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Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers president Koby Altman is typically one of the NBA's busiest executives when the trade deadline comes around. In fact, since taking over for David Griffin as the Cavs' general manager in July 2017, there hadn&rsquo;t been a single deadline where he stood pat.
On Thursday, that changed, as the Cavaliers decided not to make a trade.
&ldquo;My guys over there, they said, 'Koby I'm proud of you,' for not [making a move],&rdquo; Altman said with a grin at Cleveland Clinic Courts in his first media appearance this season. &ldquo;Because you could make deals. You can. There's things you can land the plane on. Don't just do something to do something. Let's be very, very intentional with what we're doing. It's different when you're in asset collection mode. It's different when you're trying to accumulate picks. That becomes a different motivation. I think where we are now is being very, very intentional [with] how you're going to help this young core grow and set them up for success. And if the move wasn't there to do it, don't do it. I guess we sat this one out.
&ldquo;I think there's value in continuity. I think there's value in giving this group a runway. And sometimes as a GM, you just say to yourself, 'Don't mess this up.' And I think that was a big key for us this deadline. [That's] not easy for me; you guys know I'm volume-heavy. But to take a step back and realize the growth we've seen already, mixed with the results... I didn't see anything that was appreciably gonna make us better and put us over the top. And so, I'm really happy with where we are and where we're going.&rdquo;
We all know the NBA community abides by a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately code, but remember Donovan Mitchell? The 26-year-old first-time All-Star starter who&rsquo;s already stamped his name in the Cavs history books and helped lead Cleveland to a torrid start? One of the best shooting guards in the league who&rsquo;s already won two Player of the Week awards and has brought 39 games worth of playoff experience with him to the team? The dude who <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-breaking-news-donovan-mitchell-scores-nbaseasonhigh-cavs-franchisebest-71-in-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped 71 freaking points in one night</a>?
Lest we forget that Altman already launched his full-court heave on the first day of September, prior to the frenzy that was this past week.
&ldquo;I'm really glad we did what we did in the summer, to bring in a Donovan Mitchell, because it's so competitive &mdash; hyper-competitive in the trade market, hyper-competitive in the standings. And so, that was our big move to really lift our ceiling,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;I knew that we weren't going to top that move come trade deadline (laughs). I think it's been a seamless fit. I think it's been some really exciting basketball... I think we had a great future without Donovan, and I can't imagine not having him right now.
&ldquo;We don't need to take swings. We don't need to take these &lsquo;find this incredible talent that you have to build around&rsquo; (approaches). I think we've found that, which is the hardest part. And now, does it work within the group and does it make the team better?&rdquo;
Altman&rsquo;s reasoning behind this approach is logical in short-term and long-term lenses. First and foremost, he brought up the delicate nature of a rare, connected locker room. That&rsquo;s why, though he&rsquo;ll leave open the idea of scouring the buyout market with an open roster spot available, everything will be about fit and skill set when it comes to any addition.
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The Cavs are in a position that they haven&rsquo;t been in during his tenure. They boast the fifth-best record in the NBA while employing the second-youngest starting five (average age of 23.2 years old) in the league, and a majority of that core still has yet to experience postseason basketball.
&ldquo;There's no trade I could've accomplished that was going to account for Darius Garland playing in his first playoff series, Evan Mobley playing in his first playoff series, Isaac Okoro playing in his first playoff series. We have to go through that as a team,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;We're gonna have to go down the stretch here and battle for our position. We're gonna have to go in, hopefully, knock on wood, to a playoff series and see what that feels like, and I'm excited about that.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And that's the growth, that's the maturation that I wanna see from this group down the stretch, and really take a step back and let them experience this kinda basketball that's very, very new for us, and give them the runway to achieve, have setbacks and grow from those experiences. But it's a really, really exciting place to be... Give this group what they deserve [with] what they've already accomplished.&rdquo;
Given his expiring contract situation, there were a lot of questions surrounding Caris LeVert, a hot name on the trade front. Multiple teams inquired about his status with the Cavs and what it&rsquo;d take for the franchise to part ways with him. Altman instead revealed that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s a lot of interest to keep him here,&rdquo; and explained his rationale behind sticking with LeVert.
