Uncertainty in 'Believeland - A Cav's 22 story

[cincy14fan]

Cav's are coming into the year as one of the most exciting teams in the NBA now. Sure its not cause of their talent, but so many what if's. With the Cav's parting with their GM and bringing in a new one will these what if's actually come a reality or will it be the same old story since LeBron left the second time as they muddle in the depths of one of the worst teams in the NBA. Only time will tell...

System: Xbox Series X
Sliders: SoIceDae from the PS5 base then will tweak accordingly
Rule Changes: None to the start with and not using any GM modes
Season: 82 games
Teams: Just controlling the Cav's

[cincy14fan]

Last season was an improvement, hey we didn't finish last, but still didn't do well as Cavs finished 13th in the Eastern Conference. Cav's went out and got Evan Mobley (PF) in the draft and then another PF/SF Lauri Markkanen in the free agency. Add in injured riddled Kevin Love and new free agency signing Tacko Fall for depth and the front court looks to be in decent shape even if it is young.

So after losing fan favorite PF/SF Larry Nance Jr. and the more rumors swirling on Sexton/Love (which we will get into later) this team is young still as the projected starters for the season are as followed:

PG: Darius Garland 3 year pro
SG: Collin Sexton 4 year pro
SF: Lauri Markkanen 5 year pro
PF: Evan Mobley Rookie
C: Jarrett Allen 5 year pro

The team decent or below average players to fill out the roster. Which we won't get too much into it since there are so many trade rumors. However, lets break the strengths and weaknesses of the team as of now.

Strengths: Rebounding is probably going to be key here. Cavs old GM regime just signed Jarrett Allen to a 5 year 100 million contract. They got Mobley in the draft who can rebound. Love if healthy can still pull down double figure rebounds a night, and tallest player on the team now at 7'5" Falls can just stand and get rebounds. Which is good since this team isn't great on paper with scoring.

Speed, speed, and youth. We know how quick Sexton an Garland are. Markkanen isn't quick but knows how to use the space he has with Okoro, Windler able to create space while not being the burners out there. Also helps that the average age is just under 25 with only two in the 30's which is Love (33 years old) and Rubio (30 years old)

With the height we have we should be one of the top teams in the league for block shots. Which should help with being young and inexperience. While this isn't a playoff contender team...yet, it has the makings of keeping some players and trading for a piece or drafting another piece to make it come together.

Weakness: So have youth, rebounding, and able to block shots. Well basically everything else it seems as if the Cavs are terrible at. With youth comes inexperience and low defensive IQ. So sure they might block a lot of shots which means easy offensive rebounds or buckets since people are getting beat on set plays or just excited to get a block.

With the quickness of our guards and lack of outside shooting the mid-range is terrible for the Cavs. So it looks as if it will all come close at the basket or hopefully on kick outs for wide open shots. If not this could be a very long and slow season of watching the Cavs build a house out of bricks. At least it will be a big house!

Prediction: Should be better than last season, but when you go 22-50 its not that hard to hopefully get a handful more wins. It would be a very exciting year if Cavs get 40 wins, but realistically with this team we are looking at 28-52 record which still isn't going to make it to the playoffs. Still that's with the projected current team.

[cincy14fan]

This is the part every fan of every team likes before the year. The What If's. While some teams are dreading it...like Portland what if the team trades Lillard. Clippers of what if Leonard isn't healthy of the wheels come off in the playoffs due to injuries. Others like the Cav's is just full of Last season was an improvement, hey we didn't finish last, but still didn't do well as Cavs finished 13th in the Eastern Conference. Cav's went out and got Evan Mobley (PF) in the draft and then another PF/SF Lauri Markkanen in the free agency. Add in injured riddled Kevin Love and new free agency signing Tacko Fall for depth and the front court looks to be in decent shape even if it is young.

So lets break down starting with the most pressing what if's for the team:

Kevin Love: First it was looking to trade him, but honestly that market isn't there after they decided to keep one of the big three and knew there was injuries problems. So far his contract of getting paid 30 million a year is just absurd and most teams aren't going to cough up young exciting players for him and his contract. Which is why there is talks of hopefully a buyout but all indication of the Cavs recouping some of that money seems more like a trade since Love knows the open market won't pay him close to that.

So there is two realistic things that could happen. One is he could be packaged with someone else (Garland, Sexton, Markkanen) for trade value with a pick to actually bring in someone good. Or he could try to play this year and stay healthy and then next year when he is in his last year of his contract he will have better trade value as a stand alone.

Either way this is going to be a tricky situation and if he does play its going to take minutes from someone so that might upset other people.

