The Cavaliers are largely banking on the internal progression of a young roster to carry them to the next level after this season’s first-round playoff exit.
But there is one area that is a clear need: shooting. And it appears to be objective No. 1 for Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman this summer.
A runway for progress: ‘No sweeping changes’: Cavs throw their support behind core roster, JB Bickerstaff
Despite their loss to the New York Knicks in five games, the Cavs have the third-best defense on a per-game basis during the 2023 playoffs, allowing 99.6 points. The problem? They also have the second-worst offense, averaging a slowed-to-a-crawl 94.2 points during their 4-1 series loss to the Knicks. The Cavs’ field goal percentage also dropped from 48.8% during the regular season to 44.9% during the playoffs.
The Knicks’ physicality proved to be too much for the Cavs. Jarrett Allen was brutally honest in his assessment of his own play. The Cavs were dominated on the defensive boards. But that problem — the sight of New York center Mitchell Robinson grabbing offensive rebounds one after the other will likely give the Cavs nightmares for months — was exacerbated by the Cavs not being able to string possessions together on the offensive end.
Robinson’s physicality was a massive issue for Cleveland, but it’s also one that could have been evened out on the other end of the floor.
Wanting to stay at home: Caris LeVert says he ‘would love’ to re-sign with Cavs with NBA free agency looming
Losing sleep: Donovan Mitchell feels he wasn’t there for Cavs teammates in series loss
As the Cavs look at their options as to how to improve the roster — the mid-level exception of roughly $12 million will be key — shooting is the top question that needs to be answered this summer. But Altman also noted that “no sweeping changes” were coming to the organization, and that the young roster and coach JB Bickerstaff would be given a “runway” to grow together.
“So I think obviously we would love to add some level of shooting that could give our guys some more space,” Altman said. “You know, you have a wishlist as a general manager to add to. No roster is perfect. Going through these playoffs, you can see different weaknesses in different teams.
“Again, I refocus it back to, what do we have in house and how excited are we about those guys and their upside and their development? They’re just getting started.”
Cavs balancing interior defense with outside scoring on the roster
The Cavs roster construction forces them into some compromises on the other end of the floor. Having both Allen and Evan Mobley — who was named an NBA Defensive Player of the Year finalist in the second season — takes away from that lineup flexibility to add extra shooters if both big men are on the floor. The Cavs owned the league’s top-rated defense by defensive rating (109.9) during the regular season. Their goal is to balance adding the needed firepower without detracting from their defensive prowess.
“So, when you have two bigs, the way we play, we protect the paint. When you have the number one-ranked defense, there’s a reason for that,” Altman said. “And when you’re putting defensive personnel out there, most of the game, you’re going to sacrifice spacing, you’re going to sacrifice the chance to really put up a ton of points on the board with how you play.
“A lot of people play four out — we have the two bigs. It worked for us for large stretches this season and at some points during the playoffs, but you have to sacrifice how much defense you want versus how much offense you want.”
Altman also reiterated a sentiment from the trade deadline, when the Cavs stood their ground while the league around them engaged in a flurry of activity, that the team didn’t want to force a move that wouldn’t “move the needle” on a young roster progressing together. For better or worse, the Cavs bet on their own internal improvement.
And along those same lines, Altman doesn’t want the organization to “panic” after the playoff series loss. It means the Cavs are leaning into the core of their roster and Bickerstaff and looking to complement pieces already in place. And finding some shooting is at the top of that complementary list.
“It’s hard to say going off the regular season and putting the playoffs aside, you had a team — we don’t take the regular season lightly — that’s one of three teams in the NBA [to be] top 10 in offense, top 10 in defense. … It’s hard to say, “OK, what do we do to really improve that, that really moves the needle? What personnel comes in here, takes minutes from other people that’s going to actually move that dial for us?” Altman said. “I think for sure shooting, I think everybody would love to add some shooting. Obviously the physicality piece.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavs looking for shooting help after playoff loss to Knicks