&ldquo;We acquired Caris last year in vastly different circumstances. If you remember, we had Darius Garland and no other ball-handlers; Ricky [Rubio] was out for the year, we had lost Collin [Sexton] for the year. And so, we brought Caris in under vastly different pretenses. I think what he's done this year is try to adapt his game to two ball-dominant, all-world guards," Altman said. "He's gotten better at his spot-up shooting; he's at a career-high this year at 37% in terms of shooting, and that's not even his real piece. He's just a really good basketball player, and I think he's embraced the challenge of being a defensive stopper.
&ldquo;The thing that really speaks to me too is, and I'm a softy for this, but guys that really want to be here. Guys that show up every day to work, that have a great attitude, that whatever their role is &mdash; and he had to take a substantial step back, be a sixth-man type when he could be starting in the NBA on a lot of different teams &mdash; and being like, 'I want to make this work. I want to be here.' That's meaningful to me, that's meaningful to this organization and it's a big reason why he's here. The other thing too is, let's be honest, we're not playing guys 82 games a year anymore. And to be able to spot start Caris at times is an absolute luxury. We learned that last year we can't have enough ball-handlers. We'll see in the playoffs. I know it's been a few years now, [but] to break your man off the dribble when everything else breaks down and your set play is not working, you're gonna need guys to go get some stuff for you and manufacture some runs. He remains a very important part of what we're doing. He's just a really good basketball player. I know he's thrilled to still be here, and we're happy that he's here as well.&rdquo;
As per usual, Kevin Love&rsquo;s name surfaced in rumblings for another year. This time around, it made sense because he&rsquo;s recorded five straight DNP-CDs and missed action in the three previous games due to a bothersome thumb injury. Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated Wednesday night that the veteran big man is healthy and available, but wants to see what this new, healthy iteration of the team can do.&nbsp;
Asked about Love, Altman responded by saying that he&rsquo;s never had conversations with him or his representation about a buyout and doesn&rsquo;t anticipate it happening. He did however share that he and the 35-year-old have talked about making a sacrifice and staying ready when his chance to play comes again. Altman feels he&rsquo;ll have that opportunity at some point this season.
After striking a rhythm over the last week, Altman is pleased with what he&rsquo;s seen from this current Cavs rotation that&rsquo;s added some bodies off the injured list. Ricky Rubio &mdash; whom he considers midseason acquisition-like &mdash; came back in the fold less than a month ago and is rounding into form with the bench bunch, and Dean Wade has been getting his legs back under him since returning on Jan. 21, providing meaningful spacing and defensive chops.
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Are the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> finding stability? J.B. Bickerstaff, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade weigh in (with hand signals and all 🎢). <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/oTD1TBWkyl">pic.twitter.com/oTD1TBWkyl</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1623719182910070786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2023</a></blockquote>

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When the franchise pulled the trigger on the Mitchell blockbuster, it created a significant void left by now-Utah-Jazz-All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen. For much of the season, the wing has been anything but consistent and a point of contention around town. A whopping 18 different starting lineups is an obvious indication of that, which has included starts at small forward from LeVert, Okoro, Wade and Lamar Stevens. (That&rsquo;s due to injury and mixing and matching.)
