The Cleveland Cavaliers have played a little over a quarter of the season, and they are 14-11. At this point last season, the Cavs were 21-4.
What happened?
For starters, the Cavs cannot get healthy if their lives depend on it. As expected, Max Strus has been out of the lineup following surgery on his foot during the offseason. Sam Merrill has had a plethora of injuries to start the season, so he has missed a lot of time. Jarrett Allen has missed multiple games due to a finger injury. Larry Nance Jr. has been out with a calf strain. Lonzo Ball and Darius Garland are missing games due to injury management. The team simply cannot get healthy. To make matters even worse, when they are playing, they are clearly not 100%, and they have all been a liability at some point this season.
Since Garland’s toe injury, he has been averaging career-worsts in every shooting category. Not only has his shooting been affected, but his playmaking abilities have taken a hit as well. Garland is averaging only 6.2 assists per game, which is one of the worst marks in his entire career.
Evan Mobley has been incredibly disappointing this season. Mobley has not taken the step forward that everyone thought he would. Yes, his defense still makes him a staple in the lineup, but his offense has been lackluster at times this season. Although Mobley is averaging the most points per game in his entire career, he is shooting 6% worse this season, which is good for 50% from the field, which is the worst in his career.
However, not all this season has been terrible so far. Jaylon Tyson has been phenomenal. Not only does his defensive intensity radiate across the team, but his offensive game has taken a giant leap. Tyson is averaging 13 ppg on 46.7% shooting from deep. Tyson has been able to take over games while Donovan Mitchell has been on the bench, and he has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing start to the season.
Where do the Cavaliers go from here?
Well, getting healthy should be number one on the priority list. Strus, Merrill, and Allen are huge contributors to the success of this team, and when they are out, the Cavaliers have huge gaps on both sides of the floor. Although Thomas Bryant and Nae’Qwan Tomlin have been serviceable so far this season, they are not going to be big contributors if the Cavs want to go on a deep playoff run.
Although there have been a lot of negatives so far this season, fans should still have a lot of hope. If the season ended today, the Cavs would be sitting as the eighth seed in the play-in. It seems everything that could have gone wrong for the Cavs has gone wrong, yet the Cavs are still in the play-in at this moment. The panic meter should not be going off yet, but if this continues through the deadline. Fans should expect some changes to be made to push this team through to the playoffs.
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