Cleveland Cavaliers: Official midseason report cards

Feb 19, 2021; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton (2) reacts after the national anthem before a game against the Denver Nuggets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 19, 2021; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton (2) reacts after the national anthem before a game against the Denver Nuggets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Cavaliers Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Cavaliers Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

A year ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers saw their season come to an abrupt end. It would be nearly 10 months before the Cavs would return to the floor – and uncertainty plagued them the whole way through.

Before the 2020-21 NBA season began, the Cavaliers were paced in the bottom-three of most power rankings, with gigantic question marks surrounding their young core. Could Collin Sexton and Darius Garland coexist? Was Isaac Okoro the right pick in this year’s NBA Draft?

Then, the Cavs rattled off three straight wins to begin the season and the hype started to build. This didn’t last long, however, as injuries and a grueling 10-game stretch against some of the league’s best players saw the team come crumbling down in disastrous fashion.

Now, the team is steadily working to get themselves back in shape. Their first four-game win-streak since sweeping Toronto in the 2018 NBA Playoffs seems like a good place to start. But, what all has happened throughout the first half of the season? It’s time to reflect.

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It’s time to look back at the first half of the 2020-21 NBA season and give out grades to each member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers sit at 14-21, already approaching their win total from each of the last two seasons. They’ve seen major improvements from each of their core players and the hope of battling for the play-in tournament is still alive as they sit just two games back from the nine-seed.

For the sake of keeping things tight, we’ll only do deep dives for the core rotational players – with a speed round for the others who receive consistent bench minutes in reduced roles. The only players not included will be those who are no longer on the roster (Dante Exum, Yogi Ferrell, Marquese Bolden, and Thon Maker).

We’ll also gloss over Andre Drummond, who is likely to be traded before the deadline. Drummond was a highlight of the Cavaliers’ early-season success and led the league in rebounding before trailing off into a string of uninspiring performances that led to him being relegated to the sideline.

Anyways, let’s jump into it and start with the best performer of the season thus far: Collin Sexton.