Mark One Sports: I Miss the Cavaliers?

By: Ethan Tabor

This Coronavirus pandemic leaves us talking about the one thing most people in Cleveland would rather not, and that’s the Cavaliers. This could be a season ending review as far as we know, but let’s hope we can escape this with minimal casualties as a nation and get back to our normal NBA routine. 

The 2019-20 season for the Cavs has been interesting. Trade talks with Kevin Love, bad mouthing Collin Sexton, a surprising draft pick in Kevin Porter Jr, somewhat of a let down in Darius Garland, a shocking coaching change for what feels like the millionth time, and of course the random addition of Andre Drummond. Through it all, the Cavs have managed to hold down last place in the Eastern Conference, with hopes that the draft can save this franchise again. 

Let’s start with Kevin Love. Our champion power forward went out of his way to donate $100,000 to the staff of the Cavaliers that are currently left out of work. I will always have the utmost respect for this man and I wish sports weren’t so volatile at times, but it’s overdue that we move on from the aging big man. I haven’t been sure what we can acquire for Kevin Love but it’s clear to the organization that we will get more by waiting till the off season. I truly believe that Larry Nance Jr. can be the future for us and I love his family ties with Cleveland. Hear me out, he does everything that Kevin Love does. He shoots the 3 only 2% worse at 35%, his field goal percentage is actually over 8% higher than Loves, and he averages 7.3 rebounds a game to Kevin’s 9.8. All of this while averaging 5 minutes less per game than Love. It’s clear to me that Larry Nance deserves a legitimate, full time shot in this league and I just hope the Cavaliers are smart enough to give him exactly that. Did I mention he costs a third of Loves salary? Moving on from the last peace of our championship team is not going to be easy but Larry Nance will definitely ease the pain on what is actually a smart move, regardless of what we get in return. 

Next, our rookies have had some ups and downs but you expect this right? Well no, why can’t we have a Luka Doncic, Trae Young, or even Coby White experience out of our rookie point guard? I’m not saying we missed, because honestly I have seen some things I really like out of Garland. At the same time I watch most games and I hardly even notice that he’s on the court. The Cavaliers most recent games have stuck out to me like a sore thumb though. No Darius Garland as he is out with an injury and suddenly this team looks competitive Every. Single. Night. All while Mathew Dellevedova runs the show! I am not like Cleveland in one aspect of the Cavs and it’s that I strongly dislike Delly and any time i see him on a basketball court, but right now this team is clicking with a very mediocre point guard running the show. So what does that mean Darius Garland is? I guess time will tell but this season has been a major let down for me with Garland. 

At the other end of this rookie discussion comes our late 1st rounder in Kevin Porter Jr. this kid looks like the real deal. He’s high flying, balls to the wall, and shoots the lights out, sometimes. Even his handles impress me! I really think we have our answer at small forward for the future with this kid considering he’s only 19. Durability is a concern and he’s made a lot of eye popping, rookie mistakes this season but I honestly don’t think we have seen super star moments like this out of a rookie since Kyrie, and this truly is something to be excited about. Now, if only we can find out that our pick in between the two in Dylan Windler was a home run. He averaged 21 and 10 in college so we can certainly hope he brings something similar to this team when he gets healthy. A BIG Garland question mark, a great late round pick in KPJ and a “TBD” on Dylan Windler still leaves us with a great draft to Cleveland standards. 

I’m just dreaming of a lineup now. Andre Drummond at center after we sign him. Larry Nance Jr at the 4, KPJ at the 3, Windler if he can show out like I truly think he will as our shooting guard and our shiny new toy in Anthony Edwards or LaMelo Ball from this upcoming draft. Honestly, this could be a top 8 team in the East as soon as next season. Most importantly they would be fun as hell to watch.  This draft isn’t a deep one at all, but the top is filled with legitimate super star power between the two I just mentioned and James Wiseman. Let’s all just say a prayer that the Cavs don’t ruin a good thing and continue to hold down this last place finish in the East. This is of course assuming that we finish the NBA season. 

My last topic needs to be Collin Sexton. The kid has finished with 25+ points in 5 straight games and he’s making a lot of doubters (me) shove their foot in their mouths. He’s so quick to the hole, I honestly doubt that anyone in the league has a first step like Sexton and that’s without a doubt someone I want on this team. My problem lies in the very obvious lack of team basketball. Just watch one game, within 2 minutes you will see Drummond and/or Kevin Love throwing their hands up as Sexton forces a stupid play that only involves himself. It’s not good to see veteran players showing clear displeasure, multiple times in every game they play together. It really tells me that he’s forcing things, and when you drive to the dish like Sexton can do effectively it makes sense that the streaking Andre Drummond with an open lane for an Alley-Oop, or the flaring Kevin Love wide open for three because his man and 2 others followed Sexton, would find frustration in his “Me” style of play. I look at Sexton and I still just see a scorer, his defense is criminal (in fact, I play guards on DFS against Colin every night), his court awareness might be amongst the worst ever seen, and his teammates seem to get frustrated with his lack there of. I would compare him to Jordan Clarkson and to this team a 6th man scoring guard is going to be a part of our future. I just can’t see Sexton being a player to build the franchise around and if you ask me, we have seen enough. All things considered, we have some talent on the current roster and the top of this draft looks promising. Maybe, just maybe, we will see winning basketball again for Cleveland in the near future.