thinking at this point as well.

IMO, our best bet is staying the course with Garland, but sure, if he doesn't see marked improvement he could find his way to the bench in favor of ??? Maybe Delly? Maybe Exum? Or perhaps someone new.

JBB seems to be coaching to win a lot more than Beilein was, and it looks like it's re-energized the vets on the team to play harder. Unless Koby forces his hand by dumping the vets from the roster, the team next year may be a lot more focused on playing vets and winning then we've seen ... and then fitting in the young players based on merit.

I mean, for example ... second night of a back to back, we lose Thompson, Love struggling, Spurs are starting their own 2-way player, over-time game ... and JBB can't find minutes for Dean Wade? Dude stunk in his first real action of the season the other night, but if we can't get him another extended look under these situations will we ever?

Yeah, maybe we would have lost the game in the minutes he's out there, but how are we going to know what we've got?

Well if JBB is more focused on winning games, Sexton will getting a lot more minutes than Garland IMO. I don't think anyone expects KPJ will get PG skills, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him become a player in the mold of Beal/Harden who can be highly proficient scorers with the ability to kick the rock out if they are driving for a bucket.

I suppose I should cut JBB some slack given how depleted our roster is recently. Presumably he'll continue to find minutes for our lottery picks and Porter Jr who clearly has a high-upside but needs a lot of minutes. Maybe not Ante and Wade. though ...