Donovan Mitchell stays in Cleveland!

     The Cleveland Cavaliers can relax for a bit before getting back to work on building their team around Donovan Mitchell.

 That is because the team can count on Mitchell staying in town as Mitchell signed a three-year maximum contract extension valued at 150.3 million dollars.

The contract includes a player option for a fourth year for the 2027-28 season and takes the Cavaliers off the hook as the team begins to make its first-round payments on Mitchell over the coming years.

Mitchell averaged twenty-six, six assists, and five rebounds last season in fifty-five games for Cleveland, shooting forty-six percent from the field.

Mitchell played most of the season through a deep bone bruise in his left knee that caused him to miss several games on multiple occasions, and slowed him noticeably in the postseason before a strained calf benched him for the final two losses of the playoffs against Boston.

Cleveland doesn't think the knee is a long-term concern but it's fair to be concerned even a little about the long-term status of Mitchell's knees.

This contract helps both the team and the player.

The Cavaliers retain their franchise star and avoid a season filled with conjecture about Mitchell's trade value and his looming free agency. At the same time, Mitchell, adds money to his bank account, protects himself from injury with a player option for a fourth year, and is in a perfect position for the "Super Max" extension in a few years.

The questions for the Cavaliers are these- Is the roster currently constructed around Mitchell capable of developing into a title contender?  

Can new head coach Kenny Atkinson develop Evan Mobley into a star and take him to the next level?

Is the rumored threat from Rich Paul, the agent for Darius Garland, true where Paul supposedly stated that if Mitchell was re-signed, Garland would demand a trade?
If Garland is traded, could the Cavaliers receive a major piece to fit around Mitchell? Or could it be a high draft choice to aid the team in 2025-26?

If Garland would stay in Cleveland, how can his game be changed to work more smoothly with Mitchell and Mobley?

If Cleveland does trade Garland, what position would they try to fill in return?

A pure point guard? The badly needed small forward/wing? An outside shooter, who could allow the ball to be brought up by and then flow through Mitchell? 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have accomplished their top goal in the off-season in securing Donovan Mitchell's next few years.

Now can they make the next moves to improve the team around Mitchell to be a serious title challenger?

Cavaliers rout Celtics in Boston!

     The Cleveland Cavaliers took advantage of some awful shooting from the Boston Celtics and earned a surprising 118-94 victory in Boston in game two of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finasls.

The Cavaliers were led by Donovan Mitchell's twenty-nine points and Evan Mobley's twenty-one in a victory that tied the series at one game apiece.

The series swings to Cleveland for game three on Saturday evening.

Swashbucklings

1)  I have to admit, I was completely caught off guard by this win.

I thought Cleveland would win one game in the series but I didn't figure that victory would come in Boston.

I still think Boston will win the series but I'll change my prediction from Celtics in five to Celtics in six,

2) Evan Mobley played his best game of the season, finishing with twenty-one points, ten rebounds, and five assists but just as important was how he accomplished those numbers.

Mobley played with an aggressiveness that has been lacking at times in his career and if he can repeat this more often, his career and Cleveland will be better for it.

3) Key stat: Cleveland 13/28 from three point range, Boston 8/35.

When the team that is the better shooting team has that type of night, it's not a night that will bode well.

4) The game was tied at the half with Cleveland outscoring Boston 36-24 in the third quarter and you could see Boston's frustration with their shots not falling.

The huge deficit was rolled up in garbage time but the game was won in the third.

5) Boston never seemed to change their strategy with their poor shooting, they stubbornly continued to jack up threes and hoped things would change.

There is something to be said for self-confidence but to not try any other tactics seemed to be an error for me.

6) Boston's Derrick White scored twenty-five in game one, but only ten in game two and shot one of eight from three.

7) Cleveland did receive bench help from Caris LeVert who popped in twenty-one points as a reserve.

LeVert will be key in the series with his status as the main offensive threat off the bench.

Mount Mobley lead Cavaliers to OT Win

   Evan Mobley scored a career-high 30 points and Darius Garland added 24 points with 13 assists to bump the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 120-111 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Cleveland.

Isaac Okoro added twenty more for Cleveland, who moved to 39-29 overall with the victory.

Cleveland hosts Philadelphia in the second game of their five-game homestand on Wednesday.

Swashbucklings

1) I've been watching the last few games but wasn't able to write on them but moving Evan Mobley to center to replace Jarrett Allen after Allen suffered a broken finger may not have been only an inspired choice- it was the only choice.

