Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 reasons fans should be optimistic

3. The newcomers

Even the darkest of pessimists must brighten their outlook following the Cavs’ newest additions. Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, George Hill and Larry Nance. Jr have surpassed expectations, outplaying their All-Star predecessors. They’ve been more efficient, athletic and just more entertaining.

The side shot of the pre-trade Cavs compared to the post is jarringly positive. According to some solid stat work done by the NBA on TNT crew, Cleveland is averaging just a hair under 12 points per game more since the trade. With the young foursome rostered, the Cavaliers are averaging 121.3 points per game compared to 109.5 before.

Posted by Andre W. Allen on Saturday, February 24, 2018

Cleveland is shooting 52.7 percent since the array of trades (47.2 percent before) while averaging more than two assists and about eight rebounds more per game, and that’s against premiere competition. The Cavs have played the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves in that stretch.

Cleveland’s defense has been equally impressive. Cavs play-by-play broadcaster John Michael recently noted the vast improvement:

Prior to the trade deadline, Cleveland struggled to close out 3-point shooters and provided little pressure on the perimeter, but that was before the additions of the defensive hawk, Hill, and Hood’s length on the outside.

However, it’s Nance who is attracting the the most attention on social media, and he may be primed to soon take a step forward.

It might be stating the obvious, but Cavaliers fans should be giddy as school children on a snow day over their new additions. They’ve over-performed and appear to be rapidly improving.