2023-24 Regular Season Thread II: March Toward Destiny

[Pierre Pan]

For tomorrow’s game, Rudy Gobert (ribs), Anthony Edwards (dislocated finger) and Naz Reid (concussion protocol) are all questionable

 

[CavsKermit]

The guy who the opposite team tilts their entire defense towards is going to be worth less than the guy the opposing team either ignores or hides their worst defender on is a real post.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

For tomorrow’s game, Rudy Gobert (ribs), Anthony Edwards (dislocated finger) and Naz Reid (concussion protocol) are all questionable

Jimmy Butler was questionable for last night's game and he scored 30 points.

 

[Pierre Pan]

Jimmy Butler was questionable for last night's game and he scored 30 points.

However, when a Cavs’ player shows up as questionable, they usually miss about 2-3 weeks

 

[macbdog]

Jimmy Butler was questionable for last night's game and he scored 30 points.

Apparently the question was how many points he was going to score?

 

[Kouki]

This post aged well.

This team is bipolar, pretty much 99% of complaints or praises "age well"

This "told you so" culture is toxic

Except for JBB complaints, those never go out of style

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

Not even close, in my opinion. If there were no salary cap, then it would be different. We could get a player in free agency as good as Garland for $40 million per year. Okoro is going to outplay his contract, while Garland is not.

I’ve been pretty critical of Garland’s play this year. Much of it revolves around potentially not being a great fit with Mitchell. There’s a lot of things he could do better, but he is still young and should continue to improve as a player. If he simply would stop being so careless with the ball late in games and push the pace more, that’d stop a majority of the people that have been critical of his game. The only reason I’m inclined to trade him is because of the long-term fit with Mitchell, but if Mitchell isn’t here long term then that doesn’t matter.

All that being said, ignoring the fact the Cavs have never been a player in FA at any amount of money, it’s pretty rare that max-level guard hits FA. They are typically retained by their current team or traded before FA. VanVleet got paid $40M/yr this year, and while he’s a good player, the Rockets had to pretty significantly overpay him. If Garland was a FA this offseason, someone would almost certainly pay him more than the $40M/yr FVV got if they could.

I like Okoro, but if you were to tell me he was getting $20M, it’d be a lot easier to replace what Okoro does with like a $15M guy and a $5M guy. I don’t think Okoro is worth $20M/yr to this team as constructed even if the Cavs move on from LeVert. If Mitchell were to be traded for an SF that can shoot, maybe you can convince me that Okoro can start at SG, but that presents other issues.

Basically, I think Okoro can’t be paid any more than what Strus and LeVert are making. If he gets offered more or is asking for more, I’m looking to S&T him for a front court rotation guy.

I’d explore trading Garland if the Cavs get a commitment from Mitchell. Otherwise, I wouldn’t unless they can get a similarly paid (or cheaper) SF, of similar age and ability at the position, who has multiple years left on his deal. If Mitchell doesn’t commit, they might be in a holding pattern for a year or they are trading Mitchell.

 

[Jscc]

Okoro is absolutely not the same player as last year let alone his rookie season. He has made massive strides offensively as a shooter and has shown some off the dribble juice. His defense has moved from good to elite. Not close at all to the raw ball of hustle he was as a rook

Offensively, his percentages are up but everything else is the same. His lack of rebounding in particular is disappointing for a forward.

 

[foucault87]

Offensively, his percentages are up but everything else is the same. His lack of rebounding in particular is disappointing for a forward.

Not at all. He looks like a completely different player on the court. You gotta look at the film too here.

He could rebound more yeah, but that is partially strategy and partially him being bad at it

 

[Futuredome]

Not at all. He looks like a completely different player on the court. You gotta look at the film too here.

He could rebound more yeah, but that is partially strategy and partially him being bad at it

Nope. The only real growth from Okoro is doing more production from his skill set than in the past. We just don't have the depth to handle when he sucks like the second half off the Heat game. He sucked on both ends.

 

[Dr No]

I’ve been pretty critical of Garland’s play this year. Much of it revolves around potentially not being a great fit with Mitchell. There’s a lot of things he could do better, but he is still young and should continue to improve as a player. If he simply would stop being so careless with the ball late in games and push the pace more, that’d stop a majority of the people that have been critical of his game. The only reason I’m inclined to trade him is because of the long-term fit with Mitchell, but if Mitchell isn’t here long term then that doesn’t matter.