However, to Altman&rsquo;s point of internal additions, Cleveland has seen a fresh version of Okoro emerge since the turn of the new year. From Jan. 4 and on &mdash; when &ldquo;Ice&rdquo; reentered the starting five &mdash; the burly third-year swingman over 19 games has averaged 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest on 58.5% from the field, including a scorching 49.0% clip beyond the arc.&nbsp;
Coupling his already-stout defense with the threat of knocking down triples in the corner &mdash; and playmaking for teammates off the catch when closed out on &mdash; has helped Okoro earn the Cavs&rsquo; trust.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for Isaac, who puts the most work in that now he deserves that sorta 3-and-D position that we drafted him as, that can guard 1-through-4, that really puts pressure on the defense,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;I think what you're seeing from us and from Isaac specifically is a dude that, right away, you feel that defense as soon as you get across half-court, or you want to take a shooter out and he's making you catch 40 feet out. That sets the tone for your defense, and he does that remarkably well. And now, he's hitting the three-ball and giving space to our guards, which we really need.&rdquo;
It also played a factor in Altman avoiding a potential disruption in Okoro&rsquo;s rhythm.
&ldquo;Obviously, everybody wants more shooting. It's something I looked at. But I also know... where are those minutes gonna go to?&rdquo; Altman argued. &ldquo;And that starting five, which has been really good with Isaac Okoro, who are you taking off the floor there when that group as a starting five is a plus-7.3 net rating with a substantial size now? Who are you taking off the floor there, right?
&ldquo;Between him, Dean, Cedi [Osman], we always wanted to hopefully have that be internal and not use more assets to go outside and hope it works. That's the other part too is, at the deadline, you're making these deals and hoping that it fits. You're ingratiating a new person into this system, everybody has to adapt around this person, you have to change the way you play a little bit to accentuate their positives. Keeping the continuity and letting the internal growth happen, I think, was a big part of (standing pat). And seeing those signs certainly gave us pause to... Isaac's only 22 years old, and he's getting better every single day. Let's let that play out.&rdquo;
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Flexibility is still present in Cleveland&rsquo;s books despite being over the salary cap. Altman noted how Mobley still being on his rookie-scale deal will allow the Cavs to re-sign LeVert and Love and use their mid-level exception if they choose. There are also second-round picks at their disposal, and if Thursday taught us anything, it&rsquo;s that they can be quite valuable.
Mitchell and Garland are meshing well with one another as the games pass, Mobley and Jarrett Allen have not shown signs of slowing down and Okoro is coming into his own. Rubio, LeVert, Wade and Osman have had their moments individually and are looking to put it all together to bolster the bench production. As long as the team can stay away from the injury bug, with a softer schedule in the second half of the season, there&rsquo;s no reason to expect any kind of decline. &nbsp; The overlying theme of the Cavs' strategy at this point? If it ain&rsquo;t broke, don&rsquo;t fix it.

Spencer Davies summarizes Cavaliers president Koby Altman's first press conference of the season after a quiet trade deadline.

Koby Altman counting on Cavaliers' continuity, growth from within

Following his team&rsquo;s fifth-straight loss after starting the season 8-1, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff sounded off on his frustrations with the team&rsquo;s attitude and defensive effort over the last week-and-a-half.
&ldquo;It's more about solving things than getting a message across at this point. We're not playing winning basketball right now, and it's that simple,&rdquo; Bickerstaff told reporters after falling to the Milwaukee Bucks 113-98 on Wednesday night. &ldquo;We have a formula in place that allows us, or will allow us, to be successful. Holding each other to that is what we have to do, and right now, we are not. It's that simple. It's my responsibility to search and find the guys that are most willing to play the way we want to play and help us all be successful. So that's what we'll do."
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While speaking of his love for his players and the locker room, Bickerstaff candidly referred to the team's recent complacency.
