The Cavs Need a Boring Offseason
Most small market teams lurk in the shadows. Don’t make noise. Don’t draw attention. Look at San Antonio, Charlotte, Detroit, etc. Then there’s Cleveland. The Cavs can’t escape the spotlight. From persistent Kevin Love trade rumors to LeBron’s larger than life presence to coaching issues galore... the 21st century has been far from lackluster for Cavs fans.
The Cavaliers have always been a transaction-heavy team. Spend more than two years in Cleveland and your practically a local legend. Tristan Thompson has been teammates with 114 different guys over his 9-year Cavalier career.
Just since LeBron left, the Cavs...
- have played 39 different guys
- blew through 4 head coaches
- ripped off 8 trades
- cut or let go 19 players
- drafted 4 first-round picks
Typically, the beat teams in the NBA (unless you have the luxury of rostering LeBron James) have a strong, developed culture and infrastructure. To put it bluntly, the Cavs have never been close to that. Half of the time the team’s in the news is due to locker room disfunction. Such as soup being thrown or accusing people of being thugs slugs.
It all starts with the coach. Fingers-crossed, the Cavs have their guy in JB Bickerstaff. Is he elite? No. However, he’s a strong leader, willing to make adjustments, and a defensive specialist. Everything the Cavs need right now. He might not be the long-term solution, but for at least a few years, Bickerstaff should be a competent decision-maker for the young Cavaliers.
For him to be able to build that culture, though, there needs to be some consistency in Cleveland. There needs to be some trust. Keeping that in mind, a boring offseason is probably best for the Cavs. Bringing most of the players together for Cleveland’s very own bubble, was a breath of fresh air.
It was evident during the season, that once JB took over, the team had a different spirit. The players were engaged and energetic. They played their best basketball of the season. These guys like each other, and the best way to build upon that success that they showed at the end of the year, is to retain those same guys.
Entertaining a Kevin Love trade is always fun. Bringing in a spicy, young free agent like Derrick Jones Jr or Josh Jackson is exciting. Trading for another draft pick is a cool splash to make. It’s tough to determine if these move really benefit Cleveland, though. The Cavs already have a deep team. You can only keep 15 players on your roster, come the start of the regular season. As of now, their roster construction looks like this:
1. Collin Sexton
2. Kevin Porter Jr
The Cavs don’t have a lot of roster flexibility as it is. Andre Drummond picking up his player option is all but a formality. Assuming that the Cavs stay at #5 in this draft, that leaves them with only 2 open roster spots. Bell, McKinnie, and Wade all have completely non-guaranteed contracts, but after handing each of them multi-year deals, it’s hard to see Koby Altman parting with any of them so soon. Historically, Koby has preferred to bring 14 players into the season, rather than 15, for maximum roster flexibility, which further adds to the crunch.
Despite that, bringing back Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova should be a priority. Both players not only were impactful with their time on-the-court, but doubled their impact off-the-court. TT & Delly’s leadership, championship expericence, and work ethic, were invaluable traits for a team that desperately needed them last season. Above all, though? Consistency. Just a little bit of consistency for the Cavs could go a long way.
Bringing in a free agent with the mid-level exception likely ends that possibility. Drafting another rookie makes it more difficult. The second level to this, is playing time. Delly won’t return to the Wine & Gold expecting a defined role in the team’s rotation. Derrick Jones will.
Cleveland already has a second rookie, Dylan Windler, who needs to get some playing time to develop. Available playing time will be sparse next season. While Exum and McKinnie were established rotation members last season, don’t expect either of them to play unless there are injuries.
Splashy moves and trade rumors are part of what makes being a sports fan exciting. For the Cavs to get closer to relevance and competitive basketball, they might want to take a back seat this summer this winter? this offseason. It might be a little boring, but that’s okay.
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