All that being said, ignoring the fact the Cavs have never been a player in FA at any amount of money, it’s pretty rare that max-level guard hits FA. They are typically retained by their current team or traded before FA. VanVleet got paid $40M/yr this year, and while he’s a good player, the Rockets had to pretty significantly overpay him. If Garland was a FA this offseason, someone would almost certainly pay him more than the $40M/yr FVV got if they could.

I like Okoro, but if you were to tell me he was getting $20M, it’d be a lot easier to replace what Okoro does with like a $15M guy and a $5M guy. I don’t think Okoro is worth $20M/yr to this team as constructed even if the Cavs move on from LeVert. If Mitchell were to be traded for an SF that can shoot, maybe you can convince me that Okoro can start at SG, but that presents other issues.

Basically, I think Okoro can’t be paid any more than what Strus and LeVert are making. If he gets offered more or is asking for more, I’m looking to S&T him for a front court rotation guy.

I’d explore trading Garland if the Cavs get a commitment from Mitchell. Otherwise, I wouldn’t unless they can get a similarly paid (or cheaper) SF, of similar age and ability at the position, who has multiple years left on his deal. If Mitchell doesn’t commit, they might be in a holding pattern for a year or they are trading Mitchell.

I like Okoro, Strus & Vert. The problem is keeping all 3 at around 50 million per year, which is what it would be if Okoro commands 20 per. With Mobley about to get expensive, even with the higher cap, we are going to have to make some hard decisions

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

I like Okoro, Strus & Vert. The problem is keeping all 3 at around 50 million per year, which is what it would be if Okoro commands 20 per. With Mobley about to get expensive, even with the higher cap, we are going to have to make some hard decisions

Yeah, and as long as Mitchell and Garland are here, at least 2 of the 3 between Strus, Okoro, and LeVert are bench players, potentially all three.

If you’re looking at the possibility of all three being being players, Okoro kind of seems like the odd guy out. Between Strus, LeVert, Merrill, and Craig, I think it’s easier to offset the loss of what Okoro does. I agree though, it’s not an easy decision, and ultimately it’s a bet on how Okoro develops offensively.

 

[CavsKermit]

I’ve been pretty critical of Garland’s play this year. Much of it revolves around potentially not being a great fit with Mitchell. There’s a lot of things he could do better, but he is still young and should continue to improve as a player. If he simply would stop being so careless with the ball late in games and push the pace more, that’d stop a majority of the people that have been critical of his game. The only reason I’m inclined to trade him is because of the long-term fit with Mitchell, but if Mitchell isn’t here long term then that doesn’t matter.

All that being said, ignoring the fact the Cavs have never been a player in FA at any amount of money, it’s pretty rare that max-level guard hits FA. They are typically retained by their current team or traded before FA. VanVleet got paid $40M/yr this year, and while he’s a good player, the Rockets had to pretty significantly overpay him. If Garland was a FA this offseason, someone would almost certainly pay him more than the $40M/yr FVV got if they could.

I like Okoro, but if you were to tell me he was getting $20M, it’d be a lot easier to replace what Okoro does with like a $15M guy and a $5M guy. I don’t think Okoro is worth $20M/yr to this team as constructed even if the Cavs move on from LeVert. If Mitchell were to be traded for an SF that can shoot, maybe you can convince me that Okoro can start at SG, but that presents other issues.

Basically, I think Okoro can’t be paid any more than what Strus and LeVert are making. If he gets offered more or is asking for more, I’m looking to S&T him for a front court rotation guy.

I’d explore trading Garland if the Cavs get a commitment from Mitchell. Otherwise, I wouldn’t unless they can get a similarly paid (or cheaper) SF, of similar age and ability at the position, who has multiple years left on his deal. If Mitchell doesn’t commit, they might be in a holding pattern for a year or they are trading Mitchell.

Assuming he doesn't show up big in the playoffs, and he still gets a considerable offer from another team (I'm skeptical), then I'm trying to turn him into a TPE which I'm then swinging for Thybulle.

 

[foucault87]

Assuming he doesn't show up big in the playoffs, and he still gets a considerable offer from another team (I'm skeptical), then I'm trying to turn him into a TPE which I'm then swinging for Thybulle.

Ur such a hater on okoro. Hes better than thybulle lol