&ldquo;I think, honestly, we got kind of a fat-cat mentality. We went out and won eight games in a row. Everybody was giving us love and praising us, and we got really comfortable,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;We are the team that won those eight games though, right? We are a really good basketball team. This is about maturation and growth from a team as a whole. Not one guy's gonna do it. Not two guys are gonna do it. [It&rsquo;s about] understanding the difference between being the guy who's chasing and the guy who's being chased, and how hard it is to win in the NBA when you are a team who other teams expect to be good and expect to win. [It&rsquo;s about] how individual players take that, how that's a sign of respect. But they're [also] competitors, and they want to take that from you. So what you have to do every single night to show up and win, we're still learning that unfortunately.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We have a lot of season left to be played, obviously, and we'll get it right. This is a valuable lesson for us. One thing my dad (longtime coach-turned-Cavaliers front office executive Bernie Bickerstaff) told me a long time ago is, 'The NBA will always humble you. As soon as you get too big for your britches, no matter who you are, the NBA has a way of humbling you.' Hopefully, this has been enough and we'll make the decision to do what's right by each other.&rdquo;
Bickerstaff dug into Cleveland&rsquo;s noticeable drop-off on defense as a reason for the team&rsquo;s slumping ways.
&ldquo;It started kind of on our West Coast trip. I first saw it on the defensive end of the floor," said Bickerstaff, whose Cavs own a league-worst 122.0 Defensive Rating over the last five games. "We got away from being who we are. We got to a point where &mdash; and respectably so &mdash; we were confident that we could score the ball. But we should always be... if you want to win and win in this league at the level that we hope to, you can't do it if you don't guard. And defense comes down to the effort you're willing to put in. The second effort, the third effort, the fourth effort that you're willing to put in. And right now, we don't have enough guys that are putting in the second, third and fourth effort.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Too often, I see us saving ourselves, and for what I'm not sure of. But you give up 21 second-chance points tonight [to Milwaukee], it shows us you're being outworked. So again, our responsibility as coaches is to find the groups of guys that are gonna do what we ask them to do on a consistent basis. Does this shake the way I feel about our team? No. I love all these dudes the same. But it's our responsibility to do what's best by the team and find the guys that are gonna play the way we need to play.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s obvious that the Cavs are leaving teams way too comfortable out on the perimeter as of late. During this losing skid, they&rsquo;re allowing their opponents to <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/opponent-shooting?DistanceRange=By%20Zone&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=Right%20Corner%203%20FG%20PCT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nail 68.8% of their right-corner threes</a> (48.9% on 9.4 attempts from both corners combined) and 42.5% of their above-the-break long-distance looks. As Bickerstaff said, the closeouts haven&rsquo;t been executed nearly well enough. And when they have been, it still hasn&rsquo;t mattered because they&rsquo;ve given shooting confidence to the other squads. (See Trey Lyles and the Sacramento Kings game.)
Not helping matters is the absence of Jarrett Allen, who&rsquo;s been dealing with an ankle injury and a non-COVID-related illness for the last two games. He is the anchor of the defensive interior while Evan Mobley plays a dangerous weak-side-defender role. However, when Mobley shifts to the 5, bigger players tend to bully him on the block. In addition, guards are less timid to attack and, subsequently, kick it out to the arc to shooters. Dean Wade being sidelined hasn&rsquo;t been discussed enough either; he is paramount to Cleveland&rsquo;s spacing and perimeter defense.
Still, it&rsquo;s a next-man-up league and the games don&rsquo;t stop. A four-game homestand begins on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets, followed by matchups with the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers.&nbsp;
Bickerstaff closed his postgame press conference by insisting that the Cavs will right the ship.
&ldquo;I believe in those guys in that locker room, and that hasn&rsquo;t wavered,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;History and experience tells you that building good teams doesn&rsquo;t come without its difficulties. To be honest with you, it was more of a shock that we won eight games in a row. Just from history and experience, what we&rsquo;re going through now is what you see early in teams that are building and that are a work in progress. And that&rsquo;s what we are, let&rsquo;s just be honest with ourselves here.
&ldquo;Do we believe there&rsquo;s a good team in that locker room? Hell yeah. Do we believe we&rsquo;ve got individual talent in there, elite individual talent in there? Hell yeah. But building a team takes more than that. It takes time. It takes experiences together. And my belief in this group has not wavered, and it never will... We&rsquo;ll fix it. I&rsquo;m certain of that, and we&rsquo;ll be better for this time.&rdquo;

Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff opened up on the team's defensive struggles and mentality after losing in Milwaukee.

