Are fans being too hard on the Cleveland Cavaliers for their 2023 failures?

The Cleveland Cavaliers fell short in 2023 and fans are mad, but do they have a right to be?

The Cleveland Cavaliers thought they were going to enter the NBA title scene in 2022 after it was revealed that Donovan Mitchell was coming to Cleveland. The trade saw the Utah Jazz star arrive in Cleveland in exchange for three first-round picks, two first-round pick swaps, Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, and Ochai Agbaji. The move was done with the idea that the Cavs would be contenders in 2022-2023.

They weren’t. In fact, they got bodied by the New York Knicks in the playoffs, and the offense hit a wall; thanks in part to Mitchell. Mitchell shot just 29% from three and 72% from the free-throw line. Mitchell looked awful, the Cavs’ defense was in tatters due to a lack of depth, no one else besides Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley could rebound, and J. B. Bickerstaff’s offense looked like it was held together with bubble gum and string.

The Cavs, who were picked to be an Eastern Conference caliber team, were out in the first round to a very overrated Knicks team.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Thanks to the aforementioned trade, releasing Kevin Love, the inconsistent use of Cedi Osman, the over-reliance on Caris LeVert, and a front office that wouldn’t or couldn’t improve the roster at the trade deadline, it did happen.

The Cleveland Cavaliers absolutely deserve the anger from the fanbase

The Cavs have turned a corner from 2018-2019, we know this. The Cavs, however, are not making the right calls. It was the wrong call to hire Luke Walton, a man who really doesn’t know how to structure an offense. They were wrong to cut Kevin Love, one of their better rebounders and facilitators. They were wrong not to make any significant coaching moves this offseason to better support Bickerstaff.

And honestly, all things being equal, they were wrong to make the Mitchell trade. I like Mitchell, he’s one of my favorite players and he was a Top 5 player in the NBA’s regular season. But in the playoffs, the selfish nature of his game came into play. He’s a career 36% free-throw shooter, and yet he shot 45 three-pointers, 14 more than Darius Garland, the team’s leading shooter from three.

It makes no sense to over-rely on Mitchell when Mitchell is going to take the worst shots of his career consistently.

The Cavs could’ve had Sexton and Markkanen, who both shot 39% from three last year and would have provided more combined points than Mitchell. Sure, if the Cavs win that series and get to the Eastern Conference Finals, we’re not talking about this being a bad trade. We’re not talking about the fans’ righteous anger.

We’re talking about filling the gaps.

But the Mitchell trade didn’t work out for the Cavs. Their offense was garbage. Maybe that’s on Mitchell for dominating the shots, maybe it’s on Bickerstaff for not being diverse enough in his plays. Maybe it’s on any number of guys.

The situation is the same, however. The Cavs only won seven more games between 2022 and 2023 due to the Cavs being healthier. Not because they had Mitchell.

He may still pay dividends for the Cavs, it’s too early to say otherwise, but if the Cavs can swing him for three or four useful players and a couple of first-round picks, I won’t be mad.

• Published on 07/01/2023 at 02:25 AM
• Last updated at 07/01/2023 at 02:25 AM