Pre-Season Live Thread: Cavs @ Hawks (or, Deep Thoughts by CLF)

Good evening CtB!

The Cavs have finally made it to the 2023-24 NBA season calendar with their first pre-season game against the Atlanta Hawks in the heart of the Georgia Piedmont at State Farm Arena. After falling flat on their face in the playoffs, the Cavs have had all off-season to stew about what went wrong against New York. The conclusion they’ve appeared to reach is that their star players just need to play better. Donovan Mitchell said as much, in response to a question from Jason Lloyd at Cavs’ Media Day, Mitchell said, “I missed shots I could’ve made, DG [Darius Garland] did too…” referencing the playoff flameout. Evan Mobley said his off-season focus was “a lot of different aspects to my offensive side of the game…” Cavs’ President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman was focused on the offense as well, adding sharp shooters Georges Niang, Max Strus, Ty Jerome and drafting Emoni Bates to create more space for Spida, DG, Mobley, and JA. The open question left after this offseason for the Cavs to answer: who’s going to rebound??? Stay tuned…

Deep Thoughts on Koby:

The only bad vibe emanating from Cavs’ Media Day was Koby Altman’s recent DUI arrest, which was the elephant in the room he refused to talk about and media members shrugged off. It’s hilarious to see Altman wax poetic about character and accountability when it appears there were/are no public consequences from the team for Altman’s dipshittery. A millionaire who can’t afford a cab ride is never a good look, and that’s being charitable. But yours truly believes in second chances, so if there’s true remorse Altman’s part and everybody’s on board then carry the hell on…

Deep Thoughts on the trades:

Count me among those that enjoyed the Miami Heat striking out on Damian Lillard. I think all parties involved made out well, except for the Heat and Portland Trailblazers, but the Blazers did a pretty nice job on the Jrue Holiday trade to make up for it. All the pressure is on the Celtics and Bucks now, hopefully the Cavs can enter the realm of the contenders.

Deep Thoughts on J.B. Bickerstaff

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff had a clearly commanding presence alongside Altman at Media Day, and it came across as though he’s the clear leader of the organization. He’s said all the right things in terms of how to improve the offense this offseason with off-ball movement and less pick and roll. However, the problem with J.B. isn’t necessarily his playcalling it’s his stubborn insistence on playing non-shooters all over the floor, constantly. Rumors are Max Strus will start instead of Isaac Okoro, but how long will that last? At least Lamar Stevens has been banished to Beantown, but does Niang or “James” Dean Wade stay glued to the bench for Tristan Thompson or Damian Jones??? Perish the thought! Here’s one last thought, LET ISAIAH MOBLEY COOK!!!

Deep Thoughts on the JA injury

While the injury to JA is devastating news, the blessing in disguise is presumably more Evan Mobley center minutes or more creative small ball lineups to workshop early in the season. This was something missing from the Cavs’ toolkit against the Knicks to force MitchRob or Hard Rock out of the paint and adjust to the Cavs instead of vice versa. As such I’m prepared for a healthy dose of Jones/Thompson/Okoro or Mobley/Jones/Thompson minutes because J.B.’s gonna J.B.

Deep Thoughts on the Hawks…

The Hawks will be an interesting watch this season. I didn’t like the John Collins trade, and De’Andre Hunter is the new albatross contract, but they drafted a few guys I like and still have some interesting pieces. Also, year two for Quin Snyder’s system and yours truly can see how this will be a bounce back season for Atlanta. If it goes sideways, will Trae Young be on the trade market? #EarlySlop

Finally, apologies to the Commentariat!

Hopefully there will be a ramping up of some content as the season starts up, but thanks for sticking around and keeping the train rolling, GO CAVS!