J.B. Bickerstaff addresses 'fat-cat mentality' of skidding Cavaliers

Louder, bulkier and more locked-in than anybody&rsquo;s seen him before, Cleveland Cavaliers sophomore Evan Mobley is determined to surge to another level, and his teammates and coaches are eager to see it unfold.
&ldquo;Evan, he's on a mission right now,&rdquo; Darius Garland stated at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday. &ldquo;I think that he's on the mission of the Rookie-of-the-Year campaign (after a second-place finish).&nbsp;I think he's felt that this year, felt that this summer, and he really wants to show the world what he really can do and what they missed out on last year, sohe's coming in a lot more hungry. He's a lot stronger. He knows more about the game than he did last year. So we&rsquo;re super excited to see his jump from last year to this year, so I'm excited to see for sure. Hopefully [we have] four All-Stars as well.&rdquo;
With an impact on winning basketball and a scintillating start, Mobley helped lead the Cavs to one of the strongest starts in the Eastern Conference last season. Remember, this was a team that was picked to finish in the bottom half of the standings in the 2021 preseason (by just about everyone outside of the building). Yet, in spite of rotational injuries and setbacks, Cleveland made a Play-In Tournament appearance and put together a 44-38 record.&nbsp;
And while his counting stats were solid in their own right &mdash; 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per game on just a hair under 55% True Shooting &mdash; they hardly encompass how brilliant he truly was at such a young age.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud of everything I accomplished this past year,&rdquo; Mobley said. &ldquo;I feel like I did the best I could. Everything that went down last year was great, it was a learning experience. I&rsquo;m just trying to get better from it and come next year even stronger and harder.&rdquo;
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The then-rookie Mobley&rsquo;s prowess as a help defender, on-ball defender and off-ball defender worked flawlessly in tandem with Jarrett Allen&rsquo;s blunt, emphatic rim protection. Evan started fast breaks with deflections, rejections and ridiculous lateral movement that led to turnovers. Opposing guards thought it would be smart to force a switch with either 7-footer, but as the season went on, teams quickly learned that this was the wrong idea. (It should be noted that Lauri Markkanen, Cleveland&rsquo;s ex-primary small forward, played a huge role in this success as well.)
However, it&rsquo;d be short-sighted to gloss over the fact that the USC product provided flashes of brilliance on the offensive end in some games, particularly as a playmaker and off the dribble. We can certainly expect the Cavs to ask more of him on that side of the court as a sophomore.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to try to affect the games in different ways that I didn&rsquo;t necessarily really do last year, such as bringing the ball up. You&rsquo;ll see me on the perimeter a little bit more as well as inside, obviously,&rdquo; said Mobley, who told the media he got even closer with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff this offseason. &ldquo;Me and him just had conversations throughout the summer, just trying to get me ready for this season. He&rsquo;s been really working with me, with my faceup game, really playmaking from the elbow area and mid-range area and getting to my spots and hitting &lsquo;em and knocking &lsquo;em down. I feel like that&rsquo;s where you&rsquo;re really going to see me a lot this year... (My three-point shot) is coming along really well. I&rsquo;m happy with all that I&rsquo;ve been working on. Hopefully this year you&rsquo;ll see a lot more threes.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Every time I have to guard him, it seems like he scores,&rdquo; Allen said. &ldquo;He always scores on me. His offensive game is improving still from what it was last year. We obviously know he&rsquo;s an All-NBA Defense-caliber type of defensive player. On the offensive side, he still amazes us every time.&rdquo;
Having worked out together in Los Angeles this past summer, Kevin Love spoke with Mobley's father, Eric, and found out how serious Evan was about becoming great.
