It takes a big man to admit when they are wrong about something. Hand up, I was wrong about the Cleveland Cavaliers after the James Harden trade of last year. Now, in fairness to me, the Cavs drew perhaps the softest possible playoff draw that they could. But even then, a very flawed Raptors team took them the distance, and Jalen Duren couldn’t stop vomiting all over himself for long enough to help Cade Cunningham and the Pistons take advantage of their opportunity.
So alas, the Cavs made the East
Finals and proceeded to be dump trucked by the Knicks. It is surely progress from the results sense, as the Cavs hadn’t made an East Finals since the LeBron days of the late 2010’s. But, it never felt like they were serious about contending for anything. This year marks a real fork in the road moment for basically everyone in the Cavaliers organization. There is real pressure to win big, or else the winds of change will begin blowing in full force.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Over/Under 48.5 wins (-105/-120)
Last season: 52-30, lost in four games to the Knicks in the East Finals
Key additions: Peyton Watson (via Denver), Meleek Thomas (NBA Draft), Mario Hezonja (Euro League)
Key losses: Max Strus (Clippers), Dean Wade (Sixers), Dennis Schroeder (Hornets)
The Cavs have their proverbial chips in the middle of the table. They have doubled and tripled down on this roster, as they extended James Harden this offseason and refused to listen on calls for Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Peyton Watson comes in from Denver after his contract dispute, and they are banking on him taking the leap and fulfilling the flashes of promise that he has shown.
To be blunt about it, I think the Cavs are extremely volatile in both the positive and negative connotations. There are worlds where everything fits, this team wins mid-to-upper 50’s regular season games and is exactly what they think they can be. But at the same time, this thing could really go off the rails. I worry about the lack of shooting across the roster. All of their guys have been given so many chances in the playoffs, just to always come up short. And to top it all off, I don’t believe that Kenny Atkinson is a coach that can get any team to the mountaintop, let alone one with this many potential hurdles.
