2023 Season Finish: 58-24, Tied for 2^nd in the Eastern Conference 

 

Season Highlight: 

 

Consistently shocking the NSL.  The Cavaliers shocked early, opening up the year in sole possession of first place.  Sure, ultimately they relinquished that position, but for a team consistently projected by pre-season pundits to miss the playoffs, finishing as the #2 seed was a massive win in the eyes of Cavs fans.   When the season began there were some question marks about whether or not guys like Daniel Gafford and Brandon Clarke would be enough in the Cavs front court to remain competitive with the league�s best.  There were questions about whether an aging CJ Mcollum, and a young unproven, yet uber-talented wing in Mikal Bridges would be able to shoulder the scoring load.  Cleveland came out and quelled all fears and then some. 

 

 

Season Lowlight: 

 

The Cavaliers lowlight, and turning point seemed to be a tough stretch in the middle of the season when injuries hit home.  Clarke�s injury seemingly the most impactful of them all, saw Cleveland without the glue guy on both sides of the court who masked all of Cleveland�s deficiencies.  CJ Mcollum missed stretches as well, which caused Mikal Bridges to try and shoulder the load, thus leading to less efficient scoring, and a drop in play all together.

 

 

Best Trade: 

 

1A) The Cleveland Cavaliers send Al Horford and Alex Caruso to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Philadelphia 76ers send C.J. McCollum and Josh Christopher to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 

1B) The Cleveland Cavaliers send Obi Toppin to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Cleveland Cavaliers send Nassir Little to the Phoenix Suns. The New Orleans Pelicans send Mikal Bridges to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Phoenix Suns send Devonte Graham to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers send a 1st-Rounder (Cle) to the New Orleans Pelicans. The New Orleans Pelicans send a 2nd-Rounder (Sac) to the Phoenix Suns.

 

I could not choose one of these trades over the other, as both trades were excellent returns for the Cavs, but for different reasons.  The 1A trade had to be ranked higher, as Cleveland brought in a top 25 player in the league for 2 role players.  That type of trade just doesn�t happen often in the NSL, as often-times teams are not willing to relinquish their rights to a player of CJ�s ilk.  Much like CJ during most of his career, this trade seemingly flew under the radar for the implications it had put into motion in the East. 

 

The 1B trade is one of the best value trades, or one-sided trades I recollect seeing in this league.  It should be said, hindsight is 20/20, and this trade occurred when Mikal Bridges was a Sun, and the 3^rd/4^th option on the pecking order, but in summary, the Cavs traded 2 polarizing, but underachieving players, for a bonafied #1 option in the NBA, and the team�s best all around player.  The incredible foresight on display by Shams is part of why he has garnered so much respect from the NSL�s all-time greats.

 

 

Worst Trade:  

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Jrue Holiday to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Minnesota Timberwolves send a 1st-Rounder (OKC) and 1st-Rounder (Phi) to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 

I never liked this trade for the Cavs. I think Jimmy Butler is one of the leagues top 10 most impactful players, a real 2-way bonafide superstar a time where some of the leagues other star wings just can�t stay on the court the way Jimmy does.  The best ability is availability, and Jimmy is always ready to carry a team to a win.  The 1^st rounders didn�t look good then, and with the emergence of this Thunder team they definitely don�t look good now.  The positive, is when you are Shams, and all you make is good deals, you can afford to give away a little value here and there, and I think that�s what he did here.

 

Other Notable Trades: 

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Luke Kennard and Devonte Graham to the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets send Davis Bertans and Kelly Olynyk to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

 

The Cavs got off of 2 overpriced guards for an overpriced, yet efficient NSL big man in Bertans, and a quite efficient stretch big in Kelly Olynyk.  This was a value win for the Cavs.

