By all measures, the Cavs had a pretty good season despite being hit by injuries. The upper management still wasn’t satisfied though, so let’s explore the ins and outs of their 2023-24 campaign.

How’d It Go?

The Cavs started fairly slowly as they were 13-12 in the middle of December. That’s about the same time that injuries really began to strike, as they were without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland for a significant stretch. The Cavs rattled off a 14-4 run without the two players and continued to cook as they were No. 2 seed in the East from February 5th to March 2nd. They were 39-20 at that point, but Donovan Mitchell began to miss a number of games with injuries. They went 9-14 from that point, finishing as the No. 4 seed in the East with a 48-34 record.

In a hard-fought first-round series against the Magic, the Cavs prevailed in seven games. Neither team was able to win on the road and the Cavs also capped off that series with a dominant second half. They went into halftime down 10 in Game 7 and eventually won 106-94. In the second round, they met the Celtics and lost in five games as injuries mounted up vs. a better opponent. Jarrett Allen missed the last three games of the series vs. the Magic and the entire series vs. the Celtics, Mitchell missed the last two against Boston and Caris LeVert was also sidelined for Game 5.

With all those circumstances against them, most on-lookers would likely agree that they had a good season.

Coaching

The Cavs fired J.B. Bickerstaff at the end of their season. Under his guidance, they attained homecourt advantage in the first round while even having a chance to climb by one or two places on the final day. They seemed to “throw” to avoid the Sixers and get the Magic in the first round, but I’ll leave that up to you to decide. The Cavs were a middle-of-the-pack offense with a 114.7 rating, but they were the seventh-best defense with a 112.1 rating. The Cavs built a real defensive identity and there was one thing which caught my eye and I loved. They had a concept called a suffocate.

In essence, three consecutive defensive stops equal one suffocate.

It’s a simple yet effective way to think of things since basketball is often a game of runs. If you try to shut down opponents a few possessions at a time intentionally, that can help you to build or erase leads. Unfortunately, Bickerstaff isn’t around anymore despite leading the team to their first playoff victory since 2018 in a seven-game thriller vs. the young Magic. Adrian Wojnarowski also stated that the dismissal comes with the hope of advancing deeper and named Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson as a potential replacement to watch. Atkinson coached Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert in Brooklyn, so he could have some familiarity on his side.

As I said though, the dismissal seems harsh after an injury-riddled regular season and a playoff run which also ended with more injuries while facing the juggernaut Celtics squad. We will have to see who replaces Bickerstaff but even if the new coach does manage to find more success, I doubt they can create a more fun defensive concept. Here’s to more suffocates!

The Players

Donovan Mitchell

SG, Cleveland Cavaliers

ADP: 17.8/18.1 (ESPN/Yahoo) | Total Value: 26/30 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 7/8 (8/9-cat)

You’re not necessarily looking to knock it out of the park in terms of upside with a second-round fantasy pick. If that player delivers second-round value, it is a good return on investment. Mitchell reached a new level this season though, achieving career-highs in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. That diversification of his fantasy profile is what helped him to fully break into the first-round realm.

Unfortunately, injuries were the downfall of Mitchell’s upside. He only missed a handlful of games here and there in the first half of the campaign, but he only managed to play eight games from March to the end of the regular season. That would have happened in the midst of the fantasy playoffs for most managers unless your league ended very, very early. While it was a left knee bone bruise and a nasal fracture in the regular season, he also missed a couple playoff games at the end with a left calf strain. So, despite arguably having the best season of his career, the timing of the injuries may not allow it to be viewed that way.

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