Mobley shot twenty-two times and hit one of three from three-point range on the evening and isn't playing a traditional center on offense but this isn't a traditional lineup either.

2) Mobley is playing a more traditional role on defense though as he's much more of a rim protector without Allen.

Allen's role on defense was as the rim protector and without him, the Cavaliers need Mobley to stay home and perform that duty.

3) The play of the night was an amazing block by of all people six-foot Brandon Goodwin, who had the hops to block someone's shot (I can't remember who) with a resounding rejection to save a basket.

4) Isaac Okoro finished twenty points but Okoro shot thirteen free throws and hit eleven of them.

Okoro drove to the basket and forced the Clippers to foul him on the drive over and over, daring the Clippers to stop him.

5) The Cavaliers hit fifteen of thirty from three-point land with seven different Cavaliers connecting over the course of the contest.

Cavaliers fail liftoff- lose to Rockets 115-104

  The Cleveland Cavaliers made a cardinal mistake when playing a talented but very young team Wednesday night in Houston as the Cavaliers allowed the Rockets to gain confidence early in the game and never looked back as the Rockets surprised the Cavaliers 115-104 in Houston.

Evan Mobley set his season/career-high in the defeat with twenty-nine points to go with twelve rebounds to lead Cleveland in defeat with Kevin Love finishing with twenty-one points and thirteen boards to aid Mobley.

Darius Garland missed his second game with back spasms in the defeat.

Cleveland finishes the back half of a two-game road trip in Charlotte on Friday night against the Hornets.

Swashbucklings

1)  The Rockets have a bunch of good young players that can get up and down the floor but are still developing as professionals and the worst thing that you can do against a talented team is to allow them to get into a rhythm and gain confidence.

That's what happened in this one as the Rockets young player started hitting shots, gained confidence, and outscored the Cavaliers by ten in the second quarter.

2) This was indicated by Houston's three young building blocks (Christian Wood, Jalen Green, and former Cavalier Kevin Porter Jr.) each hitting three three-pointers in the game-many of them deep.

When young players start making the type of shots that you love to see them take from a defensive standpoint, that is a great sign that it may not be your night.

3) I was planning on mentioning soon that the Cavaliers may want to watch Evan Mobley's minutes if they want him to have legs remaining for the postseason.

After all, Mobley played just one year at USC and the fifty-two games that the Cavaliers have played thus far are roughly the same as Mobley's senior year of high school and his USC campaign combined.

4) SO... Naturally, Mobley goes out and notches a career-high twenty points to go with double-digit rebounds.

Still, I do wonder when Mobley will hit the proverbial wall.

5) Mobley also showed a seldom-seen physical side of his game sitting on the block against Rockets rookie Alperen Sengun.

Mobley wasn't afraid to back Sengun down low and put the ball on the floor to drive by his fellow rookie as he bullied him aside.

6) The Rockets are a bad, albeit young and talented team but they had a few things going for them besides the home-court advantage.

Jalen Green, who the Rockets took before Evan Mobley in the draft and has been a disappointment, had to be fired up to face Mobley's team with the publicity around Mobley's rookie season.

And for as long as Kevin Porter Jr is in the league, Porter is going to have a special motivation every time that he faces Cleveland.

Green finished with 21 points and Porter with 16 and each hit three bombs from behind the arc.

Weakened Cavaliers beaten by Boston

    The already battered Cleveland Cavaliers lost one starter before the game and another during their game in Cleveland against the Boston Celtics yet played the Celtics down to the final seconds before losing 98-92.

Cleveland was led by Ricky Rubio with 28 points and Cedi Osman's 26 in the defeat.

Cleveland fell to 9-6 with the loss and will play Wednesday in Brooklyn against the Nets.

Swashbucklings

1) The season is still early and I noted the improved play of Cedi Osman in another Swashbucklings but here is Osman again with a big game.

10 of 17 from the floor, six of twelve from three-point range, and five assists in thirty-one minutes?

That's more than anyone expected from Osman and this improvement comes from a player that still is only twenty-six.

2) As much as Cedi Osman has surprised, the larger surprise has been Ricky Rubio.

Rubio was brought in to play point guard for the second team behind Darius Garland and give the Cavaliers a player to upgrade a position that the team lacked last season.

Instead, Rubio has started the season as a new man and is often on the floor at the most crucial times of the game, averaging close to fifteen points and six and a half assists a night.

