It's another rebuilding year in Cleveland for the Cavaliers with not very many fresh faces from last year's 19-46 season.
Other than the arrival of veteran big man JaVale McGee, who played in just one preseason game, former first-rounder Thon Maker as a depth big man, backup guard Dameyon Dotson, and the Cavaliers first-rounder in Isaac Okoro from Auburn, this team looks pretty similar to the one that wasn't very good in 2019-20.
Most of the offseason talk centered around last season's addition Andre Drummond and whether he would even return to the team with a huge contract player option for 2020-21.
Drummond picked up the option, so Cleveland has a year to figure out if they want to trade him and bring in other young talents, attempt to re-sign him to another contract, or allow him to walk away at the end of the season and gain tons of cap space.
Drummond's 28.7 million would provide the team with lots of cap space to absorb a bad contract in order to gain a coveted young player and/or draft picks in trade and because it expires at the season's end, trade partners will not be in short order as the season progresses.
While the NBA seems to have moved past Drummond's type of interior big man, Drummond is still good for 16 points and 15 boards a night and he'll keep the pain clean as a rim protector.
Veteran JaVale McGee was signed from the Lakers as the backup muscle and an interesting signing was 2016 lottery pick Thon Maker, who at 23 is worth a look on a bad team as a development player.
At power forward, Kevin Love will miss the opener with a calf injury and even though his play is in decline and Koby Altman signed him to an awful contract that will pay him over 31 million in each of the next two seasons and 28 million the year after those, Love is still a very reliable option when he is on the floor.
Love averaged seventeen points and just under ten rebounds last season and it's reasonable to expect those numbers again this season. At 32 now, it's not hard to see that contract getting heavier over the next two seasons until the final year when Love might be able to be moved to a contender that will see him as an avenue to clear cap space and help as a role player.
Larry Nance Jr. is the type of player that fans love and contending teams do as well.
Nance blocks shots, rebounds, is a great character guy and does the little things that help you win.
Nance is from the area and seems to like playing in Cleveland.
The perfect power forward type for anyone's second unit.
Dean Wade rounds out the power forwards after spending 12 games with the Cavaliers and most of last season with the team's G-affiliate in Canton.
Small Forward was the biggest problem last season and the Cavaliers attempted to work on a solution when they selected Isaac Okoro from Auburn with the fifth overall pick in the draft.
Okoro has impressed many in the preseason with some comparing him to Kawhi Leonard.
That's asking a lot and Okoro can even come within shouting distance of Leonard's career then the Cavaliers have done very well.
The most contentious battle in training camp pitted Okoro against Cedi Osman for the starting position.
J.B. Bickerstaff hasn't announced which will be the starter, but both are going to receive plenty of time and both could start depending on the opponent.
Osman averaged eleven points a game last season and is still only 25, so Osman could still be part of the future for Cleveland, although if he is still starting in a year or two the team hasn't seen very much progress.
2019 first rounder pick Dylan Windler missed all of last season due to injury and will see time at small forward and shooting guard.
Windler's top asset is his shooting ability and if he is able to get his shot off, Windler should be able to contribute off the bench.
The guards are talented and unproven.
Collin Sexton enters his third season after stepping his game up in season two, averaging twenty points a game and shooting forty-seven percent.
Sexton can score, but he struggles passing to others, and he's poor defensively, although there was minor improvement last season.
On a good team, Sexton could eventually be one of the best sixth men in the league in a position that would allow Sexton to concentrate on what he does best- create a shot for himself.
For the Cavaliers, Sexton is the top backcourt option and creates a problem playing him at the point because of his lack of involving others in the offense, but starting him at shooting guard is an issue because of his small size (6'1) and poor defense.
Darius Garland was selected in the first round last season and disappointed as he struggled playing with Sexton, barely shot forty percent, didn't guard anyone, and was overmatched at point guard.
Garland was so bad that basketball analytics judged him the worst player in the league last season and his pairing with Sexton was graded the worst backcourt as well.
If Garland develops and at 20, I'm not writing him off, the key will be is he willing to sacrifice some offense and be more of a pure point guard?
If he is, there is some hope, if not Cleveland will have to do something because a Sexton/Garland backcourt is not long-term sustainable at last year's levels.
The Cavaliers traded for the final pick in the first round in the 2019 draft to add Kevin Porter, who had slid due to various off-court concerns.
Porter had the best rookie season of all three rookies last season and showed the talent to be a potential All-Star, but Porter had a car accident that resulted in a gun charge in November that looked to sideline Porter, but the charge was eventually dropped.
Porter is still working his way into shape and is unlikely to start playing right away, but if he shows progression from last season, Cleveland could have quite a find.
Dante Exum was acquired from Utah in the middle of last season and showed flashes of the talent that once made him a lottery pick.
Exum has struggled staying healthy in his career, but could be a role player that helps off the bench.
Dameyon Dotson was signed as a free agent from the Knicks to play shooting guard with the second unit and the team kept veteran fan favorite Matthew Dellavedova to occasionally run the point.
Honestly, I wish I had a better feeling just what the hell this team is doing.
They have pieces of talent, but they don't seem to compliment each other.
The team is a mix of very young players, aging players, and most of all, a bunch of players that seem to need to have the ball in their hands to create any offense at all.
That's before we even get to the worst defensive team in basketball last season.
Andre Drummond, for as long as he stays, will upgrade around the rim and rookie Isaac Okoro should be a huge help defensively on the wing, but the guards still look like a defensive sieve and they still lack a playmaker unless Darius Garland can revamp his game a bit.
J.B. Bickerstaff is an experienced coach and he'll be able to help with some improvements, but this is a mismatched collections of parts and although some players may have good seasons, Cleveland seems resigned to another year in the lottery with the hope of the balls bouncing their way in what looks like a loaded lottery...
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