What if the Cleveland Cavaliers RUN IT BACK?! | Are Jarrett Allen’s Days in Cleveland NUMBERED?!

2 Comments

1. 

   @resilientstubborn 7 months ago

   If they run it back they will likely lose in the 2nd round again. Fail to make the conference finals 3 straight years.

   The short backcourt of Garland/Mitchell will NEVER win a title together.

   If Koby Altman & front office are okay with good regular seasons & early playoff exits, they will run it back. If they are serious about competing for a title, they will trade Garland + Allen + Okoro

2. 

   @resilientstubborn 7 months ago

   Short backcourts rarely have success in the playoffs. Aside from the Thomas/Dumars Pistons championships, I can't really think of a short backcourt that has won a championship. I personally don't believe a Donovan Mitchell/Darius Garland short backcourt will ever have playoff success, and unfortunately I've been proven correct as the Cavs have lost in five games for 3 straight seasons, failing to make the conference finals all 3 seasons. Playing a 5 out offense and having guys who can create their own shot and also be able to play defense at a high level is so important in today's NBA. If you have been watching LeBron's podcast lately, he had an episode where he talks with Steve Nash about how important the mid-range shot is in the playoffs. Guys like SGA, Haliburton, Brunson & even guys like Anunoby, Bridges, Nembhard, McDaniels, Cason Wallace, & others have made big mid range shots in the playoffs. The turnaround fadeaway midrange shot is so important in the playoffs and Siakam is so good at it, even Turner knocks some down. Evan Mobley only shot 38% from mid-range this season and our team is full of guys who aren't good 3 point shooters in the playoffs, guys like Wade & Okoro have a career playoff 3 point % below 30% makes them unplayable in the playoffs, despite being solid defenders. Mitchell, Garland, Strus & Merrill all are below 36% on 3 pointers in their playoff careers. The Cavs have so many undersized one dimensional players, & many of them cant create their own shot.

   I personally also believe last offseason we shouldve hired a different head coach, we should have hired someone who had experience leading teams into deep playoff runs as a head coach instead of Kenny Atkinson, who has never had playoff success as a head coach in the NBA.

   Big changes have to be made if the Cavs are serious about competing for a championship. It was obvious last offseason, but JB Bickerstaff was the scapegoat, and the roster stayed how it was. If we run it back again & lose again next year, Darius Garland will only have two years left on his contract, so I believe trading him now while he still has good value, is the best course of action. Also trading Jarrett Allen now, is in my opinion, something the Cavs must do.

   Cavaliers 2016 – During the 2014 off-season the Cavs signed LeBron James. We traded #1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins for superstar Kevin Love. During LeBron's first season back, we traded for JR Smith, Iman Shumpert & Mozgov. We took the Warriors to six games in the NBA Finals, largely thanks to LeBron, Delly & our great assistant coaches.

   During the 15-16 season we fired Blatt and made Tyronn Lue the head coach, a great decision made by GM David Griffin that was very much needed. We signed Richard Jefferson & Mo Williams and a couple other players. Then traded fan favorite, Anderson Varejao during the season and brought in Channing Frye who had a fantastic game in the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks where he had 27 points & helped us win that game. Fans didn't want Blatt fired, they didnt want Varejao to be traded, but these sort of difficult decisions have to be made if you are a team who is serious about winning a championship. We all know how the story ended that season. The Cleveland Cavaliers won their first ever NBA Championship & the city of Cleveland got the championship that had eluded us since 1964.

   After Kyrie requested a trade, the Cavs traded him to the Boston Celtics who we had just beaten in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. By this time, LeBron had lost his leverage since he had signed a 2+1 contract instead of the 1+1 contracts he was signing. I've heard that it infuriated LeBron that we chose the trade package for Kyrie that included a draft pick, instead of a different trade package where we brought in players that he thought would best help the Cavs compete for a title. LeBron understood that championship teams must have an ALL-IN mentality. During the 2017-2018 season, we traded several members of our roster including players we acquired for Kyrie, so we could have a better chance in the playoffs. It was a complete overhaul and it helped us make the NBA Finals for the 4th straight season. LeBron had lost faith in the front office & ownership when David Griffin was fired, and then refusing to trade the pick we got from the Celtics probably was the final straw. LeBron went to the Lakers in free agency following the 2018 NBA Finals, but his work as a Cleveland Cavalier was finished, he fulfilled his promise of bringing a championship to Cleveland.

