The Cavaliers won’t fall off and end up like the Knicks and Hawks

Why the Cavs don’t have to worry about a drop-off

Unlike the Hawks, who never worried about the other side of the court, and the Knicks, who invested all their cap space into bad free agent signings, the Cavs are sitting pretty, because unlike both teams the Cavs were built mostly from the draft.

Due to that, they’re 10th in the league in offensive efficiency (20th in points), and that’s done by design. Unless they’re in a fast break, the Cavaliers play deliberately slow offense; 22nd in the NBA in pace of play. They’re sitting at 27-18 as of press time, and that’s after playing the 5th hardest schedule in the NBA up until this point.

The Cavs don’t have to worry about the same issues because they aren’t built the same way. Unlike the Knicks, who have a good-not-great RJ Barrett and borderline bust in Obi Toppin, none of the Cavs top draft picks over the last four years have those issues. Sure, Collin Sexton couldn’t guard a kitten in a box, but he’s a potential 20-point scorer with enough touches. Darius Garland is a borderline All-Star at just 21. Isaac Okoro has become one of the best defensive wings in the NBA, and Evan Mobley has already proven to be one of the best defensive players in the NBA.

And he’s 19.

The Knicks are waiting for their young stars to blossom still, while we’re seeing the Cavs young stars blossom in real-time. Unlike the Knicks from last year, it’s the young stars that are carrying the Cavs. For the most part, they’ve all shown steady growth from year to year as well, with no one really taking a step backward. Besides maybe Sexton.

So the expectation is that the Cavs young core will continue to develop, while the Knicks over-relied on veterans who filled a gap, not a role.

As for the Hawks, they put all their money into a team that was an offensive juggernaut, but who has no defense to speak of. That’s two-fold, one because of how bad Young is on defense, but also two, how bad his play has affected others. The only reason the Hawks were any good on defense last year was that the team had pieces in place who could allow Clint Capela to shine. He had a monstrous +5.2 defensive RAPTOR last year, and a fine +1.2 this year.

There’s really no reason to worry about the Cavs falling into the same traps as the Knicks or the Hawks, mostly because this team is built better, with guys having steady growth and showing significant improvements from season to season. This may have been a surprising season, but when you look at the pieces the team put together, it really shouldn’t have been.

Among the young pieces, the Cavs either got them their rookie year or acquired them on their rookie deal. The only two guys who really don’t fit that criteria were Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love. The rest do. They focused on youth and development while emphasizing two-way basketball. The Knicks didn’t emphasize youth and the Hawks can’t play defense.

So the Cavs don’t need to worry about regressing.