&ldquo;We know what he&rsquo;s capable of. He hasn&rsquo;t even scratched the surface of really how good he can be. But all the signs are there and he&rsquo;s not afraid to work,&rdquo; Love said. &ldquo;When I saw him in L.A. when we were all there together, I thought, &lsquo;Okay, he&rsquo;s going to make a big step.&rsquo; He&rsquo;s obviously been putting in the work; he hasn&rsquo;t been shy about showing up and putting the hours in, adding a little bit to his game. We know what he can do defensively, but the thing that stuck out to me was just again his size, his ability to be a shot-maker and put the ball on the floor.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I think he has the skill set to be able to do whatever he wants offensively. I think between, whether it be Donovan [Mitchell] or Darius or J.A., we have so many young guys on this team who can do so much. But I think as a 7-footer, he&rsquo;s one of those guys that&rsquo;s like a unicorn, able to do it all now and be very special.&rdquo;
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Kevin Love on Evan Mobley in Year 2: "When I saw him out in LA., I thought to myself, 'Okay, he's gonna make a big step.'" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/oQ6J3adyIv">pic.twitter.com/oQ6J3adyIv</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1574556678451699712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Another reason Cleveland should be excited about the 21-year-old is the amount of muscle he added this offseason. He can't put a number on it, but his arms definitely took center stage while at the podium, and he admits that he feels stronger and heavier. And the bigger he&rsquo;s gotten, so evidently has his voice.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known Ev since he was in high school and I&rsquo;ve probably heard him say five things before we got here. Now, he&rsquo;s talking and communicating and getting to his spot,&rdquo; Donovan Mitchell said on Tuesday. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s much better, and I don&rsquo;t mean that in a bad way. He was really good in high school and he&rsquo;s really, really good now. For him, there&rsquo;s little things he can obviously improve on, technique and stuff like that. But his natural feel for the game as a defender, as an offensive player, there&rsquo;s certain things you just can&rsquo;t teach.
&ldquo;Obviously, we all know the size and quickness and the speed and his length. But for me, his instincts of knowing where to be, and this is just after one year being in the league, that&rsquo;s not always the case for a guy that just turned 21. He&rsquo;s got a lot of potential in a lot of areas. From what I saw in Nashville and from playing pickup when I came back here and even [Tuesday], there&rsquo;s just little things that he does that you just can&rsquo;t teach. It makes teaching even easier because he&rsquo;s able to pick up on stuff and get better day by day.&rdquo;
Cavs president Koby Altman can&rsquo;t help but envision what Mobley&rsquo;s progression will look like after having another year of experience under his belt.
&ldquo;His commitment has been incredible, of what we've challenged him to do,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;He was one of the contingent that came back to Cleveland multiple times before summer league, showing his commitment to the organization and what we're asking him to do. At 21 years old, we're already giving him a lot of challenges &mdash; not only from the basketball court, but off the court from a strength-and-conditioning, nutrition program. All of this [is] to mold him to be what we think he could be, which is a superstar.
&ldquo;We're very excited about Evan Mobley here. He's about basketball. He's about team. He&rsquo;s about all the right stuff. We're really fortunate to have him.&rdquo;
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Echoing his players&rsquo; sentiments, Bickerstaff is enthusiastic about Mobley&rsquo;s eventual development into one of the best players on the team and in the NBA.
&ldquo;Our conversation with Evan and our expectations is he has the ability to be a superstar without being the leading scorer on your team. He has an opportunity to be the best player on the floor without having to take the most shots. I think that's hard to find. But he does [have that]. He can stuff the stat sheet in every category; that's our expectation for him.
&ldquo;We want him eventually &mdash; and hopefully it's this year &mdash; to be in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. We believe he has that type of ability and can have that type of impact on the floor. Very few superstars, which he's going to work his way to be, can be that type of player without dominating the ball on the offensive end of the floor. We believe he has the ability and we'll get there.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Evan Mobley on his chats with J.B. Bickerstaff and his offensive offseason improvements. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/MEzmb3bUC8">pic.twitter.com/MEzmb3bUC8</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1574534485290323968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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With all of this hype surrounding the maturation of his game, Mobley likes to keep it about the squad as a whole. His sole goal, like everybody else, is to help the Cavs succeed at the highest level.
