The Cavaliers‘ coaching staff had to start from scratch after the team worked out a trade for Donovan Mitchell, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his assistants had just returned from a retreat where they planned out strategies for the upcoming season. Those plans had to be scrapped two days later when news of the Mitchell trade broke.
Instead of preparing for another year with a super-sized front line featuring Lauri Markkanen, Bickerstaff is excited to have two dynamic scorers in his backcourt with Mitchell joining Darius Garland.
“Most teams don’t have enough strong defenders that they can just put one guy on each of these guys,” Bickerstaff said. “We can go out and manipulate the game. We play an unselfish, up-tempo ball-movement type of game. The fourth quarter is where it’s really gonna get fun, where you get to slow the game down a little bit and then you get to play that chess match. But there’s so many threats on the floor that our guys have and how they present themselves. And a lot of times it’s just going to be take what the defense gives you because we know that guy can make you pay.”
Garland and Mitchell were friends long before the trade came together, Fedor adds. Mitchell was a strong supporter of Garland’s bid to make the All-Star team last year, and they worked out together twice during the summer. Mitchell expected to be traded to the Knicks at the time, but instead they’ll form one of the league’s most exciting backcourts.
General manager Koby Altman said one of his first moves after the trade agreement was finalized was to notify Garland.
“We were excited about the team coming back already. If we weren’t able to get this transaction done, we were excited about what we had coming back. But when the opportunity presented itself, absolutely Donovan takes us to another level,” Altman said. “It makes Caris (LeVert) more dangerous. It makes Darius more dangerous. It helps Evan (Mobley). I can’t wait to see what that looks like. It gives us an entirely different dynamic. Of course, you’re thinking about ‘What if we had Donovan in that Atlanta Hawks (play-in) game?’ Hopefully it won’t be that this year.”
It’s been widely reported that the Cavaliers and Jazz talked about Mitchell during the Las Vegas Summer League and didn’t resume conversations until late August after Utah’s negotiations with the Knicks fell apart. Fedor states that during that interval, Altman and Bickerstaff reached out to people who had worked with Mitchell to get their recommendations.
“The first thing out of everybody’s mouth was how good of a person he is,” Bickerstaff said. “I know that sounds like a small thing but in this business, being around each other so much, we impact each other’s lives in a positive or negative way. You want to be able to surround yourself with good people and people who are positive. When you don’t have to sacrifice people over talent, you give yourself an opportunity to build something special. The second thing they all talked about was his work ethic. All he wants to do is work on his game and get better. He wants to be great. That translates to games. He doesn’t take nights off.”
Celtics
Nets
Bucks
76ers
Cavs
Heat
Hawks
Raptors
Which 4 teams past the first round playoffs?
Can Cavs past the first round playoffs?
Can Bulls make playoffs?
I think that Philly is still fragile. Nets are valitole. Heat rely on Jimmy too much. Teams with depth are getting my vote. Celtics Bucks and Cavs can get past round 1. Then your fourth team is who can stay together, health or continuity. Hawks have a lot of ground to make up. I like Murray but not sure he pushes into the 4 best
Sixers are uber talented and deep. Fragile isn’t a word that applies. Go down the roster of any NBA team and you will find injuries to key players.
It’s more likely
Bucks
Raptors
6ers
Celtics
Heat
Cavs
Nets
Hawks/Washington
The Celtics just went to the finals I doubt they’ll be the 4th best team in the east and the 6ers 3rd? Harden better step it up, he wasn’t all that great down the stretch.
Wtf that is a very very interesting comment on the standings you think
Wtf lol man you either very very brave or just don’t know NBA and bit naive, NO WAY that will look like that at end of season standings wise lol couldn’t be more inclined to laugh on any other comment like I am with your one
I love this Cavs team! We have should a young and fun team!