3) Rubio's Achilles heel as a player has often been his shooting with a career shooting percentage of thirty-nine percent and under thirty-three percent from beyond the arc.

Rubio's total shooting percentage is actually down half a percentage point from his career average but his three-point percentage is over six points higher than his career average in his fifteen games in Cleveland.

4) The Cavaliers played without center Jarrett Allen, who had a non-Covid illness that will keep him out of the lineup again on Wednesday against Brooklyn.

Evan Mobley played the pivot in place of Allen and had his problems in missing all eleven shots from the floor and finishing with a single free throw in the points column.

5) And in even worse news, Mobley left the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained elbow that will cost him two to four weeks on the sideline.

Mobley was having arguably the best rookie season in early play and the Cavaliers will miss his athleticism badly.

6) The temporary loss of Jarrett Allen, the loss of Evan Mobley for the next month (hopefully less), and the earlier loss of Collin Sexton to a torn meniscus means that only fifteen games into the season, Cleveland will go into Brooklyn with only two of their five starters able to play.

The Cavaliers fast start may buy them some time before things could completely sink but be ready for some rough waters over the next month.

7) I used the above picture for the best picture of this season's "the City" uniforms for the Cavaliers.

I love the use of the classic Cavalier logo, but just as with the black uniform with the C, I just prefer the logo to not be on the jersey.

8) However, I LOVED the classic court that will be used on the nights that the "City" uniforms will be worn!

Classic logo at center court, not a lot of color and logo/icon overkill and just the type of court that keeps the focus on the game and the players - not making the game harder to follow and distracting,

Cavaliers puncture Pistons 98-78

    The Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from a collapse that cost them a game against the Washington Wizards Wednesday and delivered a beating to the Detroit Pistons at the Rocket Field House in Cleveland to the tune of 98-78 in a game that wasn't that close.

Darius Garland led Cleveland with 21 points with help from Cedi Osman off the bench with 17 points for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers host Boston tonight in the first of two games against the Celtics in a home and home series/

Swashbucklings

1)  The meeting was touted as the first meeting of the first pick in the 2021 draft (Cade Cunningham of Detroit) and the third pick (Cleveland's Evan Mobley).

Mobley finished with sixteen points and seven rebounds while Cunningham scored nine points and six rebounds and although they don't play the same position and would rarely defend each other, it'll be interesting with these two youngsters as the centerpiece player (for now) of two geographical and division rivals.

2) Cedi Osman was a player that many were counting out entering the season with the possibility of Osman playing elsewhere considered very possible, if not likely.

Instead, Osman has gotten off to a good start off the Cleveland bench, averaging just under ten points a game as he has improved his shooting to 47 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three.

It's only thirteen games into the season and the jury is still out to see if the improvement is sustainable but if Osman can shoot at this level consistently, he may have a long career as a versatile player for a second unit.

3) The Cavaliers weren't allowed to play Kevin Love as he returned from the league's Covid protocol program but Love was cleared to return to team activities and he was on the bench with the team during the game.

I'm not sure when they will play Love again but I would imagine he may need a few practices to roll back into normal usage on the floor.

4) Lamar Stevens was the first man off the bench, played one minute, and rolled his ankle, unable to return.

Stevens was announced as suffering a right ankle sprain and there is no word on how long Stevens may be out of the lineup.

5) One thing that I've noticed that is being to jell a bit is the chemistry between Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.

Garland and Mobley seem to connect on a higher number of lob/slam dunk combinations each night and these things naturally rely on chemistry, which needs to develop over time but this pairing appears to have it organically.

6) The Cavaliers victory cigar appears to be 7'6 center Tacko Fall.

Fall, who looks almost exactly like Manute Bol, (Bol was even slightly taller at 7'7) is listed at 311 pounds and looks like he weighs 150 pounds on his body frame.

Fall will likely be shuttled between Cleveland and G League affiliate Canton and played one game with the Charge, scoring 25 points on Thursday after playing about four seconds as the man covering the inbounder in the final seconds against Washington on Wednesday,

Fall is 25 and he might wind up being a one-dimensional last big man off the bench used strickly in situations for his size as he was used against Washington as the game evolves away from the traditional center but remember how Manute Bol suddenly became effective as a three-point shooter late in his career playing for Philadelphia?

Fall likely will never be more than he becomes right now but aren't those project types so interesting to try to develop in the hopes of finding some gold? 

