Cavs insist they’re ‘better team’ in 2023-24 while striving to cement playoff identity

“It’s been tough, just because of all the things that have happened to let us get a true gauge of how good this team is,” said head coach JB Bickerstaff. “We haven’t had the body count, to put it together enough to compare it to last year’s team. I believe we added more talent to this team. I believe we added things we needed to be a better basketball team – the shot-making, the movement, those types of things. I think our individual players have developed from last year to this year.

“So again, I believe we’re a better team and our record might not say it is. But that’s simply a symptom of the fact that they just haven’t been together, as much as we would have liked.”

Cleveland’s ideal starting five, Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, have only managed 337 minutes on the floor together in 26 games. For context: That means they have only shared the floor together 9.0% of the time this season and when they do play, it only boasts an offensive rating of 113.3 and a defensive rating of 110.9.

When taking that at face value, it’s disappointing and further drives home the point that last year’s Cavs are better than this year’s group despite the new faces and added talent. But to Bickerstaff’s point, the group is hard to evaluate the team’s preferred starting five since or, frankly any lineup Cleveland has rolled with.

All the season long, the Cavs have seen Garland (jaw, ankle), Mobley (knee, ankle), Strus (knee), Allen (ankle) and Mitchell (hamstring, groin, knee, nose) all miss extended periods due to injuries, making it hard to put everything together. It also doesn’t help when key role players like Caris LeVert (hamstring, knee, elbow, wrist), Isaac Okoro (knee, elbow, toe), Georges Niang (knee), Dean Wade (ankle, knee) and Sam Merrill (wrist, neck) have all missed time as well, further throwing things into disarray as well.

So with three games left in the regular season, Cleveland isn’t focused on trying to match last year’s success in terms of wins. Instead, they’re just looking to stay healthy and find a cohesive identity with the playoffs coming soon.

“A lot of people don’t think that we’re in a good spot,” said Garland. “But I think that we’re in a good spot for all that adversity that we’ve had and all we’ve had to come through. I think we can only get better.

“Even though we’re still going into the playoffs, I think we still have a lot more that we can just really show and just put out there so I think we’re in a really good spot and I think we’ll be in good shape.”

Looking ahead, the Cavs can use these last three games to form their playoff identity, regardless of how short they come of tying last year’s win total. In the grand scheme of things, that’s what matters most. Since regular season success doesn’t mean anything. Instead, it matters what you’re able to do in the postseason.