Cleveland was the biggest surprise in the league last season, winning twice as many games (44) as they had done the previous year (22). Their coach did an excellent job at maximizing his frontcourt-heavy roster, starting 3 frontcourt players often. After four seasons in the bottom 5, the Cavs’ defense was #6 in the league last year mostly due to their frontcourt duo of Jarrett Allen and rookie Evan Mobley. It was tough to score against them (#1 FG% allowed at the rim) and they also did not foul (#5 in Opp/FT rate).
The Cavs’ backcourt was more limited but also unlucky as they lost both Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio to injury. They traded for Caris LeVert to help Darius Garland, but the move didn’t pan out as in the two play-in games that they lost, LeVert shot 9-25 (36%) FG while their opponents guarded Garland with extra men.
2022/23 Outlook:
Cleveland’s future was already promising with the young trio of Garland (22), Mobley (21) and Allen (24). However, their office also managed to trade for Donovan Mitchell while keeping their young stars, sacrificing mostly draft picks. Offensively, Mitchell will fit well in the team as they were limited in ball handling and guard skills (#27 in the league in TO/rate LY), with only Garland and Rubio (who will only return at the end of this season) in the roster. Cleveland was just #21 in the league last season in both volume and PPP on PNR ball handler plays, but they should get a big boost this year with Mitchell now with them.
The biggest challenge for Cleveland this season will be their defense. Will Bickerstaff manage to make his team’s defense a top 10 unit for the second year in a row? Both Mitchell and Garland are 6’1’ and the first is coming from a disastrous defensive performance against Dallas in the playoffs. Cleveland’s opponents will try to explore such awful defense from Mitchell this year, but maybe he’ll be motivated to improve?
Another challenge for Bickerstaff will be around Mobley’s role on offense. He showed in some flashes last season that he deserves a higher volume of plays built around him, but now with Mitchell in Cleveland this might affect Mobley’s offensive development…
Cleveland’s weakest position on court will by far be Small Forward as Isaac Okoro is a very limited player on offense. Bickerstaff was creative last season with this position and he’ll probably follow the same route this season. However, no matter what, the Cavs look to have conditions to fight for home court edge in the playoffs this season given their improved roster.