Cleveland, OH

3 Things That Must Happen For a Successful Cavaliers Season

Published

1 month ago

July 18, 2024

3 Things That Must Happen For a Successful Cavaliers Season

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not been very busy in terms of making additions this offseason, but they have made a couple of key moves for the future.

First and foremost, the Cavaliers reached a three-year contract extension with Donovan Mitchell, which will keep him in Cleveland at least through 2027 (he has a player option for the 2027-28 campaign).

The Cavs also made a coachign change, going from J.B. Bickerstaff to Kenny Atkinson.

Both of those moves can be seen as steps forward, although the switch from Bickerstaff to Atkinson is obviously open for judgment.

That being said, the Cavaliers’ roster largely looks like last year’s, save for the addition of rookie Jaylon Tyson and the potential loss of Isaac Okoro, who is a restricted free agent.

So, what does Cleveland need to do in order to have a successful 2024-25 season?

Here are three things that must happen.

One of the biggest needs present on the Cavs’ current roster is a three-and-D wing.

The Cavaliers thought they had that in Okoro, but he has been a rather significant disappointment since being selected with the fifth overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft and is coming off of a miserable postseason showing.

Cleveland specifically needs a large wing who can defend some of the bigger swingmen in the Eastern Conference (e.g. Jayson Tatum and Paul George). The Cavs don’t really have that at the moment, which is why there have been rumors about them potentially pursuing Brooklyn Nets forwards Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith as well as New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram.

The Cavaliers have a rather small lineup in general, featuring a triumvirate of Max Strus, Mitchell and Darius Garland (Strus is the tallest member of that group at 6-foot-5). They need someone who is 6-foot-7 or above to effectively guard bigger wings.

Evan Mobley is a gifted player. There is no doubt about that. However, his production somewhat stagnated over the last couple of seasons.

After averaging 16 points and nine rebounds per game in 2022-23, Mobley proceeded to register 15.7 points and 9.4 rebounds a night this past season.

Yes, Mobley improved his efficiency a bit, but he still hasn’t really expanded his range, and his offensie repertoire remains basically unchanged.

Some have surmised that moving Jarrett Allen and placing a floor-spacing big alongside of Mobley up front would allow him to blossom, but great players should be able to flourish (or at least show signs of improvement) regardless of their situation.

Can young players be inhibited or have their growth stunted? Of course, but Mobley is preparing to enter his fourth season. By now, he should be taking it upon himself to get better.

In order for the Cavaliers to truly have a successful campaign next season, Mobley will have to show quite a bit more improvement than he did this past year.

If there is any member of Cleveland’s “core four” that stands a significant chance of being traded between now and October, it’s Darius Garland.

Will Garland be dealt? Probably not, but if the right offer comes along, the Cavs may feel urged to pull the trigger.

Garland is coming off of a rather lackluster 2023-24 campaign in which he averaged 18 points per game on 44.6/37.1/83.4 shooting splits. He was even worse in the playoffs, recording 15.7 points a night while posting a true-shooting percentage of 52.2 percent.

There have been a lot of questions about whether or not Garland can play alongside of Mitchell, but he didn’t seem to have much of an issue doing so in 2022-23 when he tallied 21.6 points per game in what was the most efficient season of his career.

Durability has certainly been a problem for Garland, as he appeared in just 57 games this past season and has never played 70 in any one campaign.

But it also seemed pretty clear that Garland looked a bit out of place this year, which lends credence to the notion that perhaps he isn’t exactly the best backcourt fit with Mitchell long term.

If Garland gets off to a slow start in 2024-25, don’t be surprised if the Cavaliers seriously entertain trading him before the deadline.

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Cleveland, OH

Cleveland man killed in accident on the Ohio Turnpike

Published

1 hour ago

August 19, 2024

Press Room

Cleveland man killed in accident on the Ohio Turnpike

ERIE COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) – A Cleveland man was killed in a car crash on the Ohio Turnpike in Oxford Township early Monday morning.

According to Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, Manuel Alvarez-Loreto was traveling eastbound near milepost 112, when he was rear-ended while he was slowing down in the right lane.

The impact forced both vehicles onto the right berm.

Alvarez-Loretto died from his injuries at a local hospital.

His passenger, Paola Rojas, also from Cleveland, is in serious condition at Fisher Titus Hospital.

Troopers said both Rojas and Alvarez-Loretto were wearing seatbelts.

The other driver is also in serious condition at Fisher Titus Hospital.

Troopers said the accident remains under investigation.

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Cleveland, OH

Where Ohio State can turn after missing out on five-star tackle David Sanders Jr.

Published

8 hours ago

August 19, 2024

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Where Ohio State can turn after missing out on five-star tackle David Sanders Jr.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ohio State’s 2025 offensive line class won’t include David Sanders Jr., which means the Buckeyes will have to pivot.

The five-star tackle, rated No. 2 overall in the 247Sports composite rankings, chose Tennessee on Saturday, as Ohio State was left as one of three runners-up along with Nebraska and Georgia.

With Ohio State having just two offensive linemen pledged in the 2025 class (four-star tackle Carter Lowe and three-star interior lineman Jake Cook), the Buckeyes and offensive line coach Justin Frye don’t only need good players in the class.

