Cleveland Cavaliers: 2019-20 NBA season has gone from bad to worse

The 2019-20 NBA season has taken a turn for the worst for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Here is a detailed view of a franchise struggling to rebuild.

At some point, we have to question if the Cleveland Cavaliers have any idea of what direction their rebuilding process is headed in.

The 2019-20 NBA season began with a glimmer of hope as the Cavs held a 5-5 record through the first 10 games and saw real signs of chemistry between their starting five. Those days feel like forever ago as the Cavs are in the midst of a 1-12 stretch.

Cleveland has won just three games since the New Year and is coming to grips with their reality. This team has a few promising prospects but has yet to find a solidified star to center the rebuild on.

Last season, the front office elected to sell a number of their veteran players in exchange for young prospects and draft assets. The likes of George Hill, Kyle Korver, Alec Burks and Rodney Hood were swapped out for multiple draft picks.

Most assumed the franchise would repeat this same trend at the 2020 NBA trade deadline. Cleaning out the roster to initiate a full rebuild seems to be the best option for a small market team.

Instead, the Cavaliers became buyers at the deadline. Shipping John Henson and Brandon Knight for a 26-year-old star in Andre Drummond. The league’s leading rebounder will help solve the Cavaliers struggles in the paint but is a questionable fit for a rebuilding squad.

What does bringing Drummond to Cleveland accomplish? He was already deemed unimportant to the Detroit Pistons rebuilding process, so what do the Cavaliers see that the Pistons didn’t?

As of now, the Cavaliers stand with a 13-40 record, making them the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference. They have consistently squandered leads late in games and have been embarrassed by some of the league’s worst teams.

At best, Drummond pushes the Cavaliers into the middle of the pack. With the current roster, there is no way this team accomplishes anything more than a first-round playoff exit in the next few seasons.

This begs the question, what exactly are the Cavaliers doing? Trading for Drummond makes sense if the Cavaliers think they have enough pieces on the roster to be truly competitive. But, this isn’t the case. The Cavs have proven time and time again that they aren’t ready to compete.

Darius Garland has been underwhelming, averaging just 12.4 points on 39.5 percent shooting. There is still hope as his production has steadily increased throughout the season but he is not shaping up to be the star this franchise desperately needs.

As for Collin Sexton, the Young Bull is leading the team with 19.8 points per game but is guilty of stagnating the Cavaliers offense with his selfish playstyle. It’s tough to imagine Sexton having a positive impact on this team if he can’t grow as a decision-maker.

The Cavaliers hoped that the offensive production of Sexton and Garland could outweigh their defensive inefficiencies. Thus far, this has not happened. The two have an unbelievably bad defensive rating of 117.3 when playing together. This is the worst of any backcourt duo in the league (minimum 1,000 minutes).

Cleveland will need Sexton and Garland to prove themselves sooner rather than later The young guards have bright futures but may not be able to reach their ceilings if playing sharing the court together. This is a problem the Cavaliers may one day have to address.

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Kevin Porter Jr. remains one of the few positives from this season. Porter’s raw talent has shined throughout the year and he will become a significant member of the team if his development continues this way. It’s possible Porter will steal the starting position from Sexton or Garland eventually.

Looking ahead to the second half of the season and the upcoming NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers have some questions to answer. What have they accomplished this season? Who will be on the roster for the long haul? What type of player will they target in the draft?

For now, the front office should be focusing on adding wing talent. They have a plethora of guards and already addressed their issue at the center position by adding Drummond. It’s time to find a suitable starting forward.

It’s apparent that Cedi Osman is not a starting-caliber player. He has potential as a shooter but lacks the assertiveness needed from a player with a role as big as his. Moving Osman to the bench and acquiring a star forward should be the Cavaliers’ next goal.

The decision to trade for Drummond leads us to believe that the Cavs front office is confident they have something positive cooking in their young core. Only time will tell if this is true. Hopefully, we have seen the worst of the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.