Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 predictions for the 2019-20 NBA season

2. Bad (but better) defense

The 2018-19 Cleveland Cavaliers were far from being a good defensive team. In fact, they may have boasted the worst defense the league has seen all century. The Cavs recorded a defensive rating of 116.8, the worst rating of any team since NBA.com began keeping track in the 1996-97 season.

Obviously, the Cavaliers have nowhere to go but up defensively. It’s hard to imagine they can be much worse than they were last season. Though the team still has some glaring issues on this end of the floor, they should be slightly improved.

Let’s begin with the negatives. The Cavaliers still do not have a true rim protector on the team nor a player who is above 7-feet tall. This will cause the team to get pummeled in the paint once again as no player averaged more than a block per game last season.

As for the backcourt, the starting lineup of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland doesn’t have a lot to offer in terms of defense. Sexton is undersized while Garland is painfully average in height/athleticism. This duo will likely get burnt more often than not.

It isn’t all bad for Cleveland. Larry Nance Jr. showed signs of improvement last season and has already made it his goal to lead the league in steals this season. This may seem far-fetched, but Nance did have a 13-game stretch in which he averaged 2.5 steals per game last season and he finished in the top 25 for total steals despite missing 15 games.

The additions of Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr. will help as well. Porter is an athletic player with a solid build that gives him the potential to be a gritty defender. Meanwhile, Windler is an exceptional rebounder for his size, averaging 10.8 rebounds per game last season with Belmont.

Windler will have help in the rebounding department as Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson both enter the season healthy. These double-double machines will benefit the Cleveland defense with their rebounding ability.

Last season, the Cavaliers ranked 28th in defensive rebounding. As a result, opponents had plenty of second-chance opportunities to score. This shouldn’t be as big of an issue with Love, Thompson and Windler in the lineup.