NBA Power Rankings week 11: OKC Thunder continues hot streak
156. . 10-26. Previous: 23rd. Cleveland Cavaliers. 30. team
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Offense: (105.0) 25th
Defense: (114.0) 29th
Net: ( minus -9.0) 29th
Games Week 11 (0-4): Lost to Raptors: 97-117, Hornets: 106-109, Thunder:106-121, Wolves:103-118
Games Week 12 (3 games): Tues vs Pistons | Thurs at Pistons | Sat at Nuggets
After arguably the best 10 game stretch by the Cavaliers this season they imploded in week 11 with much of the focus on Kevin Love‘s angst in the land.
Following the Thunder victory over the Cavaliers in the post game grades, TI touched on the issues at the point in terms of neither (especially Collin Sexton) being a typical point guard or invested in getting teammates shots.
That seems to be at the crux of the issues with Kevin Love who sent out contradictory messages on social media first via the Joakim Phoenix Joker face following his altercation with GM Koby Altman and later stating he loves his teammates.
Why not start Delly instead of one of the young guys just to give Love & Thompson a passing PG for the first 5-6 minutes of each half? Don't have to reduce the overall minutes of Garland or Sexton. They rank 77th & 147th among 152 guards in assist rate.https://t.co/oyRxEFFBHL
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) January 5, 2020
NBA stats guru appears to be on the same page as yours truly as he suggested starting Matthew Dellavedova. At issue with this option is presumably the Cavaliers are ‘all in’ on making the Sexton and Garland backcourt work.
Part of the issue for Love is he signed a long term deal being told the team wanted to remain competitive but they shifted gears immediately into a rebuild. He’s a talent (but not a superstar) who is owed a ton of money and has an injury history as well as questions regarding his defense.
The moral of this story is while superstars can force their way off teams regardless of how many years are on their contracts (see Anthony Davis and Paul George) the stars who fall in the next tier down don’t have the same leverage. Sorry Kevin, but it’s not likely you’ll be headed to a championship team anytime soon. Unless Altman gets Ainged by Danny in Boston – read: he steals Love for a bunch of nothing. That’s not likely to happen after the Kyrie Irving trade didn’t work out for the Cavs.