The Cavs Are MUCH BETTER Than People Think...

The Cleveland Cavaliers have never made an NBA Finals without LeBron James. In fact, they’ve only made the conference finals without him twice. But they made the playoffs without him last season for the first time in 25 years. They have a young, exciting core and are looking to move past the LeBron-era and make a Finals appearance of their own. They’re led by an all-star backcourt in Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, who should look even better in their second year together. Then they have a top tier big man duo as well with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. They took a big step forward last season, finishing fourth in the Eastern conference and having home court advantage. They were the number one defense in the entire NBA based on points allowed, in both the regular season and the playoffs. However, offense is where the shortcomings were. They had the 25th best offense in the regular season, and it got even more exposed in the playoffs, with the result being an embarrassing 5-game series loss to the Knicks. They only scored 94 points per game in that series, which in the modern NBA is insanely low. When you have two offensively limited big men as key pieces of your team, it makes things difficult, because the other three guys have to be excellent and efficient on that end of the floor. That’s not a problem with Mitchell and Garland, but the Cavs small forward spot was a problem all year, and it was a glaring weakness. They rotated between Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, and Cedi Osman, but couldn’t find a guy who could consistently hit the open shot. However, they made fixing that spot their main priority this offseason, signing Max Strus away from the Miami Heat, signing Georges Niang, drafting high upside youngster Emoni Bates and resigning Caris LeVert. A jump offensively from Mobley would really take the offense to the next level, but the upgrade at the three is a good start. Due to the team’s age, most of the returning players will be better next season as well. The Cavs could make the Finals as soon as this season. Think about subbing, I'm on the road to 10k!!! #clevelandcavaliers #donovanmitchell #evanmobley