They need to make sure the 2025 class doesn’t sit at two when signing day hits in December.

The likeliest option for the Buckeyes is to push harder for one or more of the few remaining uncommitted players that have offers from Ohio State. Of the 29 offers sent out on the offensive line in the 2025 cycle, just four-star Malachi Goodman, three-star Jayvon McFadden and unranked Atamai Matau remain uncommitted.

Presuming Ohio State doesn’t land all of those targets, it will have to circle back on some options that are currently committed to other schools.

Four-star linemen Micah DeBose (Alabama) and Avery Gach (Michigan) were two linemen that had Ohio State in their final few, as were three-stars Kaden Strayhorn (Michigan) and Andrew Stargel (UCF). Those could be a few options for the Buckeyes to make another run at.

Then there’s the unknown.

Ohio State will, in all likelihood, have to circle back on prospects that don’t currently have reported Ohio State offers. Three-star Jayden Clark, from Northmont High School in Clayton, is the highest-rated offensive lineman left uncommitted in the state of Ohio. There will likely be other names that pop up, like Gabe VanSickle did a year ago, as the Buckeyes and Frye look to fill out the class.

The transfer portal remains an ever-present option for Ohio State, and for other programs in the sport, but it’s usually remarkably difficult to find capable, readymade offensive linemen in the transfer portal.

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Josh Simmons, who transferred to Ohio State from San Diego State for the 2023 season, is a wonderful development story for the Buckeyes and for Frye. That’s something that will undoubtedly be used as a big-time recruiting tool for high schoolers and for portal options moving forward.

But routinely banking on Mountain West Conference offensive linemen to come in and immediately start — and play well — at Ohio State is, put conservatively, risky.

In short, there are a few options for Ohio State now that Sanders has opted to commit elsewhere. But Sanders was clearly Plan A, and now the challenge is figuring out what the next step is.

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Cleveland, OH

The Cleveland Guardians are the Luckiest Team in Major League Baseball

Published

16 hours ago

August 18, 2024

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The Cleveland Guardians are the Luckiest Team in Major League Baseball

Credit: Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

It’s August 18 and the Minnesota Twins are in the middle of an extremely successful summer. At 70-53, the only thing between the Twins and an American League playoff berth would be a meltdown of the most epic fashion. The type of late season collapse that would go directly to the top of Minnesota sports history books.

But more than likely, this is a playoff team. Entering Sunday, the Twins sit two games up on the 2nd AL Wildcard spot and 4.5 games up on Boston, the only team not currently in the playoff field, who still stands a chance.

2024 American League playoff picture has a lot of AL Central in it

Meanwhile, the American League Central Division race is far from over. The Twins trail the Cleveland Guardians by just two games. The Royals, who hold the third and final AL Wildcard spot, are just four games back.

AL Central	W	L	W-L%	GB
Guardians	72	51	.585	—
Twins	70	53	.569	2.0
Royals	68	55	.553	4.0
Tigers	60	64	.484	12.5
White Sox	30	94	.242	42.5

If the Minnesota Twins Can Just Limp to the Regular Season Finish Line…

AL Wildcard	W	L	W-L%	GB
Orioles (WC1)	72	52	.581	+3.5
Twins (WC2)	70	53	.569	+2
Royals (WC3)	68	55	.553	–
Red Sox	65	57	.533	2.5
Mariners	63	61	.508	5.5

The Minnesota Twins are one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning five of their last six games, including three straight vs the Texas Rangers (going for four) this weekend. Kansas City, winners of three straight, haven’t been bad either (other than losing two of three to the Twins last week). Their division rival Cleveland Guardians, on the other hand, have lost nine of their last 14, including losses in their last two games.

Cleveland Guardians are lucky, Minnesota Twins (surprise) are not…

And if luck charts tells us anything, the Guardians will either enter the 2024 MLB postseason as the luckiest team in all of baseball, or they are due for one of those major league caliber late-season meltdowns I mentioned earlier in this article.

According to one MLB simulator’s “Pot O’ Gold” chart, there is no more fortunate team in the league than the one playing home games in Cleveland, OH. The Twins, meanwhile, rank as the 8th unluckiest team. Shocker.

Updated pot-o-gold chart that sums the lucky games (+1) with the unlucky games (-1) in 2024 for each team. #Guardians so far the luckiest and #Braves the unluckiest#MLB #Statcast #MLBSim #Baseball pic.twitter.com/0EhYxrVnFX
— MLB Deserve-To-Win-O-Meter (@mlb_simulator) August 18, 2024

The funniest (maybe saddest?) part about this chart is that it does not factor in player injuries. This is about teams that get on base off balls in play that they should not reach base on, vs those that can’t buy a hit, even when they hit pee rockets off the bat.

The Twins Were Right About Joe Ryan’s Injury

One of the reasons why Cleveland has been so good this season is because they’ve remained remarkably healthy. All of their big hitters and most of their best pitchers have been available for almost the entirety of the 2024 summer. As we all know, that has not been the case in Minnesota.

If the Twins can continue to play well, and get some of their best players back, it appears very likely they could pass the Guardians in the Central, which would more than likely mean a first round bye in the playoffs.

Mentioned in this article:Cleveland Guardians

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