Collin Sexton: Word was all off-season if someone was going to be trade it would be him. Well it didn't happen. Here is a guy who is still improving and improved stats each and every year and averages 21.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.7 APG. He is still on his rookie contract which is great for trade bait at just 6.35 million a year, but he has stated he wants a big payday so if he is traded will it be a one year rental or will Cav's try to keep him and don't mind spending 30-33 million a year on a player.

Darius Garland: A name we haven't heard about but could be. If the Cav's want to being in a point guard he is still on his rookie contract and has a team option after this year for just 8 million. He is very similar to Sexton, but right now they both aren't great defenders and trading one might be the best option. Although since that is the talk its mostly on Sexton just for the contract situation.

Lauri Markkanen: But they just got him why do they want to trade him? Well good news his he is only 24 and is a decent shooter which is what the Cav's need and can play both the 3 and 4 spot. Problem is he isn't the best defender on the perimeter. Also his 3 year contract at 50 million is a very good price to be used as trade bait. Its a very good contract with the last year (team option) at 18 million. Other than that you are only averaging 16.75 million a year for a player who has a lot of upside.

Isaac Okoro: Not much talk on him, but it could be. Yet only a second year player and as a rookie was 9.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and .9 APG as a rookie. Another great friendly and rookie contract with 3 years left and is only 20 years old. While the Cavs don't want to ship off the #5 pick last year it could help with a trade with Love or someone else to get an upgrade.

[cincy14fan]

reserved for anything I forgot

[cincy14fan]

Cavs win Opener, but win bigger after

Right before the game started Kevin Love would be taken off the active roster. He was replaced by rookie Evan Mobley. People were shocked to see this, but after his debut he has showed why he can be an explosive force in the league and has put more pressure on what the Cavs will do moving forward.

Cav's looked good in the first half as they would hold a 2 point lead going into half despite half way though the second quarter they would have a 13 point lead. Grizzles would get out on shooters and would stifle the Cavs as they were just 1-12 in the first half from deep, and it wouldn't get better.

At half it was only Darius Garland for the Cavs (16 points) who would carry the brunt of the scoring and it was evident that Sexton wasn't having a good game as he was 0-12 from the field but did have 4 points from the foul line.

At break the Grizzlies would continue to close down shooters and started to adjust their offense as they jump out to the lead and would take an 8 point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It looked as if this was a blowout as the Grizzles would push it to 14 in the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter. Then the youth and athleticism of the Cavs started to show. Cavs stopped shooting outside and started to take mid range and close shots.

Cavs would shoot terrible in this game but offensive rebounds and easy transition buckets started to chip into the lead. Final minute with the Grizzlies up by three the Cavs would hit their second and only three-pointer of the game by Garland to tie it up. After bucks from both teams and then turnovers by the two teams the game was still tied with 10 seconds left after Cavs grabbed the defensive rebound. With just two seconds left the rookie Mobley would get his 20th rebound in the game (and yes both Allen and Adams had more with 23) would lay it up as well to give the Cavs the lead. Morant would take a contested mid range on the inbound which clank off the back of the rim to give the Cavs an opening win.

Grizzlies Box Score:

Cavs Box Score:

[cincy14fan]

Cavs make splash with trade setter for season

With the Cavs benching Love before the game one was expecting him to be shipped off with maybe PF Lamar Stevens or PF MFiondu Kabengele as they didn't dress either. Yet, the Cavs would trade off three more players who did play with two of them being starters. There was talks with Philly, but in teh last hour it would be Trailblazers who would help pull it off:

Trade:


After a 11 player trade, which shocking didn't have to use any draft picks lets break down this trade:

Trailblazers Grade and Projection: A- and +3 wins

Trailblazers Reason and outcome: Sure everyone thinks this is the worst trade, and fans will never agree but this is why it was good for them. Sure they lose Lillard, and for no draft picks is a little crazy, but...yes there is a but. They basically get four players while shipping out just Lillard and Nance Jr. The other two Snell and Smith Jr. were there just to make the roster gods and money on the other teams happy.

Yes losing Lillard is hard even if he doesn't want to be there. Nance Jr. might be the biggest lost for them since he is a spark plug from coming off the bench or being in the starting lineup. Still Lillard didn't want to stay, or did, but Nance Jr. isn't going to rock the boat.