@Cavs
I’m trying to be optimistic but I truly think Sexton could’ve given us what Mitchell can give, that Lauri Markannen is about to turn the corner and be a really good player and the ability to put three 7ters in the lineup was a success last year and the ability to bring him back and add Agbaji into the SF mix would’ve been interesting. With that lineup the Cavs could go big and small at will. But we’ll never know.
This is the most talented Cavs team. Since the Bron, Love, Kyrie team. Just need to come together and grow as a Team.
They can still go 3 bigs. Mobley’s quick enough on his feet to play the 3, Love can stretch the floor and Allen can cover the rim.
I hope for the Cavs sake Evan Mobley is the 2nd coming of Gobert or Mitchell will be a net negative
Not that it matters because Mitchell will never be a net negative but Jarrett Allen is already Gobert lite.
If Mobley is the 2nd coming of Gobert he will be a disappointment to me. Not that Gobert is bad but his offensive game is rather limited. Mobley already scored 15 points a game as a rookie. Hopefully he will exceed Gobert’s career best season of 15.9 points a game on a regular basis. On the Defensive side he is already close to as effective as Gobert. That said having to sub for Jarrett Allen duriug his injury cost Mobley the Rookie of The Year award. With Allen handling the other teams Center it allows Mobley to dominate from the Power Forward position on Defense. Mobley will be at minimum a 20 point a game scorer in his prime with 25-30 more likely. The hope is that he will be the top Big Man in the game like Olajuwon,Malone, Garnett or Duncan were in their prime. That is likely a few seasons away. The kid is expected to be better than Patrick Ewing at his peak. Only time will tell if he reaches either level. How he went 3rd in the draft I will never know, but he was the star of that draft class.
Love is a full 4 inches shorter than Markkanen. It does not have the same defensive affect as the 3 seven Footers line does. That said it is likely the best Starting Line we can put forward. From an offensive standpoint the 3 of them plus Garland & Mitchell would not be easily topped. While the 3 of them might not disrupt the passing lanes the way they would with Markkanen they would still close off the rim well. They also may be a quicker threesome than the 7 foot line was. That said there would be a huge drop off when we had to go to the bench. Rubio returning would help the bench around mid season but going to Lopez, Wade & Osman would make fans count the seconds until the starters return.
Love has cement for feet.
He is still quicker than Markkanen.
Did you see Lauri in the tournament? Love these days can only move his arms that fast. Long guys look slower but they actually cover more ground faster than smaller guys. That’s why wingspan is such a big deal. Your foot speed is only part of the equation.
@cuffs
I disagree. Markannen was explosive to the rim, he cut and finished. Love’s body is still not what it used to be. In addition to being more motivated coming off the bench and not having the full weight of being the main rebounder, Kevin appeared fresh and healthy for the 1st time in years. Making him play starter minutes would be a HUGE mistake. check the film last year for Markannen as a Cav.
Don’t get me wrong I totally agree, but Donovan brings us experience and a star quality that the Cavs have lacked (though Darius, Allen and Mobley were rising up and becoming stars). I do agree that Lauri will be missed, he was definitely coming into his own and is a lot more comfortable being himself on the floor.
Sexton doesn’t help winning. If you look past the counting numbers he really hampered the flow of the team with his tunnel vision. Cavs looked like they wanted him gone the way there were being so tight with their negotiations. I half agree with Lauri, but odds are he is who he is at this point of his career, which at the end of the day is a solid rotational piece.
Spida is a top 20 player in the league, he’s the 7th highest PPG scorer in NBA History, 26 and under contract for the next 3 seasons. Spida is going to be a damn problem with Garland to his flank. Can’t wait.
Such*
The sky is the limit for the Cavs with Mitchell !
Mitchell trade changed Lyman Bostock’s plan for season. Lyman heartbroken. Heard a pop song that said broken hearts still beat. I’m living off that right now
Are you related to Karl Malone, Bo Jackson, or Jimmy from Seinfeld? =)
Yes bulls will make the 8, and that’s a very big bold statement putting the nets there