&ldquo;I think our whole team is trying to win. I feel like we didn&rsquo;t go to our full capacity last year and I feel like we&rsquo;ve got a lot to prove this year,&rdquo; Mobley said.
&ldquo;The Play-In experience was great, it was like a playoff game. I feel like that experience definitely opened all of our eyes to what we want to accomplish and what we want to get to. I feel like this year we&rsquo;re going to be even hungrier.&rdquo;
(Note: This article mistakenly originally stated that Mobley gained 25 pounds; that is incorrect. The 240-pounder is his older brother, Isaiah.)

Spencer Davies highlights the hype surrounding Evan Mobley in Year 2 through the words of his Cavs teammates.

Cavaliers forecast a giant leap from more vocal, muscular Evan Mobley

In his "Blazing the Trail" series, Mat Issa analyzes the offensive splendor of Dirk Nowitzki and the dramatic evolution of his career.

Blazing the Trail: Dirk Nowitzki, the unicorn that became world champion

Following a non-contact injury in Tuesday night&rsquo;s loss at New Orleans, the Cleveland Cavaliers received devastating news on Wednesday afternoon. Ricky Rubio, the anchor of the team&rsquo;s second unit and mentor of many, has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season.&nbsp;
Perhaps playing the best basketball of his career and coming off a tremendous run with the Spanish national team in this past summer&rsquo;s Tokyo OIympics, Rubio had averaged 13.3 points and 6.6 assists per game over 34 contests. Even more difficult to swallow, the veteran point guard suffered the ACL tear at the tail-end of a defeat where he nearly registered a triple-double and came close to leading the shorthanded Cavs to a road victory.
Game-in and game-out, Rubio provided Cleveland with an element it didn&rsquo;t have in previous years. Notwithstanding how he shifted the team environment with his selflessness and words of wisdom, he was a playmaker and consistently set guys up with passes inside and out, which set the tone for the wine-and-gold to move the ball at will. He was also aggressive with his own shot-making, averaging a career-high 12.1 attempts a night.
The impact of this injury will be felt with each passing game, especially considering that rising star Darius Garland entered health and safety protocols Tuesday afternoon. You can&rsquo;t overstate how crucial Rubio was to this group, which is why the Cavs must be proactive to fill the void.
No, making a panic trade is not the answer. While rumors of Ben Simmons are enticing to think about in practice, making the money work is too difficult. (Plus, it would require moving Kevin Love, who now is one of two seasoned vets left on the roster; not a good idea.) Not that you can predict these setbacks, but the timing couldn&rsquo;t be worse, as the NBA is currently in the midst of a COVID outbreak that&rsquo;s led to roster shortages. In turn, much of the player pool is limited because all kinds of players are being signed to 10-day hardship exceptions to temporarily combat it.
As it stands, the Cavs have Kevin Pangos and Denzel Valentine as their next-man up ball-handlers. Isaac Okoro got reps in that role at NBA Summer League as well. That said, there&rsquo;s no way they stand pat with what they have, particularly looking at the success they&rsquo;ve had to this point. You&rsquo;re not going to replace Rubio; that doesn&rsquo;t mean you say, "Oh well."
So who can Cleveland go after to soften the blow and keep the momentum going? There&rsquo;s a few names that come to mind.
Jeff Teague, Free Agent 
This might be the easiest route to take. Teague is a free agent and was a part of the Milwaukee Bucks championship run last postseason. He is only 33 years old still, and is capable of making plays for others. He can make the occasional three, yet more importantly, is able to orchestrate, organize an offense and work in the pick-and-roll.
