LivingLegend wrote:toooskies wrote:jbk1234 wrote:
None of Sexton, LeVert, nor Cedi are PGs so if they're on that list, that's your first problem. Rubio was great. I had assumed that Rondo was a break the glass in case of emergency move. None of Frazier, Pangos or Goodwin were capable backups though and I don't feel like a terribly large sample size was needed to figure that out.
While Sexton is not ideally a PG, he has played the position before and if healthy would have been the starting PG after Garland and Rubio went out. He's fine as "our top two guys are day-to-day" insurance. LeVert would probably be the starter today if Garland were out. The big problem is we signed Pangos to a guaranteed contract in the offseason and he just wasn't able to be an actual third string guy.
But if we end up signing Rubio, the developmental guy is going to get minutes early in the season while Rubio rehabs.
Point 1) I have seen enough of LeVert to know that I want Sexton in his role next season. It would also cost next to nothing to bring Rubio back as strictly a backup PG to run the offense. If LeVerts idea of showing up as a veteran in the biggest games is going 2 for 86 shooting with 9 turnovers then hard pass. Even bad Sexton isnt THAT bad. The Cavs also desperatly miss Sextons fearlessness. Too many timid/passive/soft/unathletic players on this roster especially at the wings/bigs.
Point 2) I know the Cavs are young, but Im starting to questionin their effort/toughness. Too many games, far too many games, do they just come out with no energy and flat. Like last night. They are 1 step slow, they turn the ball over a ton and the absolute lack of ANYBODY that can make a shot is astounding.
Point 3) Im also dangerously close to throwing in the towel on Okoro--as much as it pains me to say. But they might have to look to package him in a deal next year at the deadline. Great kid, great effort, but his ability to provide absolute nothing on offense when the Cavs are desperately looking for a spark/points kills this team. Like, I dont expect 25+ from him, but almost 2 full years in the league--I need at least 15 every night from a top 5 pick in the draft.
I believe his defense has gotten a bit overrated and is replaceable with a 2nd round 'specialist' type of pick. If the Cavs are serious about winning next season and making noise in the playoffs--then they simply cannot be playing Okoro as anything more than a situational role player. We cant have timid shooting Okoro, timid shooting LeVert, timid shooting Stevens and timid shooting Osman on the court. They cant keep putting up with this vanishing act he does where I forget he is even on the court for 3 qtrs at a time.
Thats where a guy like Sexton who plays with zero fear would be great. We miss him. Badly.
The #1 goal in this offseaon after looking at young rosters like TOR/MIN is to get more freaking athletic on the wings and guys who can take/make shots. LeVert/Osman/Stevens/Okoro is fine to get through the Regular season with--but is a disaster of a situation come playoff/meaningful games time.
As to point one, Sexton isn't close to LeVert defensively. There's a reason Okoro was closing games even when Sexton was healthy. So it's not going to be a simple upgrade. There's going to be a definite tradeoff there. More importantly, Sexton is a better shooter than LeVert, but he still chooses to drive 75% of the time. That has to stop if he's to have any chance of starting on the Cavs. As we don't know if Sexton can, or will stop playing that way, and he's a RFA, it's a problem.
Allen and Mobley aren't going anywhere so whoever is playing at SG and SF needs to be a reliable and willing shooter. You can't shrink the court down to 15 feet for the opposing defense, where even Garland, as good as he is, is limited in how much offense he can create with four defenders around the painted area.
The key to building a good roster is to identify the best players on it, ask if they're good enough to build around, and then if they are, to go out and actually get players who compliment what they do. If Okoro doesn't come back next season able to shoot, and not just from the corner, then he's not a long term answer in the starting unit. I think LeVert is going to prove suboptimal in a line up with Allen and Mobley as well.
I wouldn't pay starter's money to Sexton based on best case projections. The likelihood is that he's not going to want to be a catch and shoot player which mean he's a sixth man on the Cavs. The absolute worse thing the Cavs can do is foreclose the possibility of adding a better fit later with cap space. If they have a sixth man making starter's money and they're trying to sell *it's not him, it's us* to a potential trade partner, it won't end well. Same goes with LeVert. Based on the evidence provided to date, his fit doesn't warrant an extension.
In any event, I'm way, way over asking JBB to do the impossible and game plan against the type of defenses we saw last night with multiple guys protecting the rim because every wing on the roster can't friggin shoot. I suspect the answer at the 2, and possibly the 3 as well, aren't on the roster yet.
