Positives, negatives for Cleveland Cavaliers so far

Negative: Team chemistry

As any team filled with new faces would be, the Cleveland Cavaliers are disjointed. The team chemistry isn’t bad from a sense of camaraderie, but overall inexperience and awkwardness has plagued the Cavaliers’ first few games.

Cleveland currently ranks 23rd in the league for assists per game with just 20.7 each night. This is a direct result of the team’s unfamiliarity with each other.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Cavaliers have been giving consistent minutes to two rookies. Both Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. are learning on the fly and adjusting to the speed of the NBA game.

Most importantly, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson are still relatively new to this group. The two missed 101 games last season and only appeared in nine games together.

Though Love and Thompson have been teammates for years, it is the rest of the lineup that is not used to having these players together. For Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman and the rookies, this is a new lineup.

We have seen the team’s awkwardness on display. Many times, the Cavaliers resort to isolation ball as set-plays simply don’t generate the looks they are hoping for at the moment. Cleveland currently places in the top 10 for isolation frequency.

This is an issue that will resolve itself as players become more familiar with each other’s tendencies. How quickly this is fixed depends on how dedicated the Cavaliers are to working together.