The Cleveland Cavaliers have made some really good choices lately
The Cleveland Cavaliers are now in a place to compete for an NBA title, having landed the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. Their team is loaded, with stars like Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley having found their roles on the squad. They’re the best defense in the league, thanks in part to coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s system and the gallant efforts of Ricky Rubio and Dean Wade off the bench.
They’re certainly not perfect, with a new of some offense infused into the bench this offseason, but for the most part, this is a well-built team with expectations to go deep into the playoffs. But it wasn’t an easy road to get here.
The team, going back nearly six years now, had to start making some really tough decisions. Yet, those touch decisions seemed to have worked out in the long run, because here they are ready to compete. But we’re going to talk about those tough decisions. Those moves that, when made, looked questionable or downright bad in hindsight but are now the reasons the team is in the shape it’s in.
We’re only going back a few years, and we’re only talking about three specific moves, so if you have another trade that helped the team, or another player in mind, we’re sure that helped the team get here as well, we’re just keeping things tight for this entry. So with that being said, let’s take a look at three times the Cavs actually made the right move.
Kevin Porter Jr.
There’s no doubt that Kevin Porter Jr. could have helped the Cleveland Cavaliers with scoring off the bench had the team not moved him ahead of the 2020 season. He’s a talented-enough scorer for the Houston Rockets, but his splits aren’t next-level or anything. You’re not losing a Steph Curry-like player by moving on from Porter. You can find his level of production fairly easily.
Yet, in a vacuum, yeah, Porter would’ve helped the bench-scoring woes. The problem, however, is that he’s not exactly a reliable person. He’s constantly getting into fights both in and out of the arena. That type of unreliableness would eventually bite the Cavs in the rear. How can you rely on someone who behaves the way Porter does?
The other big hang-up is how would Porter be fair in J.B. Bickerstaff’s Cavs and Crash-style defense. Everyone sells out on this team, which is why they’re the top-ranked defense in the league this year. Could Porter actually sell out as so many Cavs players do on a nightly basis? I’m not sure, but I’m glad we don’t have to find out.
Porter is a double-edged sword in that regard. He’ll help you on offense but he may cost you on defense.
Andre Drummond
I remember when the Cavaliers acquired Andre Drummond right before the 2020 pandemic took place. It was such a huge deal at the time, though we should’ve known something was up. Despite being a walking double-double, and averaging 17 points and 15 rebounds at the time of the trade, Drummond was never a star in the making, nor was he the defensive player many thought he was in Detroit.
He wasn’t that nimble down low and his defensive skills were tepid at best. Considering all it took to land him was two second-round picks and some contracts to match the salary, it should’ve been obvious that he was a player being phased out by changing times in the league. Offensively, he took far too many low-percentage shots and had a true shooting percentage of just 50% when 2020-2021. Absolutely abhorrent, especially considering so many of his shots should be easy makes.
For comparison, Jarrett Allen has an all-time true-shooting percentage of 66.1% That’s a huge difference in reliability. During his time in Cleveland, Drummond put up -0.9 OBPM, +0.2 DBPM, and -0.7 BPM. During Allen’s time in Cleveland, the young center has posted a +1.7 OBPM, a +0.7 DBPM, and a +2.4 BPM.
Clearly, Drummond wasn’t the upgrade that many in the media had expected him to be. That could be why he’s a bench player now.
Kyrie Irving
If Kevin Porter is a double-edged sword due to how he can help a team offensively and hurt a team defensively, Kyrie Irving is the Excalibur of that metaphor. To say that Irving resembled a human turnstile wouldn’t be unfair. If Irving was a hockey goalie, he’d sit behind the net reading. all of this is to say he’s as bad at defense as he is at respecting other people’s cultures.
And we haven’t even gotten to the mountains of mindnumbing, and flat-out dumb things that he’s said and done. The pseudo-intellectual wanted out of Cleveland so he could be “the guy” on a team and ended up finding out no one wanted him to be the guy. In Boston, Jayson Tatum rose to take his spot. In Brooklyn, he played second or third fiddle to Kevin Durant and James Harden. Now in Dallas, he’s Luka Doncic’s sidekick. He’s also far from the same player he used to be. Offensively sure, he’s fine but he’s as bad as ever on defense. Though the Mavericks’ defensive-minded system did help raise Irving’s defensive statistical impact.
Not only are the Cavs better off not having to deal with the drama that comes with Irving, but his trade is the reason the Cavs have Donovan Mitchell now. Had Irving not been traded, the Cavs don’t get the pick that turns into Collin Sexton. Sexton isn’t included in the trade package to the Utah Jazz and the Cavs don’t have the pieces needed to land Mitchell.
Every day the decision to trade Irving looks better and better.