Green Lantern thinks we got marginally better. I am a little more optimistic. We didn't lose much defensively because Stevens didn't play much and Cedi kind of sucked on defense, IMO. He wasn't a rebounder, either.
Looking at the Knicks' series, the Cavs used seven players. The starters averaged 34-41 minutes. Cedi and Okoro averaged 19 and 15 minutes, respectively. Danny Green averaged 8 minutes and that was it.
In this year's playoffs we will have the same starting five with Strus and Niang replacing Cedi and Okoro. Not a marginal upgrade, IMO. Substantial upgrade.
Okoro and Cedi combined for 12.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 34 minutes in that series. They were mostly non-factors.
Rubio did not score a point in 17 minutes. He should be 100% by next spring.
So with (hopefully) better versions of Mobley and Rubio and with the two new outside snipers replacing Cedi and Okoro, the Cavs should be significantly better. A lot will depend on how much Mobley improves from his second to third year and how well JBB can integrate the new snipers with the current core to maximize the talent.
The thought of having the same team for at least two years in a row is exciting. These guys will learn each other like the back of their hand and the offense should be flowing smoothly by the '24 playoffs.
The rebounding, or lack of it, which killed us against the Knicks, is basically unchanged. Cedi averaged 3 rebounds in 19 minutes against the Knicks. Stevens barely played. We're not losing any rebounding or defense but we're picking up a lot of outside shooting.
The biggest vulnerability is still defensive rebounding, especially when Allen or Mobley is out. Niang is not much of a rebounder - on the defensive glass he's in the 19th percentile among forwards. Same for Okoro, LeVert, and Strus at the 3. This is going to be a frustrating team to watch on defense since a lot of missed shots are going to be rebounded and put back.
It's discouraging to see your team play great defense for 22 seconds, force a contested, low percentage shot, have the shot miss, but then there's an offensive rebound and a follow for two points and sometimes three.