The Cleveland Cavaliers surprised a lot of teams last season behind a breakout year from then third-year guard Darius Garland, who emerged into an All-Star, and a solid rookie campaign from Evan Mobley. However, they scuffled at the end of last year after injury problems took its toll. Nevertheless, it appears as if the sky is the limit for the Cavs, especially after the addition of star guard Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz.
General managers around the NBA certainly think so, as they have certainly been impressed by the moves the Cavs have made in recent memory.
According to the Annual NBA GM Survey, 41 percent of NBA executives think that the Cavs made “the best overall moves” in the past offseason. The Cavs made no bigger deal than the one they swung for Donovan Mitchell, which 59 percent thought was the best individual acquisition of the past summer.
The GMs weren’t done showering the Cavs front office with love. 41 percent of GMs (again) opined that the Cavs boast the league’s “most promising young core” led by Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, who the Cavs did ever so well to swoop in and acquire during the James Harden trade back in January 2021.
Meanwhile, despite finishing second in the Rookie of the Year race, Evan Mobley was voted as the “most likely to have a breakout season in 2022-23”, finishing with 21 percent of the votes. Who could blame them? The 21-year old big man out of USC is already one of the best defensive big men in the league, and his offensive game is only getting better.
Quite frankly, it is understandable why almost everyone is buying into the Cavs’ hype. Not only are they led by perhaps the NBA’s most enviable young core, they also boast the services of veterans such as Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, and Caris LeVert, who have all shown they can contribute to winning.
The Cavs will look to bounce back from a disappointing finish to last season, when they ended up losing twice in the play-in games. With the addition of one of the best young scorers in the league in Donovan Mitchell and the young core having another year to learn the ropes of what it takes to succeed in the NBA, the Cavs will certainly be better equipped to deal with adversity this time around.