Year in Review: Cleveland Cavaliers

[Rizzo]

“And the Miami Heat, without the services of LeBron James, seal the deal in Game 7 and eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers!”

With those words came the abrupt end of the 2014-2015 season for our beloved Cavs. Coming into the playoffs as a 5-seed and dealing with their own major injury (Tristan Thompson) scouts around the league though the Cavs would dismiss the Heat in quick fashion. That’s not what Rizzo believed as he continued to say that the series will go six or seven games and in either way.

After being down 0-3, the Cavs went to a small-ball lineup, adding Nate Robinson to the starting rotation and dropping Ekpe Udoh to the bench. With Harkless at the four, Waiters at the three and Irving playing off the ball, the Cavaliers ripped off three straight wins and forced a Game 7. Unfortunately, as we know, it wasn’t enough and the season is over.

How did the team do this year? Continue reading to find out!

The Non-Mentionables

Two players who got just about no burn throughout the season were Carrick Felix and Earl Clark. Felix is nothing but a spot-up three-point shooter but when you can’t contribute anything else on the floor you aren’t going to find a ton of minutes on this team. As for Earl Clark, he can give you a little bit of everything but nothing he does is above the league average.

Neither of these two players will be returning to Cleveland next season. Earl Clark could be a very good D-League player and perhaps find a spot at the end of a CSL bench while Carrick Felix should be exploring his options overseas as he does not have a career in this league.

The Rookies

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a young roster and added two fresh faces to the organization in the 2014 CSL Draft. The first was Damien Inglis, a 6-9 wing man out of France. The 10th overall pick shows an ability to be an inside-out scorer with great defensive potentials. An up-and-down rookie year has fans wishing they had gone in a different direction with that pick but Rizzo has to play with the cards he was dealt coming into this season. Hopefully he’ll be able to carve out some more playing time next season and continue to develop.

The Cavs also had the first pick of the second round and added Drew Crawford to the team. A threat from deep with good scoring instincts and sneaky handles, Crawford saw some good minutes this season including starting for 30 games when Dion Waiters was coming off of the bench. He’s never going to be a great defender but if he can provide the bench with consistent long-range shooting he will serve his purpose.

The Acquisition

Rizzo made just one move since taking over the Cleveland franchise mid-season when he dealt their second round pick in the 2015 Draft to Toronto for forward Danilo Gallinari. Thinking that adding a three-point threat on the wing was a huge need and with enough cap space to absorb his contract, the Cavs pulled the deal and brought in the Italian wing. After a few good games early, his deficiencies were just too horrid to look past and he was relegated back to the bench. He’s going to provide depth on the wing next season but will not be showcased on this roster whatsoever. He will also be an attractive $11.5m expiring contract to use as a trade chip.

The Bench Mob

When you have one of the league’s best point guards, whoever is backing him up usually isn’t of much concern. That man was Nate Robinson. While not a pure point guard, Nasty Nate provided timely scoring off of the bench, including 46.5% shooting from beyond the arc (7th in the league), as well as some hard-nosed perimeter defense (76.7 STP%). With his contract expiring, the Cavs will look at all options for a spark plug off the bench but Nate’s name won’t be out of memory.

The first big off of the bench by the end of the season was Ekpe Udoh. After starting 56 games to start the season, Rizzo shifted him to the bench to give the second unit a very good defensive post player. While only averaging 4.5 points and 5.0 rebounds on the season, he led the team with 1.4 blocks per game while upping those averages to 7.4, 5.9 and 2.7, respectively, in the postseason. If he can step up his defensive game a little next year he’ll prove to be great depth in the front court off the bench.

Tyler Zeller gave about the same production in the scoring and rebounding categories as Udoh but without the blocks and defensive metrics. He’s a solid player and will continue to play off the bench. With still some untapped potential, the Cavs are hoping there’s more to come with Zeller.

Perhaps could have been in “The Unmentionables” section, Kelly Olynyk was a seldomly used big man off of the bench and it is one of Rizzo’s biggest regrets. While a poor defender, he’s got great offensive ability for a 7-footer and could have been a weapon off of the bench. Look for him to get more minutes next season to see what Cleveland has in the Gonzaga product.

The Starters

Rizzo ragged on him all season long but Spencer Hawes proved his worth throughout the final month of the regular season and into the playoffs. With three-years and $27m left on his contract, you would expect more than 8.7 points and 7.2 rebounds. While his scoring numbers dropped to 7.1 in the postseason, his rebounds went up to 10.3 while swatting 2.3 shots per game. Chris Bosh torched him in the seven game series on defense but he’s not poor enough that he a liability on that end.