   Celtics 2024 – The Celtics made the the 2017, 2018,2020, 2022, & 2024 Eastern Conference Finals and the 2022 & 2024 NBA Finals. They finally won the title in 2024. If it wasn't for LeBron & the Cavs, the Celtics would've made it to the NBA Finals in 2017 & 2018 with Tatum as a rookie in 2018 & Brown as rookie in 2017, both stars were very young at the time. They kept those two, but constantly made changes to the rest of their roster. Horford was gone then the Celtics brought him back. They traded for Kyrie after the 2017 ECF loss and signed Gordon Hayward that same summer. Also they traded Avery Bradley that summer. Kyrie eventually left in free agency. Kemba Walker was brought to Boston in a trade that sent Terry Rozier to Charlotte. Gordon Hayward & Enes Kanter were eventually traded as well. Then the Celtics traded Kemba to bring back Horford to the team. Brad Stevens went up to the front office & Ime Udoka was made head coach. Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, & Porzingis were all brought in through trades and those three were all starters on their championship team. Udoka had his controversy, was fired and Joe Mazzulla became head coach. Marcus Smart was a fan favorite who had won DPOY, & had been on the All-Defense 1st team multiple times but the Celtics front office understood more big changes had to be made. The Celtics committed to Brown & Tatum, constantly made big changes around them, and it led to an NBA championship.

   Warriors 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022 – The Warriors hired Steve Kerr after firing Mark Jackson. They immediately won the NBA championship in Kerr's first season. Their big 3 of Steph, Klay, and Draymond was surrounded by great veteran role players. After losing to the Cavs in 2016, the Warriors went out & signed Kevin Durant, leading to two more championships and another NBA Finals where they lost to the Raptors. After KD left following the 2019 Finals loss, the Warriors spent a few years re-tooling around their big 3 of Steph, Klay & Draymond who had at that point already won 3 titles. They acquired Andrew Wiggins in a trade. Eventually, Wiggins proved to be a key acquisition as he performed very well during their 2022 playoff run that resulted in another NBA Championship.

   Raptors 2019 – After many successful regular seasons, but being unable to get past LeBron & the Cavs in the playoffs, the Raptors fired Dwane Casey in the 2018 offseason and hired Nick Nurse. That same off-season, the Raptors traded for Kawhi & Danny Green It was a huge risk as Kawhi was on an expiring deal and did not want to go to Toronto. The bold Raptors front office made the trade anyways, and though Kawhi did leave after one season, the Raptors won the Championship, making the risky trade worth it. Derozan was a fan favorite and a long-tenured player on the Raptors & in that trade Jakob Poltl was also sent to the Spurs. A hard decision had to be made, and it proved to be the correct one. During the season, Jonas Valancuinas & CJ Miles were traded for Marc Gasol. He ended up being an important player in their playoff run. Big moves were made by the Raptors & it resulted in a championship.

   Lakers 2020 – After getting LeBron as a free agent in 2018, the following summer they traded for Anthony Davis and signed Danny Green, KCP, Javale McGee, Avery Bradley, Alex Caruso and a few others, including Dwight Howard & JR Smith later that season. Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and multiple draft picks were sent to the Pelicans. Giving up on their young talent to bring in AD & signing so many proven veterans in free agency helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA Championship.

   Bucks 2021 – The big move that the Bucks made heading into their championship season was acquiring Jrue Holiday. Other smaller moves were made as well. The Bucks gave up plenty of assets to acquire Holiday and it helped them win

   Nuggets 2023 – The big move the Nuggets made was acquiring Aaron Gordon in a trade. They also got KCP in a trade. Over time, they traded away guys like Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant, Monte Morris, Will Barton and others as they built around Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr.. They signed guys like Bruce Brown & DeAndre Jordan and got their developmental players like Christian Braun & Peyton Watson… Trading for Aaron Gordon was the final piece of the puzzle and it helped them win.

   Pacers, Thunder, Knicks, & Timberwolves, the 4 conference finalist in the 2024-2025 season, all made big moves too. The Pacers acquired Pascal Siakam. The Thunder traded a core piece, Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso who is a way better fit for them. The Knicks & Timberwolves made the KAT for Julius Randle & Donte DiVincenzo trade. Other smaller moves were made by all these teams as well.

   I believe we have seen enough of the Cavs 'core 4' to understand that they can't win a title together. Guys like Isaac Okoro & Dean Wade have been around the entire time, Max Strus has been around 2 full seasons, as has Sam Merrill. It hasn't worked in the playoffs and I believe big changes must be made if the Cavs want to compete for 2026 championship.