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Cleveland Cavaliers: Breaking down a 3-year plan for the rebuild

By Tony Pesta

CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 5: Head Coach Larry Drew and Collin Sexton #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers talk during the game against the Boston Celtics on February 5, 2019 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 5: Head Coach Larry Drew and Collin Sexton #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers talk during the game against the Boston Celtics on February 5, 2019 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Cleveland Cavaliers (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The 2021-22 season

We will consider this season the deciding year for the Cavaliers first rebuild attempt. How this season plays out will determine whether or not this process is going according to plan or if the team needs to go in a different direction.

Best-case scenario:

Zion Williamson is now playing in his third NBA season and is a borderline superstar. His understanding of the game is rapidly increasing and he is becoming a more effective scorer. He is averaging career-highs in nearly every statistic and is selected to the NBA All-Star team.

Furthermore, Collin Sexton has come into his own and is finally becoming the playmaker that Cleveland has needed. In his third season, Sexton is averaging a career-high in assists and is scoring close to 20 points per game on efficient shooting.

On top of this, Cedi Osman has benefited from playing alongside both Williamson and Sexton and is making big strides. He is seen as the glue that holds the team together, contributing to every asset of the game from scoring to rebounding.

The Cavaliers have created a great core of young players and have struck gold in the later rounds of recent drafts. Hopefully, the team either has a deadly sharpshooter playing the shooting guard position or a dominant center that is averaging close to a double-double.

If all of this occurs for the Cavaliers, they will surely find themselves back in the playoffs and potentially a few moves away from becoming a championship contender once again.

Worst-case scenario:

This is the end game for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman have fizzled out and are no longer showing promise. Meanwhile, the last three drafts have been unkind to the team as none of their selections are making noticeable improvements.

If this is the case, it’s time to blow it all up once again. This means trading away any player on the team that is remotely valuable. In exchange, the Cavaliers will need to stockpile as many draft picks as they can and hope their luck changes.

This would be brutal for Cleveland fans. Four consecutive seasons of awful basketball with seemingly no progress made towards the future. The only bright spot is that they hopefully have obtained multiple draft picks, keeping them one home-run pick away from getting back on track.

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