Cleveland Cavaliers Given This Offseason Grade For Moves So Far

Yahoo! Sports gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a very average grade regarding their offseason moves up to the middle of July.

Sep 14, 2022; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman talks to staff and media during an introductory press conference at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers have yet to make a free agency signing or pull off a trade this offseason as they look to improve on where they left up last season. With so few moves, it can be hard to determine if this offseason has been a success so far. 

Ben Rohrbach, senior writer for Yahoo! Sports, graded each team’s offseason up to this point and gave the Cavaliers a very average grade of a B-.

Here is his rationale for this grade:

"How well the Cavaliers perform in the playoffs depends on how they manage the redundancies on the roster. Mitchell and backcourt mate Darius Garland both need the ball to be at their best, while Mobley and fellow big Jarrett Allen are both non-shooters. The Cavaliers did nothing to address these issues, other than ousting head coach J.B. Bickerstaff in favor of Kenny Atkinson. The latter may extract more from this misfit group of All-Star-caliber players, but their collective shortcomings are not going away."

It’s hard to disagree with this assessment. Koby Altman and his team haven’t necessarily done anything to improve the roster from where it was last year, but they have signed their two cornerstones in, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, to long-term extensions. 

Nov 5, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reacts with teammates guard Caris LeVert (3) and center Evan Mobley (4) during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports / Aaron Josefczyk-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps the front office truly believes that new head coach Kenny Atkinson will be the difference-maker next season, which is a reason for the lack of roster moves. 

Two things could still determine and change this grade, though.  

The first move that still has the potential to raise this assessment is drafting Jaylon Tyson with the 20th overall pick in the NBA Draft. We still have to see how Tyson pans out as an NBA player, but he looked incredible as a scorer and playmaker during Summer League and could be a big addition to Cleveland’s rotation next season.

The next is what the team decides to do with restricted free agent Isaac Okoro. Cleveland could always bring him back with a new contract or match any deal another team gives him. But there have been rumblings that a sign-and-trade could be an option on the table. 

So, no, Cleveland has made a few offseason moves, which warranted this grade. However, a lot could still change before training camps begin.