Dan Favale of Bleacher Report thinks the Cavaliers could make a lot of noise next season.
“Recency bias plays too big a role in the Cavaliers’ title chances,” Favale wrote in his NBA column. “Last year, they were in an existential crisis amid intermittent availability from every member of the Big Four except Jarrett Allen. Their history has been composed of three to five different seasons. That instability has made it difficult to create synergy and momentum and to marry core principles and styles.”
“At the same time, the constant demand has forced self-discovery. The Cavs have a better understanding of their best offset pairings and the benefits of separating Allen and Evan Mobley from each other. By the end of the year, they also had a better idea of what their offense could look like when Mobley was taking and scoring (some) three-pointers. That’s all information new head coach Kenny Atkinson can use to optimize an extremely talented, if not perfectly matched, core.”
The Cavaliers have signed Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley And Donovan Mitchell to overtime this offseason and has declined all commercial offers for Garland of Darius.
Cleveland also fired J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach and signed Kenny Atkinson to a five-year contract.
The Cavaliers went 48-34 last season. They beat the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs in seven games, but lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round in five games.
“People will still dwell on how the Big Four performed last season,” Favale wrote in his NBA column. “Cleveland barely earned the minutes played by Allen, Mobley, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. But the sample size is much smaller (819 possessions) compared to 2022-23, when the quartet posted a 10.2 net rating on 1,729 possessions.
“Next year’s Cavs are better and deeper than their opening year counterparts. There’s no way a team with four All-Star players all in or near their primes could have peaked in its inaugural season. And if the very flawed version of Cleveland managed to win 48 and make a playoff run last year, imagine what a healthier, more talented, and more optimized version of that team can do.”
