The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have the depth to have expendable players
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Cavaliers are still trying to rebuild their team following last year’s major trade.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ trade of Donovan Mitchell can be viewed as a good or bad thing, depending on your future outlook on the situation. What can’t be disputed is that the trade cost the Cavaliers some serious depth and talent. The team not only lost three first-round picks (with two swaps) but a young shooter in Ochai Agbaji, Collin Sexton, and Lauri Markkanen. Now, Markkanen is the only active player in that trade that would make a meaningful impact on the Cavs currently.
Sexton is not as good as Mitchell and Agbaji is an unknown. So, it’s fair to say no one talent the Cavs gave up is as good as Mitchell, However, the depth the Cavs lost in the trade is something they’ve been trying to rebuild since that deal. While the Cavs didn’t give up a player as good as Mitchell, since the trade they haven’t acquired anyone as good as those given up, either.
The Cavs are still trying to rebuild that depth, and it’s pretty obvious they’re getting lesser talents than the ones given up to do just that. The Cavs acquired a host of names, Max Strus, Georges Niang, Ty Jerome, and Damian Jones. All solid basketball players, but none of them are as good as Markkanen and Sexton. Heck, they may not even be as good as Agbaji.
Yet, due to financial limitations, this was the best they could afford. Truthfully, it wasn’t a bad offseason for the Cavs, but that doesn’t mean those new players can match what was lost. We know what all of them are, and they aren’t regular contributors besides Strus and Niang.
Despite that, our sister site King James Gospel now believes the Cavs have “expendable players”, which they surely do not.
The Cleveland Cavaliers need every player they can get this season
In the article, the author states that due to the arrival of Jerome, Niang, and Strus, that Ricky Rubio, Dean Wade, and Isaac Okoro are now expendable. This is a statement that has me confused, as none of the names acquired, besides Strus and possibly Niang, no one the Cavs acquired this year are going to be playing big minutes if everything goes well.
Jerome and Jones aren’t replacing Rubio and Okoro, they’re replacing Robin Lopez and Raul Neto. Yes, Jeromes is a better shooter than Rubio, but Rubio is literally better at every other facet of the game and Jones isn’t a rotation guy. He barely played in Utah and Los Angeles, cobbling together 41 games at just 11 minutes per game.
If you thought Lopez was limited offensively, wait until you see Jones.
The Cavs need every player they currently have, from Okoro to Rubio to Jerome and Strus. They don’t have the depth fans are claiming they do. One major injury to one of the core four and this whole team may fall apart. Depth is a genuine concern, as is shooting. Just because you added some low-cost guys with some decent shooting percentages, doesn’t immediately make them Reggie Miller and Kevin Love.
The Cavs can’t afford to look at anyone on this roster as expendable, not with a lack of picks and no wiggle room financially. The whole “expendable” concept is what got the Cavs in this mess in the first place, by viewing guys like Markkanen, Sexton and even Love as “expendable”.
The Cavs can’t keep that mindset anymore.
dark. Next. If there’s a scenario where Donovan Mitchell gets traded, the Cleveland Cavaliers should just go ahead and do it now
- Published on 07/07/2023 at 01:00 AM
- Last updated at 07/07/2023 at 01:00 AM