Teague carries plenty of playoff experience, which is an added bonus, and won&rsquo;t be asked to do much defensively due to Cleveland&rsquo;s towering frontcourt. Since Garland is taking off, you&rsquo;re not going to ask Teague to take on starter&rsquo;s minutes. Having an experienced maestro like Teague come in to handle those responsibilities seems pretty logical &mdash; even if he can&rsquo;t replicate Rubio&rsquo;s production.
D.J. Augustin, Houston Rockets 
Option No. 2 for the Cavs could be to scour the market for teams who might be willing to part ways with vets in lieu of their developing talent. Sure, the Houston Rockets are putting D.J. Augustin out there to accelerate the maturation of their young guys too, but maybe Cleveland could muster together a small deal and include a future second-rounder.
Dylan Windler hasn&rsquo;t been in J.B. Bickerstaff&rsquo;s rotation this season as once expected. Could a package of the former first-round pick, Valentine and Pangos <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y2l9644o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">do the trick</a>? Augustin is drilling 41.3% of his triples, and would be a welcome addition to the Cavs&rsquo; bench.
Kemba Walker, New York Knicks 
Out of necessity, Kemba Walker is back in the New York Knicks&rsquo; rotation. Hell, he just won Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Considering he just built his trade value back up in the span of 10 days, Cleveland would have to offer up something more significant. There&rsquo;s been plenty of reported interest from the Knicks on Collin Sexton, who&rsquo;s sidelined with a torn meniscus and is a restricted free agent this summer.&nbsp;
Would a one-on-one swap with some draft capital coming back to the Cavs be something to think about in regards to making a long-term move from New York&rsquo;s position? Or could the suddenly sharpshooting Cedi Osman and a future pick be intriguing for the Knicks at the wing position in the short-term? Who knows if Cleveland would be willing to do either for the veteran Walker, who&rsquo;s dealt with injuries recently; or if the Knicks would send him out following this hot stretch. What we do know is Walker can still play the game on the offensive end of the floor, and has plenty left in the tank for this specific role.
Goran Dragic, Toronto Raptors 
Currently dealing with a personal matter, Goran Dragic has appeared in just five games for the Toronto Raptors. His reputation as a lead guard precedes itself, and he&rsquo;s been productive in the past as a more aggressive type of player who draws attention with his rim pressure and outside shooting. However, he probably won&rsquo;t be attainable, as Dragic has a $19.4 million expiring salary. Outside of moving Lauri Markkanen and another player with a small contract, or the injured Rubio, you can&rsquo;t cobble together the right pieces to make a deal work.
Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes 
The Cavs have already zagged while everybody else has zigged, as Nekias Duncan so eloquently put. Why not reach out to the EuroLeague? Shane Larkin is playing well with Anadolu Efes, averaging 12.8 points and 4.9 assists over 27 games. He&rsquo;s shooting the three at a 35.8% clip too. Larkin has four seasons of NBA experience and is only 29 years old, though he hasn&rsquo;t appeared in an NBA game since May 2018. Per TalkBasket.net, he has <a href="https://www.talkbasket.net/81151-shane-larkin-reportedly-agrees-to-a-contract-extension-with-anadolu-efes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an out-clause in his current contract</a> should the Association come calling...
Until the Cavs address the loss of Ricky Rubio, they&rsquo;re going to have to play the DHO game with Evan Mobley and, when he returns, Jarrett Allen. Mobley is an exceptional passer and reader of the game, so putting the ball in his hands to run the offense is likely Cleveland&rsquo;s best possibility with not-so-great playmakers in the backcourt.
They&rsquo;re going to depend on their defense to get them through this grueling period, and then what&rsquo;s to come after. Nonetheless, the Cavs can&rsquo;t rest on their laurels with this kind of loss.
Considering these options would be a better idea than doing nothing, and knowing Koby Altman&rsquo;s sense of urgency, he&rsquo;ll have something up his sleeves sooner than later.

Who can Cleveland go after to soften the blow of the Ricky Rubio injury and keep the momentum going? Spencer Davies writes.

J.P.