Like every year, Basket USA offers a presentation of the NBA season and the 30 franchises in the form of a countdown, from 30th place to our favorite for the title of NBA champion. We start with Cleveland, who did not do much to avoid finishing, a second season in a row, in last place in his conference.
A NEW BLACK AND UNSTABLE SEASON
At least the Cavaliers did in consistency last season. After a 2018-2019 financial year ended with 19 victories, Cleveland also did badly… but with about fifteen games less.
On the floor, difficult to retain a lot of positive from this training. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson have rather held their place, statistically at least, without working miracles. Collin Sexton increased his points average but remained tender to embody the leadership of the team, unlike a Ja Morant in Memphis.
Still rough, the rookies Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. have alternated the good and the not so good, suggesting however bright prospects for the future. More limited, Cedi Osman was not the revelation one could imagine.
Besides the Jordan Clarkson exchange for Dante Exum, much more significant for the Jazz, this season was especially marked by the arrival of Andre Drummond. This bet, which has mechanically created a traffic jam in the Ohio racket, could be short-lived as his huge contract comes to an end at the end of the coming season. And a long-term union does not seem very relevant.
To make matters worse, Cleveland has evolved into a harmful atmosphere at times. We remember this racist slip by John Beilein or the different rants and moods of Kevin Love, sometimes frustrated by some of his teammates and cold with his GM Koby Altman. And the extra-sporting concerns of Kevin Porter Jr., mentioned in recent weeks, are an additional bad signal …
These difficulties of last season notably led to the resignation of John Beilein, who only arrived the previous summer. The former Michigan coach has never been able to gain the confidence of his locker room, unlike his replacement JB Bickerstaff, 40, who is known to be closer to his players. Extended until 2024, the former assistant, already at the helm of the Rockets and then the Grizzlies, calls for hardness from his troop. Wishful thinking?
THE LAST OUTGOING VETERANS?
Who to embody this harshness in a workforce made up mostly of rookies and players with three seasons or less in the legs? Yes, because veterans are increasingly scarce in Cleveland. The Cavs lost a few days ago one of their historic fighters, in the person of Tristan Thompson, pushed towards the exit with the arrival of Andre Drummond and left for Boston.
The latter has logically activated his option of nearly 30 million dollars but nothing says that he will go at the end of this season. To avoid seeing him go to the next “free agency” for no consideration, the Cavs may have to exchange him along the way. Ditto for the other monster contract of the team, Kevin Love, who no longer hides his impatience in the face of this spiral of defeats, comparable to that experienced at the Wolves.
Cleveland will no doubt wait to see how this more experienced racquet, and a priori complementary, will behave at the start of the season. A racket that now has a reigning NBA champion, JaVale McGee.
His signing is the only notable fact of the Cavs’ offseason, whose message seems clear: ” Let the youth mature. “Behind the promising Sexton – Garland – Porter Jr trio, we will follow with interest the NBA debut of Isaac Okoro, drafted in 5th position. The latter has shown in the NCAA that he has the potential to be one of the best defensemen in the NBA. It will not be one of the weakest defenses in the country.
THE SUMMER MOVEMENTS
Arrivals : Isaac Okoro, JaVale McGee (Lakers), Dameyan Dotson (Knicks), Thon Maker
Departures : Tristan Thompson (Celtics), Alfonzo McKinnie (Lakers), Jordan Bell
PLAYER TO WATCH: COLLIN SEXTON
Because he is obviously the one to whom Cleveland wants to entrust his future, the leader will begin a third season which could act as a springboard for him. Criticized for his choices in the game, shunned at the Rising Stars Challenge, Collin Sexton remains, for the moment, a young producer of statistics from a bottom team.
To change status, winning your team is essential. This is where we can remember his streak after the last “All-Star break”: he had averaged 25.5 points (58% on shots) and above all, his team had won half of its outings. It is up to him and his team to repeat such passages over a longer period. Frustrated at not having been able to get to the Orlando “bubble”, the person only asks to be able to frolic again.
* 19 wins and 46 losses
AVERAGE AGE: 25.1 years
SALARY MASS: 123.6 million (20th out of 30)
| CONFERENCE EST | ||||
| 15 – Cavaliers | 14 – | 13 – | 12 – | 11 – |
| 10 – | 9 – | 8 – | 7 – | 6 – |
| 5 – | 4 – | 3 – | 2 – | 1 – |
| CONFERENCE OUEST | ||||
| 15 – | 14 – | 13 – | 12 – | 11 – |
| 10 – | 9 – | 8 – | 7 – | 6 – |
| 5 – | 4 – | 3 – | 2 – | 1 – |
