The Cleveland Cavaliers offseason plan is pretty bad right now

The Cleveland Cavaliers want to re-sign Caris Levert and sign Derrick Jones Jr.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a lot of work to do to get back into a place where fans feel comfortable with proclaiming them a favorite. Right now, it’s fair to say that the Cavaliers are not a favorite in the Eastern Conference, not after last season. The Cavs got bounced by a very average New York Knicks team, and are not expected to be much better, at least if the news of their off-season targets is to be believed.

According to the reliable Sam Amco of Hoops Wire, the Cavaliers’ offseason involves trying to re-sign Caris LeVert and then going out to sign Derrick Jones Jr.

"Along with intending to re-sign LeVert, the Cavs have guard/forward Derrick Jones Jr. on their radar, sources said. Jones’ agent, Aaron Turner, is a native of Orange, Ohio, outside of Cleveland. Jones declined his player option with the Bulls."

If that’s all the moves the Cavs are doing, then they’re not going to be better.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have got to shake things up

The biggest issue facing the Cavaliers last season was J.B. Bickerstaff’s offense. This wasn’t a post-season issue, this was an all-season issue. The Cavs could not get a team offense going most nights and had to rely on guys like Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland to play hero ball and bail out the squad.

The offense was made even more complicated when Kevin Love, one of the team’s better distributors and shooters, was cut from the team. The team needed to come into the offseason and address the lack of scoring.

Some will cite the addition of Emoni Bates as one such move, but Bates if he does pan out, won’t be ready for another season or two at least. He’ll spend most of his time in the Cavs’ G-League affiliate. He’s not likely to start with the club.

LeVert was one of the team’s biggest issues last year, as he was among the most inconsistent and least efficient shooters on the team, posting a similar true-shooting percentage to Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens. He was among the biggest issues with the Cavs, and the team is trying to bring him back.

And then there’s Jones, a player so bad on offense, he has a negative -1.2 offensive box plus-minus for his career. The Cavs don’t need Jones for his defense, they have enough defense in Stevens, Wade, Ricky Rubio, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro, and others.

The team needs scoring.

And apparently the Cavs either 1) don’t agree, which will result in a bad season, or 2) don’t think they can get good enough talent which should call into question the efficacy of this front office.

• Published on 06/27/2023 at 00:30 AM
• Last updated at 06/27/2023 at 00:30 AM