Quick Cap and Other Musings: Cavs 108, Magic 114
2022-10-15Some thoughts as the Cavs wrapped up their preseason with a good game in Orlando as they fall just short 108-114 to the Magic. Let’s dive right in…
1. Mobley gets in his workout
Evan Mobley may not have lit up the stat sheet in his return (8 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL) but I loved his aggression and how inviting of contact he was. That trade mark defense was on display as well. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/AXxrLczeXe
— Mack Perry (@DevaronPerry) October 15, 2022
Of course the main story is the return of Evan Mobley, healthy and ready to go against Toronto. What obviously stood out in his minutes is his offensive aggression, as indicated by the eight free throw attempts in only 17 minutes of action. He looks ready to go, and now they can really begin the process of getting starters time to jell. Speaking of which…
2. Caris and Ice, “Iron sharpens iron”
At the outset of training camp and preseason, Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was clear that there was an open starting spot and that there would be a legitimate competition to determine who’d fulfill that role. Over the course of the preseason, three candidates clearly emerged from the race: Caris LeVert, Dean Wade, and Isaac Okoro. While Caris has been consistently solid especially as a genuine two-way playmaking threat, “Ice” has definitely had an impressive run over the last two games against Atlanta and Orlando.
Isaac Okoro won the job last night. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/L5gtGYLRWK
— Mack Perry (@DevaronPerry) October 15, 2022
Who won the job? Yours truly thinks it was LeVert’s to lose and he did nothing but validate J.B.’s decision to give him the first crack. J.B. in his press conference today appeared to leave open the possibility of a platoon/matchup-based strategy, but all indications are that he’s decided on his guy and it will be revealed opening night.
3. The mystery surrounding Mamadi Diakite
Sources tell @TheAthletic that the #Cavs have waived Mamadi Diakite, Sharife Cooper, Nate Hinton, Jamorko Pickett and RJ Nembhard
— Kelsey Russo (@kelseyyrusso) October 15, 2022
What ought to be the biggest news surrounding the Cavs’ roster moves are the waiving of preseason sensation Mamadi Diakite and two-way guard RJ Nembhard. With Diakite, it’s safe to say he was one of the best performers among the non-starting crew. He demonstrated elite defensive ability along with a smart offensive approach. If he doesn’t hook on with the Cavs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him unavailable soon.
In regards to Nembhard, after an OK Summer League stint, he wasn’t able to build upon that and solidify his place on the roster. It seems as though the situation is set up for Diakite to replace Nembhard with a two-way contract. Stay tuned…
4. On to Toronto…
Well Cavs fans, we’ve arrived at the beginning of a new season! The Cavs will tip off Wednesday night at 7:30PM Eastern time in Toronto against the Raptors. GO CAVS!
P.S. Shoutout: EG IN THE HOUSE!
CtB’s chief of vibes Evil Genius popped in for a preseason live thread last night, and did his usual bang up job analyzing the action and knocked off the rust on his legendary pictorial narration game. Make sure to check out the thread to get the nuts and bolts of the Cavs’ play against Orlando!
Gotta admit to being slightly uncomfortable with the Okoro-reinvented-jumper narrative being pushed at the moment. Hard to relax and shoot when everyone is talking about it. Just ask Ben Simmons.
48 hours is up on Mamadi this afternoon. Crossing fingers.
Me, too.
No Magic for Guardians tonight. Cole is great & they got behind early. Got it to 3-2, but Ramirez’s baserunning blunder killed a rally and there were some miscues on D that cost a run.
Still, should have a slight edge in a bullpen game.
Delly made the King’s roster
Big 9th. Rally cap engaged.
I’m shocked they waived Diakite. CtB couldn’t have been the only ones that noticed that he was better than most of the returning bench players. I have to believe Koby has something in mind.
man, I hope so!
Capology for next year.
1) Cap is $134 mil. Projected.
2) Luxury tax threshold is $162 million.
3) Cavs guaranteed $116,321,684 (7 players).
—–DG $33.5, Spida $33.2, JA $20.0, Ice $8.9,
—–Mobley $8.9, Rubio $6.1, Wade $5.7.
4) Options/Non- Guaranteed. $8.65 mil.
—-Osman $6.7 mil (NG till 6/24), Stevens $1.9 (team option).
5) Cap holds: Love ($45), LeVert ($28), Windler ($12), Lopez ($2), Neto ($2).
If we turned down everyone, we’d have $17+ mil under the cap, and 8 spots open. Keeping Cedi runs it doen to $11 or so.
But I think the plan is likely to re-sign Love for a lot less than his # (around TPE) and ink LeVert if he is productive (be it as a starter or 6th-7th man). If we get that done for $25-$30 mil, we could maybe use the full mid-level if we let Cedi or Love walk, with around $15 mil under the tax.
If Love plays 6th man level again he’s not going for a bargain.
he might. he likes it here and already has more money than god
YEP NATE YOU ARE SOOOOOOO RIGHT ON 3 -A KITE
FUUNY // IRONIC STORY CLF—-THE WEDDING I WENT TO LAST NIGHT WAS PREDOMINANT BENGALS FANS AND YES AFTER A FEW ….” MORE BEER PLEASE ” WE WERE DOING THE ” WHO DEY CHANT ” QUITE OFTEN ALONG WITH THE O-H-IO
I LOVE IT!!!!
Go Bengals !!!
CLF—-I HAVE ALREADY ” JOINED THE JUNGLE “—-THE DAY THE BROWNS DECIDED TO SIGN WATSON !!!——GO BENGALS !!!!——–YEP BUCKAROO I FEEL BAD FOR THE TRUE PROFESSIONAL CHUBBS !!