An up-and-down season for the young Moe Harkless ended on a serious high. He’s a gifted athlete at 6-8 and uses his length to be a defensive pest. As he continues to develop, he could become a premiere perimeter defender. His lack of a jumper makes him a pure slasher and with some preference work he should become a more efficient player on that end of the floor.

Tristan Thompson was by far the best big man on the roster. Averaging 13.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks are good numbers for the young power forward but he needs to improve his efficiency from the floor. He did play a lot of small forward early this season, putting him in awkward positions on the floor, but his FGI% is still too low for a big man. As a defender, he’s the best big on the team, better than Udoh. As a restricted free agent, he’s going to be a Cavalier if Cleveland wants him. Now it all depends on the price tag.

The backcourt features a two-headed monster. Playing the off guard is Dion Waiters and he showed great improvement throughout the season. With a scoring knack, Waiters upped his FG% from 39.5 last season to 44.0 this year. His three-point shot? He connected on 44.8% of them (10th best in the league), much better than the 39.5% last year. Being able to add a legitimate jumper to his game will make him a scary scorer for opposing defenses. His defensive metrics are a little lower than we would like to see but with another year of grooming he could prove to be a very good two-way guard in the CSL.

Last, and certainly not least, is the face of the franchise: Kyrie Irving. A CSL Eastern Conference all-star starter, Irving is one of the best scorers in the league, averaging 26.3 points per game this year (5th most in the league). He also chips in 5.0 boards and 5.3 assists per game, doing it all on the offensive end. While his FG% increased, his 3PT% took a slight dip. If his long-range shooting could reach 40% then he should hit the 30 point per game plateau easily. A sparkling 84.0 STP% on the perimeter shows that Irving plays on both ends of the floor. One of the best young players in the entire CSL, Kyrie Irving looks to be a Cavalier for life!

[NanashiWake]

Very good read. I think there a a couple flaws that you covered in the article, but you should be able to fix them soon and become a competitor. I'm pretty sure you'll get it done.

Kyrie and Dion in the backcourt is so nice though. lol

[andrei]

Good read. This team will continue to be a threat in the East in the near future. Interesting to see what you can do in the offseason.

Gallinari deal, despite being super cheap, did not work out. I think its his third team at this stage and each one decides to eventually dump him. Interesting that we have players like that - similar to Roy Hibbert - who are just disappointing statistically despite pretty good ratings.

[Chilikonkarne]

Good read. This team will continue to be a threat in the East in the near future. Interesting to see what you can do in the offseason.

Gallinari deal, despite being super cheap, did not work out. I think its his third team at this stage and each one decides to eventually dump him. Interesting that we have players like that - similar to Roy Hibbert - who are just disappointing statistically despite pretty good ratings.

Yes really curious to see which team will manage one day to use the Rooster efficiently

[Rizzo]

Yes really curious to see which team will manage one day to use the Rooster efficiently

It won't happen. It's just not in his DNA.

[emplep7]

You have talent and a star in Kyrie to build around. Tristan is a decent player, but I'm not sure his averages will ever be very good for a big man, which hurts him and your team big time. For a player most likely to get a max contract, I would look into S&Ts for him. If you could move him and even possibly Waiters to get an efficient, talented big man, then you would have the top inside-out combo with Kyrie and would be a legit contender.

[Cyrisnyte]

It's always nice to have a player of Kyrie's caliber to build your team around. I like what you are doing, keep up the great job.

[Sky]

I agree Kyrie is the franchise, another player I like from your team is Moe Harkless as a wing defender at his age is one promising player to watch..

[Dennis]

Wall, Kyrie and Westbrook are the three best guards in the league, and I dont see a guard on their level coming into the league anytime soon.. So having Irving is a gift, Im sure Adam can build a team and will find the right pieces to get the Cavs going.
The only mistake you could do would be trading your top10 player. But I cant see that happen.

[WillyJakkz]

You're one secondary player away from being a considerable threat in the East, not sure if it's PF or SF or what but you're a great GM and will figure out the right player to put with Kyrie.

[bt]

You have the toughest part worked out (superstar). Shouldn't be too hard to surround him with good talent of which you do already have.

[Marcos_Beck]

You have the toughest part worked out (superstar). Shouldn't be too hard to surround him with good talent of which you do already have.

That was exactly what I wanted to say.
A post scorer can help this team a lot! You do have the assets to acquire one, just go hard for it.