What did the Cavs do to be the best in the NBA?
The Cavaliers impress at the start of the season, with a project that began seven years ago with the departure of LeBron James.
June 8, 2018 LeBron James He played his last game with the Cleveland Cavalierswas the fourth of the NBA Finals in view of Golden State Warriorswho were crowned after sweeping their rivals from the East, who from that day planned a reconstruction that began with the departure of the figure who had returned to give that Ohio city a championship ring.
Almost seven years later, the Cavs They are back in the elite of the NBAas the best team so far in the 2024-25 season and with the aspiration of returning to the fight for the title, although with a different formula, cooked over low heat, with two correct collegiate teams, a couple of big changes and the search for the right coach.
A route outlined by the president, Koby Altman and the general manager, Mike Gansey who have patiently formed a competitive roster, which hopes to prove its worth in the playoffs, when it meets, for example, the Boston Celtics or even meet again with him Oklahoma City Thunderbut in the decisive instance.
After a stormy exit to Miami in 2010 that included burning some No. 23 jerseys, LeBron returned four years later to Cleveland (which went 97-215 overall, with no playoffs during his absence), to put him in a era of success with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love which included four trips to the Finals and the first title for the franchise in 2016.
However, after the sweep suffered against the Warriors in 2018, James left again, Los Angeles Lakersalthough this time the institutional response was more mature and Cleveland began a painful transformation process, with a record of 19-63 in 2018-19, the second worst in the League after the Knicks.
The plan to try to transcend
With the fifth selection of the 2019 Draft, the Cavs found the new reference around which to start the road back, point guard Darius Garland of Vanderbilt University, who did not make an immediate impact because he was not among the most notable rookies and was part from another campaign of only 19 wins, but now he is the figure.
For the following season they again had the fifth pick and this time they took forward Isaac Okoro, although the key move regarding the future came in the middle of the calendar, with a massive change in which those from Ohio were only supporting actors.
James Harden was sent from Houston Rockets to Brooklyn Netsin a move that also involved Cleveland, which sent Dante Exum to the Rockets and received Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince from Brooklyn; The center looked like a good complement to Garland, although the organization went 22-50.
For 2021-22 the progress was already notable, in the recruitment they took another big man, Evan Mobley, but they also renewed Allen with a contract of $ 100 million dollars for five years, which paid off because Jarrett was chosen to the All-Star Game that was played in Cleveland as a replacement for Harden and to integrate none other than LeBron’s team, along with Garland.
In the summer they had also added the Finn Lauri Markkanen In a change and a few days before the All-Star they obtained Caris LeVert from Indiana, so that he could reunite with his former teammate on the Nets, Jarrett Allen and contribute to having a winning record for the first time since the departure of the King: 44-38.
However, in the play-in they lost to Brooklyn and the Atlanta Hawks, to be left without a ticket to the decisive phase, although coach JB Bickerstaff remained in charge to continue building a competent squad, which already had a base with Garland, Mobley (named to the ideal rookie quintet), Allen, Markkanen, LeVert and Okoro.
Before the start of 2022-23, the Cleveland board decided it was time to get serious and got Donovan Mitchellwhich left the Utah Jazz after a divorce with the other star of Salt Lake City, Rudy Gobertbut the Cavs had to give up Markkanen, two other players and five draft picks.
It was the necessary move to affirm that the franchise was ready to return to the top, that the rebuilding process was over and it was time to leave what happened with LeBron behind to write a new story.
Although ‘Spida’ immediately clarified that it was Garland’s team, it became the new benchmark, with a record that included three previous All-Star appointments and seven all-or-nothing series with Utah; The starting lineup was completed with Allen, Mobley and Okoro, for a 51-31 campaign and the long-awaited return to the playoffs.
The exit in the first round after losing 1-4 against the Knicks left those from Ohio without answers, who believed they were on the right path, but were still not ready to compete in those instances.
They tried again in 2023-24 with the addition of Max Strus, from the Heat, and free agents Georges Niang and Ty Jerome, in addition to the return of Tristan Thompson, monarch alongside LeBron; The record of 48-34 was the fourth best in the East and they survived the first round of elimination in an exciting seven-game series with the Orlando Magic, but in the semifinals they met the Celtics, ultimately champions, who eliminated them 4- 1.
The board understood that they needed to move the bench and hired Kenny Atkinson as coach, who had a 118-190 record in four seasons with the Nets (where he coincided with Allen and LeVert), but who later shone as an assistant to Tyron Lue in the Clippers and after Steve Kerr with the Warriors, where he had the luxury of rejecting an offer of Hornets.
Atkinson’s 15-0 start to 2024-25 could not have been better for the Cavs who seem to have found the missing piece; Compared to the previous year, Cleveland averages 10 more points per game (122.1), to be in the Top-2 of the League and has a differential of +10.8 in scoring (it was 2.4 in 2023-24), keys to commanding the Conference This.
At an individual level there have also been differences, Garland averages three more units per game (20.9), the same improvement as Evan Mobley (18.9), but up to six players have double digits each night and the load of minutes is distributed among 11 members (all with more than 15 per duel), in the style of Kerr, with the aim that the stars arrive in the best possible way at the end.
Because that is the goal for this franchise, which has had a historic regular season, with just five losses after 39 games, with a wide advantage over Celticsbut that must transcend starting in April because it has been their problem since LeBron left.
To be successful now, the board has bet big, both by running out of college teams in the future due to various changes, and by signing free agents, waiting for the talent to mature and finding the coach who seems to best understand the abilities of Mitchell, Garland, Allen and Mobley.
The reconstruction in Cleveland after the departure of LeBron James It ended a couple of years ago and it is time to reap the rewards in the playoffs, everything seems on track to win a ring again, one that consolidates the team in NBA history, beyond a specific figure.
