Cavs Mailbag: How Would You Grade New Additions?

Spencer Davies answers Cleveland Cavaliers' fans questions before the team takes on the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night.

Welcome to Cavs Mailbag! In this daily mailbag, Spencer Davies will respond to fans’ curiosities surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the duration of the 2023-24 season. In order to submit yours, simply send your questions on X to @SpinDavies or via email at spindavies22@gmail.com.

Tonight, the Cavs will visit the Golden State Warriors to battle it out for the second time in six days. Last Sunday, the wine-and-gold got the upper hand with its first win over the Dubs since the 2017 NBA Finals. We will see what the rematch brings us this evening. Before that, let’s get to questions!

Here is Saturday’s prompt:

Outside of the "Core 4", which current Cavs player would you want a jersey of?

Small sample size, but how would you grade the new additions so far? - @ccm71613

I like this. Unique ask. However, speaking from a long-term perspective, I don’t recommend buying jerseys and expecting guys to stick around for more than five or six seasons nowadays. It’s a player-driven era where movement tends to happen more often, and you can’t blame some of them because organizations don’t abide by loyalty either. It’s a two-way road. But if you were to ask me who I appreciate outside of the Core Four the most, I would point to Caris LeVert.

This is a guy who just goes out there on a nightly basis and does what he’s asked. LeVert was Cleveland’s jack-of-all-trades last season and has been this year too. If he is tasked with guarding the opposition’s best player, he’ll oblige without any complaints. If he has to be the second-unit’s leading scorer, he’ll be attack-minded and put the ball in the hole. If he’s expected to take over a primary playmaker role, he’ll drive and dump it off, he’ll find a way inside the paint and kick it out. 

You name it, LeVert will do it.

He re-signed with the Cavs on two-year, $32 million deal this summer because J.B. Bickerstaff and the organization understand how valuable his dependability and efforts are.

Nov 8, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus (1) shoots as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey (3) defends during the second quarter at Paycom Center / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Regarding the new additions, I think Cleveland should be pleased. Not over-the-moon yet because Max Strus and Georges Niang aren’t knocking their shots down like they have during their respective careers, but they’re bringing a different element to the Cavs offense. Just the threat of Strus on the move makes defenders have to pay attention. If he and/or Niang are spotting up, teams can’t double Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland without leaving those two open.

Other than the shooting element, Strus’ rebounding ability has popped, as has his cutting and heads-up passing in transition. He’s had a couple games establishing a nice two-man game with Evan Mobley as well. As long as he’s bringing the hustle and execution defensively on off-shooting nights, it’ll be okay. (He’s going to find his stride eventually too — the looks have been great.)

While Niang has not been able to hit consecutive shots, he’s been a great vocal leader for the Cavs and has done some impressive work on the defensive end against similarly-sized players. He’s had some troubles on guard switches, but Cleveland overall has to do a better job of containing dribble penetration. It’s not just him. Like Strus, those shots are going to fall eventually.

Ty Jerome we haven’t seen much of at all, so I can’t talk much about that. I can report that he hasn’t participated in anything since spraining his right ankle in the Cavs’ home opener. From what I’ve gathered, it’ll be a couple of weeks before we see him.

Tristan Thompson, we know what he brings to the table. He’s an offensive-rebounding machine that sets hard screens, defends with quick feet and still has plenty of hops left as we’ve seen on a few blocks this year. Damian Jones falling behind Thompson in the rotation isn’t a great sign for him. I think there’s still plenty of time and differing matchups where Cleveland can put him out there in spot minutes. He’s a solid passer, runs the floor well and can leap with the best of ‘em. You can never have enough bigs.

We’ll likely not see the two-way rookies playing much this early, but Craig Porter Jr. and Emoni Bates both impressed me in their first meaningful minutes. Porter showed a lot of poise being thrown into the fire, and Bates was impacting winning outside of his jumper when called upon. They should be fun to watch alongside Isaiah Mobley with the Cleveland Charge.