After a tough defeat against the NBA’s best team in the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have a lot to look forward to. That bright spot(s) rests on the shoulders of Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith, along with Iman Shumpert when he returns from injury.
They hung around with the offensive juggernaut that is Golden State for about three quarters, but the Cavs just didn’t have enough left in the tank when it mattered most, losing 112-94.
It was an exciting game to say the least, with both teams seemingly going basket for basket for the majority of the game. Of course, the Warriors’ No. 1-ranked offense in points per game proved to be too much for the new-look Cavaliers.
The important thing to take away for Cleveland in this loss is this: their new additions can definitely help this team.
SWITCHING THINGS UP
When the Cavaliers acquired J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks, they forgot to address their major need for a rim protector.
When I initially wrote about what the Dion Waiters trade meant for the Cavs, I talked about the importance of them not involving a big man in that deal. However, at the end of the article, a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo Sports showed that they were continuing their efforts to obtain Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets.
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Well, now that they’ve done that, it seems like they’ve done enough to this point to give them a great chance to compete for the NBA Title this season. Also, they made me a very happy person in bringing in the big Russian.
There’s not enough statistics or examples to give you right now, but there will be plenty in due time.
But now that we’ve seen both Smith and Mozgov play for Cleveland, there are a few things that we can take away from their short time in wine and gold.
IMPACT OF TRADES
First of all, Mozgov will prove to be a great fit for David Blatt and the Cavaliers. If you don’t know by now, it should be noted that Mozzy is being reunited with Blatt, who coached him previously for a number of years with the Russian National Team.
Unlike Marc Stein and Antonio Davis on ESPN, I think the addition of Mozgov is underrated.
The need for big men exists on just about every team, with a limited supply of adequate bodies to fill those needs. So the fact that GM David Griffin was able to get the guy they wanted most when he was shot down so many times prior should speak for itself.
Anyways, the story about the Cavs thus far was their miserable defense and lack of rim protection. So what did they do about it? They went out and got a 7’1″ center who can help in both categories.
I’m not saying he’s the best center out there, and two first-round picks are a lot to give up for a center who isn’t exactly dominant, but the Cavs helped fill their biggest need by bringing the fifth-year big man out of Russia on board.
Take a look at his highlights from Friday night’s game at Golden State, and you’ll see some examples of what I’m talking about.
In his debut with the Cavs, Mozgov played 26 minutes and put up nine points, eight rebounds, one assist and one block. The points and rebounds are right around his season averages of 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 25.6 minutes per game with the Nuggets.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mozzy get around 30 minutes per game after being reunited with David Blatt, who is a huge fan of Mozgov’s, per Jeff Zillgitt of USAToday Sports:
“Timofey is a great young man, and I had the pleasure and honor to coach him for a number of years on the Russian national team in the national team environment and we had a lot of great success together, winning medals and titles, and obviously he was a big part of that,” Blatt said on Nov. 7. “Except for tonight, I’ve got a very, very soft spot in my heart for him. Great kid. Great kid.”
As for his play in his debut, he was everything the Cavs hoped he’d be. He was a big, menacing presence in the paint, altering shots and even blocking one of Andrew Bogut‘s attempts as well.
The layup attempted by Stephen Curry in the video is exactly what you should expect to see from him on this Cavs team. He forced Curry to go deep under the basket and put up a difficult reverse, towering over him as soon as he made his way into the paint.
It didn’t result in a block or on the stat sheet, but it was a missed attempt and resulted in a rebound for Cleveland.
He also got deep into the paint on the few occasions that resulted in a high-percentage shot or a foul against the Warriors. Also, twice in the video he snatched an offensive rebound right over someone trying to box him out and put it back up for an easy deuce.
But let’s not forget about the second bright spot for Cleveland: J.R. Smith. He exploded for a game-high 27 points on 11-of-23 from the field in his second game with the Cavs.
The points and and field goal percentage are nice, but don’t expect to see him put up these numbers once the team is fully healthy. However, he did provide a huge spark for Blatt’s team that needed every bit of scoring to keep them in the game as long as they were.
What this tells us about Smith is that he’ll be the better version of Dion Waiters, the one Blatt wanted him to be in the first place.
Unlike Waiters, Smith can work without the ball in his hands and can be the catch and shoot guy that Blatt wanted, hitting 37% of his threes throughout his career.
JUST ONE MORE THING
Now with all of that said, I’m not saying they will 100% guarantee a trip to the NBA Finals. That’s ludicrous. It does, in my opinion, give them a much better chance at doing so that before the trades occurred.
But it does fix some of the biggest bugaboos that Cleveland’s had through the first 35 games without them: a defensive presence in the paint and a scoring threat off the bench every night.
It’s an extremely small sample size, and Shumpert hasn’t even played yet, nor will he for the next couple weeks, but it’s a good sign and a step in the right direction to making this roster as good on the court as it looks on paper.
When Shump can return and the Cavs are fully healthy, the added perimeter defense, bench scoring and inside presence will be things to watch as they try to climb their way back into the category of top Eastern Conference teams.
With the added presence of Mozgov in the middle, guys on the outside can play more confidently on defense knowing there’s a legitimate big man to help cover their mistakes. It will help improve the number of points scored against them in the paint, as well as improve their defense overall.
And don’t forget, they haven’t even played with the Cavs most important player in LeBron James.
So, the whole point of this article is to tell you one thing: the Cavs will be ready to go and firing on all cylinders with their new additions once the King returns.
All stats via Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.