Cavs: Talks of buyouts shows just how little the national media are paying attention

The Cavs are sitting at .500 and sitting pretty with the Knicks on the schedule for Friday night and are very much a team vying for the playoffs.

Whether it’s wishful thinking or genuine rumors, folks out of Brooklyn (possibly elsewhere as well) started floating around the idea that the Cavs would buy out Andre Drummond and Kevin Love. Wishful thinking on their parts, as the Nets have no more assets worth having besides Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris, meaning they can’t take on the contracts of either man. So the only way to get Love or Drummond would be if they were bought out by the Cavs.

Rumor has it though, the Cavs have no intention of doing that.

Despite constant rumors of the Cavs looking to move on from Love and now Drummond, the Cavs have not indicated that to be the case and the fact that so many in the media are pushing for it to happen shows that they’re not paying attention to what’s happening in Cleveland this year.

The Cavs have one of the best defenses in the NBA, despite what Paul Pierce tries to say (trying being the operative word) about their defense. The Cavs have a developing superstar in Collin Sexton who is already 16th in the league in points per game, 3rd among point guards for field goal percentage, 1st among point guards in three-point shooting, and 6th among point guards in player effeciency.

Larry Nance and Drummond are playing elite level defense, with Isaac Okoro being very valuable on that end of the court (even if he’s a liability on offense). Cedi Osman is blossoming into a top guy as well at scoring, and with Love out may be the team’s second best all-around scorer behind Sexton.

That doesn’t even factor in new acquistions Jarrett Allen or Taurean Prince who have just joined the team and have made impacts on both sides of the court as well. We’d also be remissed not to mention Dylan Windler, who while still getting his legs under him, has played wonderfully on defense and could be a really reliable shooter the more opportunities he gets.

The only real dangling issue is Darious Garland’s inconsistency. While his shooting percentages have gone up slightly, so have his turnovers. Garland could and should be considered a movable piece to improve this team in the short term because it’s obvious that Sexton should be starting at the point.

This team is a playoff team. Look what they’ve done through the first 18 games of the season with half of it’s roster constantly hurt or sick. Imagine where this team could be by the end of February with Love back in the lineup?

Don’t sell this team short.