New Captain, Same Ship
The Cleveland Cavaliers regular season kicks off tonight in Toronto, with almost zero turnover from last year’s roster. We spent a summer wondering who might get the axe from a roster that is good-but-not-enough to get past the likes of Boston, but those bloodthirsty fans that spent June and July on the trade machine went unfed as Cleveland extended almost everyone instead of dealing away picks and players. Donovan Mitchell got an extra two years, Jarrett Allen got extended as well as Isaac Okoro, and Evan Mobley got the rookie max he deserves. Darius Garland returns to run point, Max Strus will start when he’s not hurting his ankle on coaches in shootarounds, Caris LeVert, Dean Wade, and Georges Niang are all back to fill out the bench. Even Tristan Thompson is back! But there is one name that isn’t: JB Bickerstaff.
Kenny Atkinson is tasked with getting more out of a roster that should have made a better showing in the postseason over the last two years. Bickerstaff elevated a roster that was struggling, and he can be credited with improving the likes of Mobley, Garland, and Allen, but it became apparent that he was not the guy to get them to the next level. Bickerstaff’s teams struggled to find offense in the times it needed it most, opting to attempt to lockdown opposing teams and hope Mitchell goes God-mode. It did not work, since the team hasn’t made the Eastern Conference Finals since 2017-2018 and has only won one playoff series in that time frame.
Atkinson will take the reins for the first time since the 2019-2020 season when he was let go by the Brooklyn Nets after they acquired Kevin Durant. Allen and LeVert both played for those Nets, so there is continuity with those, but Atkinson is bringing in a sped up offense that figures to get the most out of its big names. Mobley has already looked amazing in preseason action, acting as the fulcrum to the offense rather than a nominal piece getting dish-offs in the post. The team has been practicing with a sped up clock, deliberately cutting down from 24 seconds in an effort to shock life into jumpers and get guys moving more. Getting good looks before the other team’s defense is set is smart basketball.
Will it work out? Let’s hope so. I don’t think the praise of Cleveland as a city from Mitchell is lip service, but it only takes months for some NBA stars to sour on a situation and players have more and more leeway to request trades and force hands out. The East is wide open, save of course Boston. There are four to five teams that can vie for that No. 2 spot behind them. Cleveland was even in the mix for the No. 2 or 3 seed last year with the same roster and Bickerstaff at the helm. Can they repeat that performance and lock in early wins, similar to their across-the-street neighbors in the Guardians? Will Atkinson be able to pull more offense out of guys like Mobley, Okoro, Wade, and Niang? The crew remains the same, with a new captain. I’m excited to see what comes.