Cavaliers drop opener to Memphis

   The Cleveland Cavaliers rallied in the fourth quarter to draw as close as one point in the final minutes of their opener against the Memphis Grizzlies but were unable to get past the home team and lost 132-121 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with 25 points with Collin Sexton and Evan Mobley in his pro debut each finished with 17 points.

Cleveland will return home for games on Friday and Saturday against Charlotte and Atlanta before starting a five-game road swing that will see games against Denver, both Los Angeles teams, and Phoenix before an odd end to the road trip in Charlotte.

Swashbucklings

1) I was very impressed by the pro debut of Evan Mobley and it does appear that he has the abilities that he was advertised to possess.

Mobley started at power forward but did roam around the frontcourt as a five and three on occasion, and it was the rookie that played the most minutes for the Cavaliers in the game with thirty-eight.

2) More Evan Mobley.

Mobley's 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists with a steal, and a block was accomplished for only the second time for a player in their NBA debut according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Phoenix center DeAndre Ayton accomplished the feat first in 2018.

3) Jarrett Allen is trying to prove his off-season contract was a bargain with his twenty-five points.

Allen grabbed only four rebounds and I expect more than that on a normal night but Allen was perfect from the floor hitting all eleven of his attempts.

Now that I will take every night!

4) Darius Garland finished with thirteen points on five for fifteen shooting but he did finish with twelve assists and it was Garland that was the largest factor in Cleveland's late-game run.

I will admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of Garland entering last season but his play won me over

Garland will need to improve his shooting a bit if Cleveland has any type of shot at making the play-in series and if you wanted me to name the player that may have the most to do with a Cavalier postseason trip, I would select Darius Garland.

5) Lauri Markkanen's Cavalier debut didn't go nearly as well as Evan Mobley's as Markkanen scored ten points on four for fourteen shooting (two of seven from three-point range).

Markkanen did finish with nine rebounds so it wasn't all a lost evening but I really wonder if the Cavaliers may not have overpaid a bit by bidding against themselves for Markkanen's services.

6) Before the start of the season, the Cavaliers and Collin Sexton were unable to agree on a contract extension.

That means that Sexton will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

My take on Sexton's extension is that the Cavaliers made the right call.

Sexton has rolled up good scoring numbers on a bad team and plays hard every night but is a defensive liability, doesn't always have the best shot selection, and most people (including me) still wonder if a Sexton-Darius Garland backcourt is viable.

Garland's extension is available before next season and if I have to pick one or the other, it's Garland.

7) Memphis wore their powder blue uniforms which I like much better than their usual navy blue.

8) Since I didn't do a Cavaliers preview, here's my guess at their record 32-50 and miss the playoffs.

There will be progress but perhaps not enough to save JB Bickerstaff and Koby Altman's jobs.

Cavaliers select Evan Mobley

   Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman is a man that is attempting to keep his job beyond the upcoming season.

Altman will need to thread the needle and make few mistakes to do so but the Cavaliers were rumored to be considering offers for the third pick overall, most notably from Oklahoma City for their two first-rounders ( six and sixteen)  and losing out on one of several elite players in what seems to be a loaded draft.

Instead, Altman wisely held onto the pick and selected USC center Evan Mobley, who some teams thought was the best player available in the draft.

Mobley fits the role of the modern NBA big man, he can run the floor, play all five spots on defense, handle the ball well, and protect the rim with a unique ability to block shots.

Mobley's shot may not be solid from three yet, but it shows promise of developing and his midrange game looks strong, although he does need work in the post.

Not that many big men today use a lot of post moves, but it would be nice to have them in case of need.

Mobley could be stronger and his rebounding can use some help that could come as he gains strength.

Mobley has been compared to Chris Bosh and it's an apt comparison, but he reminds me of a shorter and modern version of Ralph Sampson with the ball skills and ability in the open floor.

Mobley can play center, but could also play power forward, and that versatility may factor into the decision that the Cavaliers will have to make shortly about matching any offers to restricted free agent Jarrett Allen.

I think the two could play together on the floor, but the Cavaliers could decide to allow Allen to leave should a team give him a contract that is beyond what Cleveland would willing to pay.

Mobley passes very well and I think he has the type of upside that may make him an elite player should he reach his potential.

I think Cleveland made the right selection of Mobley over Jalen Suggs and Scottie Barnes mainly due to the uniqueness of Mobley at a position that continues to evolve by the season.

I'd be very surprised if he turns out to be a bust and he has a chance to be an elite All-NBA level performer.

The selection of Evan Mobley was the best choice for the Cavaliers and has the potential to be the best player of a great draft.