They did have to take on the hobbled Kevin Love and his 31 million salary. Still they upgrade their Power forward spot, and Love probably wont be starting, but get Markkanen who is only 24 years old and on a great 3 year contract. They pick up young gun Collin Sexton, who is on his last year of rookie contract, but is only 22 years old and despite being ball dominant player has great upside for being young. Problem is if they don't lock up Sexton and he walks after this year this trade will be a F grade for them. Love comes in with a huge contract, but this might be the best thing for him. He is older at 33 years old with a lot of tread, but getting less minutes might save some wheels and if he can be productive for them they could trade him going into trade deadline to a contender team for a draft pick or a younger core player. Last player was Danny Green from the 76ers who brings toughness and three point shot as a small forward despite being 34 years old. He is on his last year of contract so its more of a stop gap as a backup to Powell if he goes down with an injury.

76ers Grade and Projection: A+ and +7 wins

76ers Reason and outcome: They get their true point guard in Lillard who can spread the defense out since he can shoot all the way to half court. Got a PF to backup Harris in Nance Jr. who can also shoot outside, rebound, and defend. They also picked up Cedi Osman in the trade which will basically get lost at the end of the bench and was mostly traded just for insurance and probably wont see the court as much as he would as he did in Cleveland. Which was 16 minutes the first game.

They lose Simmons, but the fans aren't too disconcerting after the playoffs he had last year. What they are going to miss is the sharp shooting from Seth Curry, but again is getting an upgrade in Lillard who can play way more minutes and is a bigger and better defender than Curry.

Cavs Grade and Projection: A+ and +3 wins

Cavs Reason and outcome: Cavs get rid of Love contract, not trading any first rounders or draft picks for that matter, and don't have to worry about the contract drama of Sexton all year. That's an A+ right there despite who they got and they got 2 pieces they wanted.

Cavs get four players and only two are the important ones. Simmons who is a force inside the paint, and how the first game went it looks like he will thrive with the Cavs, and Curry who can hit the deep shot which the Cavs couldn't do the first game. Again its just one game, but they also picked up a young Dennis Smith Jr. (23 years old) who has been bouncing between a new team each year and Snell who is a veteran who can still provide decent numbers coming off the bench.

[cincy14fan]

Trade shakes up Roster after a close win

Cav's frontcourt gets a little thin with the loss of Markkanen. Especially as when Simmons arrived they said they are moving him to play small forward instead of the PG/PF he played in Philly. So from the first game they lost 2 starters in Sexton (82 OVR) and Marrkanen (79 OVR) but pick up a deadly shooter from deep and a guy who can guard any position and can shoot basically within ten feet. And after Mobley opening game of one block shy of the triple-double this Cavs team has gotten exciting very fast. Off the bench Snell gets slotted in to play shooting guard instead of his small forward, which Dennis Smith Jr. is the third point guard on the team behind Garland and Rubio.

They gotten a little younger, but Simmons is the steal who can help bring toughness to this team in the defensive side and with him and Mobley able to move and how big will cause a lot of problems for teams in the paint. Curry will help out of the offensive end but again he isn't the best defender and is actually worst than Sexton was so that is going to be a problem. While it isn't a big jump in predictions for the team this year after landing these players it does help they still have their first round pick this year.

The question is how long will it take them to settle in and mesh with these two new starters. Cavs will now be looking for another backcourt player before the deadline who can play defense if they can strive to push for a playoff spot. If not it might be another year or looking in the draft for a guard who can bring that quality.

[cincy14fan]

Cavs start slow but end hot

Hornets (0-1) vs. Cavs (1-0)

First quarter was an "oh no LeBron James cursed us" for the Cavs. Cavs did have a five point lead after the first quarter, but Simmons was 0-1 in the quarter and Seth Curry was 0-8, 0-5 from deep to give a whooping 0 points in the quarter. Garland would look to do the scoring again as he lead the team after the first 12 minutes with 7 points. Sadly that was all he would score in the game.

Second quarter Ben Simmons would show the Cavs fans, at home, he is excited for the new change and is back to basketball as he would go on a tear scoring 12 points in the quarter and then would end up leading the team in scoring with 25 for the game.

Still the Cavs would come out of the break shooting 0-15 from deep. Hornets would hit 7 three's in the first half but the second half would be a role reserve. While the Cavs did go 5-10 in the second half they ended the game just 5/22 from deep. Again it was paint points from fast break points (28) or offensive rebounds (12) or just straight Ben Simmons punishing people down low as the Cavs would just run away from this game.

Sure its the first game with the four new players who did have 3 of the 5 three-pointers made, and did contribute 42 points in the blowout. While Mobley came down to earth with just a 15 point, 15 rebound, and 2 block night there is a fan favorite and he isn't disappointing in Tacko Fall as he grabbed his first double-double and is a blistering 13-15 from the field in the first two games.

Hornets Box Score:

Cavs Box Score: