Talkin’ NBA: Finals, Cavs Rumors, Core Fore, Leaguewide Parity

So what should we make of the matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers? How far away are the Cavaliers? And do they need to do anything to get to where the Thunder and Pacers are today? I discuss all that and much more, including the recent batch of Cavaliers rumors, on my latest spot on 92.3 The Fan with Andy Baskin and Jeff Phelps. Listen here or in the player directly below.

For the record, as our Ashish Mathur wrote earlier, Bleacher Report referred to the Cavaliers as the postseason’s “biggest losers.”

“While they certainly deserve a bit of leeway for the aforementioned injuries (Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter were all banged up by the end of the run), it’s hard to emerge from this postseason without feeling like the Cavs were one of its bigger disappointments,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey. “Cleveland went 64-18 and finished with the 16th-highest single-season average point differential in league history. Mitchell was a first-team All-NBA selection. Catch-all metrics suggested Mitchell, Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Garland were all top-25 players this season. And the Cavs outscored the Heat by a whopping 30.5 points per game in the first round.

“At least through that series, there were plenty of indications this was (or at least should’ve been) a real title contender, but it was dispatched by the Pacers in just five games. And it feels like Cleveland barely left an imprint on the postseason. Now, despite clearing 60 wins in the regular season, we’re likely in for another summer of questions about the fit between Garland and Mitchell in the backcourt and Mobley and Allen down low. A trade of anyone (with the possible exception of Mobley) at least feels possible.”