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Davis Bertans and Josh Christopher to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send Terry Rozier to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (Tor) to the Cleveland Cavaliers

 

The Cavs turned right around and shipped out Bertans and a young player in Christopher for a 6^th man candidate in Rozier.  Rozier was good for the Cavs for a stretch of the season(Rozier�s best stretch of the year came with the Cavs and he played for a handful of teams) and proved yet again that Shams was playing chess out there.

 

The Cleveland Cavaliers send Delon Wright and Sam Hauser to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Isaiah Hartenstein and Jordan McLaughlin to the Cleveland Cavaliers

 

The Cavs got their bench big in this trade, that at first, I won�t lie, I wasn�t too sure was good value for Shams.  He proved yet another doubter wrong, as Hartenstein played key minutes off the bench for Shams and the Cavs, and became one of the league�s hotter names come the deadline due to his stellar play.

 

The Boston Celtics send Dorian Finney-Smith to the Toronto Raptors. The Cleveland Cavaliers send Terry Rozier to the Boston Celtics. The Cleveland Cavaliers send Dejounte Murray to the Toronto Raptors. The San Antonio Spurs send Dennis Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Toronto Raptors send Jimmy Butler to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers send a 2nd-Rounder (Tor) to the San Antonio Spurs.

 

With this trade the Cavs pivoted from one foot in, to jumping through the door head first.  They gave up one of their young building blocks in Murray along with a few other assets to go and get on of the league�s best in Jimmy Butler.  This trade could be looked at as the height of the Cavaliers short-lived dynasty, where any utter of the Cleveland organization could evoke fear, even from the league�s elite�s. 

 

Free Agency:

 

At first glance, the Cavaliers roster appears to be full of names you could see them heading into next season with.  They have 15 guys on roster, with 2 up for contract.  With all of that being said, there�s an obvious posturing of Cleveland to garner GM points at a rapid clip.  Shams activity around the league cannot go unnoticed, and that activity would lead one to believe he�s got a target in his sites during free agency.

 

Star:  The Cavaliers season-long star was undoubtedly CJ Mcollum.  CJ played very well for the Cavs all year, once again reminding the leagues GM�s not to sleep on him as a real weapon on the offensive end.  CJ was dealt at the end of the year, as all Cav�s star�s seem to be.  The Cavs have traded CJ Mcollum, Jimmy Butler, Dejounte Murray, and Mikal Bridges, in the last calendar year, and have had confirmed talks on current stars RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson, and Scottie Barnes.  It doesn�t matter if you�re a star, or an end of bench guy, when you come into Cleveland, you�d do best to find yourself a good realtor.

 

Flop:

 

The Jimmy Butler saga never amounted to much during it�s Cleveland chapter.  For a man who had lifted countless teams to relevancy(and continues to based on Minnesota�s preseason projections) it was rather shocking to see Jimmy not come in and rack up win�s for the Cavs.  As stated earlier, injuries certainly did take their toll, but it was a short lived experiment, with little to show for it.  

 

Draft Grades: B-

 

Gueye as a longterm prospect could eventually fill the Brandon Clarke role(maybe more?) for the Cavs, and as we have seen, that role is intertwined with the overall team success.  The Cavs restoked the draft cupboard a bit during the offseason, but they are not amongst the league�s leader�s in future draft asset�s by any means, and that leads to cause for concern.  I like the player enough, but I would like it more if the Cavs had at least a route to a few more high potential young players, to surround the ready to win team, and grow around them. 

 

Future:  

 

The future is bright with one of the league�s most high potential 2-way wing prospects, and a budding superstar in Jalen Brunson.  With some growth from some of the peripheral players, the Cavs could be a mainstay at the top of the East Division for years to come.  After all, haven�t we learned not to doubt these Cavs?

 

C: Daniel Gafford/ Luke Kornet

PF: Kyle Kuzma/Brandon Clarke/ Trendon Watford

SF: Scottie Barner/ Nassir Little/ John Konchar 

SG: RJ Barrett/ Derrick White / Grayson Allen

PG: Jalen Brunson/ Malaki Branham/ Duane Washington