Recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers made a big swing at the NBA trade deadline by trading Caris LeVert and Georges Niang to the Atlanta Hawks for De’Andre Hunter. The move was designed to alleviate the Cavs’ one real weakness, which was their depth at wing position, and they took a chance on Hunter, who had been playing the best basketball of his career so far this season.
Hunter made his debut for the Cavs on Monday evening in a home demolition of the Minnesota Timberwolves, playing relatively well by scoring 13 points and knocking down three triples.
After the game, big man Evan Mobley, who put together a dominant performance in this one, spoke on what the Cavs’ expectations are for the rest of the season with Hunter now in the mix.
“What’s possible is championship,” said Mobley, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I feel like we had that caliber of team [before the trade], we’re on that track right now and so that’s the whole goal. And adding a player [like Hunter] just boosts it even more.”
On Monday even, Mobley put up a monster stat line of 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, and two steals in the win over the Timberwolves, which got out of hand in the opening few minutes.
Are the Cavs legitimate contenders?
David Richard-Imagn Images
Coming into this season, most pundits had the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks as the two primary championship contenders in the Eastern Conference. However, thanks to incredible improvements from both Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, combined with continued excellence from Donovan Mitchell and a revamped supporting cast, the Cavs have taken the league by storm this year, and were on pace for 70 wins for a good chunk of this season.
With Hunter now in the fray, the Cavs have addressed the one true concern on their roster, which was their depth at the wing position, and have also given themselves more size and versatility on defense for a potential playoff matchup with the Celtics.
In any case, the Cavs will next take the court on Wednesday evening on the road vs the Toronto Raptors.
