Bleacher Report totally misses Cavs rankings on their 24 under 24 list

A new 24 under 24 Bleacher Report article undercuts the Cavs

And you think we have some out-there opinions? One new Bleacher Report article pulled together who they think are the Top 24 Players Under 24 years of age. This is a follow-up list from earlier this year in October where three Cavs were on the list; Collin Sexton (#19), Jarrett Allen (#21), and Darius Garland (#23).

That list had its own issues but this one is just baffling.

The list is problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, that Luka Doncic isn’t number one. The Grizzlies star Ja Morant took the top spot but the author fails to factor in the lack of team support Doncic has. He acknowledges it, but he doesn’t actually. The Grizzlies can and have won without Morant. The Mavericks, not so much.

The list is about “…will function as more of a ranking based on how they’re playing at the moment.” Fair, then why is Cade Cunningham higher than Darius Garland? Why is Scottie Barnes over Jarrett Allen?

Cunningham isn’t shooting just 37% from the floor and just 28% from three. That’s a joke to have him as high as he is, and arguably, he shouldn’t even be on the list. He’s a bad player at this moment. He’s got a -2.9 OFF RAPTOR score and -1.1 DEF RAPTOR score. Yet he’s “playing better” than Garland?

And yeah, Barnes is having a fine start to his career, with a +1.3 OFF RAPTOR, but his DEF RAPTOR is -0.9. Allen has a 0.0 OFF RAPTOR and a +4.0 DEF RAPTOR. It’s peculiar that he’d only be at  0.0 considering how efficient he is around the rim but still.

1. Ja Morant
2. Luka Doncic
3. LaMelo Ball
4. Anthony Edwards
5. Tyrese Maxey
6. Tyler Herro
7. Evan Mobley
8. Jayson Tatum
9. Trae Young
10. Miles Bridges
11. Scottie Barnes
12. Jarrett Allen
13. De’Aaron Fox
14. Cade Cunningham
15. Cole Anthony
16. Darius Garland
17. Deandre Ayton
18. Tyrese Haliburton
19. Kevin Huerter
20. Franz Wagner
21. Jarren Jackson Jr.
22. Talen Horton-Tucker
23. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
24. Davion Mitchell

All three Cavs should be inside the Top 12

Collin Sexton not being on the list is fair, it’s about active players and Sexton isn’t active at the moment. That’s fine. Yet, putting Cole Anthony, De’Aaron Fox, Miles Bridges, and Tyrese Maxey over Garland? You’re kidding, right?

Allen is a Top 5 center in the NBA, with only Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid, and Myles Turner having a better defensive rating than him. Evan Mobley does too, but I consider him a power forward. Now, to be fair to the list, Allen is the highest-rated pure center on the list (again, Mobley is a four for the Cavs, not a five) so at least there’s that.

And Mobley is the highest-rated rookie on the list too. Yet, the author really shows his lack of awareness for the other two Cavaliers players because both men should be no lower than 12th on this list.

It’s a baity-list and that’s beyond obvious. Why else put Trae Young behind Maxey, LaMelo Ball, and Anthony Edwards? So I get that the Cavaliers weren’t going to be fairly represented heading in but dang, I didn’t think Garland would get cheated so hard.

For what it’s worth, I do think he got Mobley right, I just think Allen deserved to be ahead of him and Garland just behind him.