WHO DEY BABYYYY!!!!! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO MORE BEER PLEASE!!!
Converts are always welcome.
Bad Browns ownership is the reason the Bengals even exist. Modell firing Paul Brown. My dad became a Bengals fan after that.
Then he trumped that by moving the team to Baltimore. Losing more Browns fans.
Now Jummy & Dee signing Watson.
excuse me, that is revisionist history. Paul Brown was doing lousy when he got fired. After a few years off, he was back on top of things by the time the Bengals came around.
And the Bengals had some of the worst ownership. As inept as the Browns, and much cheaper — the only team in the NFL without an indoor facility. They did do one thing right — draft Joe Burrows when they had the #1 pick.
WATCHING THE CHIEFS// BILLS GAME —-THE BROWNS HAD THE CHANCE TO DRAFT BOTH ALLEN AND MAHOMES —WTF —–” MORE BEER PLEASE “
LMFAOOOOO yeah, Bengals had a chance for Mahomes, they picked John Ross just before him!
And Allen was a no brainer — the only decent QB in the draft (Jackson was a sleeper), and he winds up going 7th, after Baker and that other clown on his team. And, if they couldn’t decide what to do, everyone was offering lots of picks for #1 to draft Barkley.
loving those SD Padres.. sending the insufferable near-record setting dodger blue back to tinsel town.. Philly vs SD should be a great series..
As a young boy whose favorite teams were often decided by mascots & uniforms, the Phillies (Phillie Fanatic) and Padres (San Diego Chicken) were my two favorite teams growing up.
Anyone but Houston at this point. And the Guardians, Phillies, and Padres are all good alternatives. Yankees, not so much.
IN REPLY TO CLF “LIVING THE GOOD LIFE………”SUFFERING THRU WATCHING THE FROWN -CLOWNS ATTEMPT TO PLAY FOOTBALL “……….” MORE BEER PLEASE ” !!!!
holy sh!t.. the f-c’s are unbelievably pathetic.. 24-9 with 9 min left.. and brissett has a Qb ranking of 30 ???? not to blow my horn Raoul bro, but i told you maybe 5 wins (and that includes when the deeply disturbed perv gets to further embarrass the city).. i do feel sad for chubb.. he should ask for a trade.. and who the f*ck is bailey zappe ? Qb ranking of 120 (4x brissett).. it is simply nauseating, and i don’t even watch.. did cade just miss another extra point ??????
c’mon and join the jungle NOMAD!!! It’s what Paul Brown would’ve wanted!!! LMFAOOOOO
DISSAPPOPINTED IN THE DIAKITE WAIVER—–HOPE HE COMES BACK—-ALREADY HAVE THE NICKNAME FOR HIM—“-THREE A KITE “—-LEGEND ALREADY IN HIS SHORT TIME
Well, there are a couple explanations for not signing him outright: 1) Cavs do not think he merits more than a 2 way deal. 2) Cavs made an organizational decision to leave the 15th spot open for now and Diakite’s play was not good enough to make them re-evaluate that decision. We are roughly $2.5 mil below the luxury tax threshold and the FO wants to try and avoid this being a luxury tax year, if possible. Once Mobley gets extended, we will oikely be there for a while if the core 4 get us into contention, and the repeater… Read more »
I do not agree with #1, especially on a team lacking athletic wings in the 6’7″-6’9″ range. I get the idea on #2, and we are probably a year away from true contention. And wanting to save that open spot in case of a trade or later season vet pickup in case we need one. If he clears waivers then we are OK for the present and get to have our cake and eat it too. But I do not like playing with 13 guys (Rubio out). Really 12 considering Windler is never healthy. But maybe that helps him stay… Read more »
and, …., he looks like the real deal. Even when Windler is healthy, Diakite looks twice as good: better shooter, vastly more athletic. WTF?
EARLY MORNING —-HAD A WEDDING LAST NIGHT —DRANK TOO MANY ……” MORE BEER PLEASE “—-WOKE UP TO AN AMAZING GARDS WIN …..WOW …….” MORE BEER PLEASE “
Sounds like you’re living the good life NOMAD!
I certainly hope the plan is to sign Mamadi to a two way.
Is there any advantage in exposing him to waiver claims?
I am worried that some other team has been spying on CtB and will know about him.
If you were picking up teams in a gym, no one would pick Windler ahead of Diakite.
I presume the advantage of exposing him to waivers is to sign him to the two way instead of burning an actual roster spot.
Also, they probably don’t mind it because he and his agent can shop for another deal as well so the Cavs can say they did right by the player and agent.
OK, thanks. That is the kind of technical point I suspected.
Good Stuff!
Go Guards!!
Yeah those guardians….special win.
Unbelievable!
3 spot 8n the 9th to win it.
1st time ever Yankees lose a postseason game when leading by more than 1 entering the 9th. Now 167-1.
Gonzalez also ties Ortiz for most game winning hits in the 9th or later in one post-season with 3.
Wow!
Was my understanding that it’s not only just the most game winning hits in the 9th inning or late in one post-season but also tied for the all time record! Ortiz just also happened to do it all in one year as well.
And Oscar has a lot of games to go yet this year!
With Rubio out for a while, I hate playing with 13. With Windler signed it is effectively 12.
Sounds like Diakite will be back if he doesn’t get claimed off of waivers, an NBA team should definitely claim him though LMFAO
https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2022/10/cleveland-cavaliers-waive-five-players-including-mamadi-diakite-plan-to-keep-15th-roster-spot-open.html
Especially after waiving Nembhard