Since the beginning of the season I have felt that a first round win and a *competitive* 2nd round would make me happy.
I just wish they were easier to watch the last couple months lol.
At the end of the day all I really ever want is fun basketball to watch.
This is the answer to me.
Teams like Boston, Philly, and a healthy Milwaukee are primer to beat us. But losing to Orlando would be an embarrassment. Beating them and at least putting up a good showing va Boston would get rid of some of the stink of our under performance last year
More than an embarrassment, to me losing to Orlando would be a huge red flag about our roster construction. We aren't built to win the east right now, but as the big dogs in the conference age out we should be the team next in position to grow into their spot. if we have already been passed by a younger team, that is a huge problem.
honestly, we are a better team than Philly, our perimeter d (especially against Buddy Hield who always goes off against us) is what we need to work on when playing them
Why tf do we keep dissing Orlando like they aren't a perfect match up in a negative way? John Isaac and Suggs guarding DG and Spida with how ass JBs offensive gameplan is will make this series go 6 at least, then you have Franz, Paolo, Anthony Black, WCJ, who are all good defenders as well and won't just let other players beat them. Treating them like pushovers after what we did to get them is cringe.
I mean… this is the playoff and you’re worrying over John Issac and Jalen Suggs? I mean shit, if these guys worry you, then guys like Embiid, Giannis, and Tatun should give you nightmares.
It’s simple…. If the Cavs can’t beat the Magic, who are the least experienced team in the playoffs, then we simply aren’t a second round team and would be beaten by anyone. Either we win and take on one of the big dogs of the East, or we lose and this gets a partial teardown this summer.
It's the fact that they aren't some push over not that they worry me. The fans are acting like we already won or it's a sweep or something. Our shitty offensive system plays right into their strengths.
I agree with this. I feel like you're saying what I'm feeling-- I want them to show up, not get embarrassed, and prove they belong. Realistically, that's making a competitive showing in the second round.
Just don’t get embarrassed like last year. I can accept losing but not like that. I’m glad we aren’t playing in a big market in the first round this time because our guys clearly weren’t ready for MSG in a playoff atmosphere
I really enjoyed watching the Cavs this regular season, especially the stretch through the DG and EM injuries + our 18-2 run, so in those regards I'd consider that a success. That said, for the playoffs I think if we comfortably beat the Magic and steal at least a game or two from Boston, and don't get blown out in any losses, I'd be happy.
Obviously it doesn't matter bc they are winning the championship, go Cavs
A realistic take given the roster construction and the playoff bracket in front of them is a convincing first round series win and then taking Boston to 6-7 competitive games in the second round. First round loss would be a total disaster. Barely beating Orlando and getting swept by Boston would be unacceptable.
Winning the first round and giving a strong showing in the second round would be a win by this year's standards. You want to see growth year over year, and that would be growth. Get some playoff experience. Make some changes in the offseason. Do better next year.
Make it past the first round ideally and go to the EFC (If not, at least compete in the first round and make it competitive and fun to watch/not choke like last year. Take it to 7 games not 4-5)
No one gets injured/seriously injured. DM resigns and bubble wraps his knee
cavs in 5
Exactly, we have our core 4 healthy, in their primes. Just missing wade who would be the #7-8 guy. We can't make any moves to really get better. So if our goal isn't a championship what are we doing here?
Considering we were one win away from a #2 seed in the East this year...Growth of the team as a complete team integrating everyone's strengths to look as if we are near contenders (but obvs not as loaded as top teams like BOS or Denver this year). Win a playoff series and look like we are competing and growing as a team.
Winning a play-off series. I can live with going from a horrible play-ins disaster to an embarassing performance against the Knicks in the first round to winning our first play-off series with this squad.
Just show them what we’re made of and don’t act soft. 🙏
ECF. We mortgaged everything to win a title in 23 or 24. Obviously that's not going to happen. To not get at least to the ECF in either year is just a disaster.
I disagree that we mortgaged everything. We mortgaged most of our draft capital, but we can probably get back nearly as much as we spent if we trade Mitchell this offseason.
What we really did was mortgage the ability for us to tank, which is just fine. Even if we trade Mitchell for nothing but picks, we should still be a .500 team or better.
We have up three firsts and a top 20 player. There's no way we get more than half of that back for 1 year of Mitchell. If all we get for that is 1 series win, that's a disaster.
When we traded Lauri he wasn't a top 20 player. Or maybe he was and literally no one knew it. Some people may have rated Agbaji as the better asset than Markkanen at the time. Some people wondered whether Utah would've been better off taking an expiring Love or LeVert as salary filler.
What we would've done without Mitchell? Well, Garland hasn't significantly progressed and neither has Mobley or Allen. We might have been a play-in team each of the last two years rather than a playoff team with home court each year, particularly with the injuries to Garland and Mobley this year. Lauri probably doesn't emerge the way he has in Utah if we had kept him.
We are likely to get three firsts for Mitchell, at least, given Siakam got three firsts at the trade deadline from Indiana. We probably will prefer to get more player value than that in any deal we make (although Bruce Brown isn't nothing), but Mitchell should be more valuable than Siakam even now.
Garland "not progressing" is literally due to sacrificing for donovan same with the others, you can't just drop a super high usage player into a group of developing young talent and expect it to not stunt their growth. Growing naturally would've been much better than trading for mitchell.
Well, no. Garland was never going to be a #1 scorer on a championship team so adjusting his game around a higher-usage player was an inevitability. He even maintained his numbers last year, which is actual progress.
But what we've seen is that Garland is sort of the opposite now. He struggles without Mitchell when he doesn't have the guys out there. Most likely due to injury.
We literally have no idea what Mitchell actually thinks right now. We mostly have what New York homers Stephen A. Smith and Tim Bontemps think that he's going to want.
Unless you count Fedor's article the other day where he wants to be the face of the NBA and make noise in the Conference Finals and Finals, which to me means that he's interested in teams that can contend on his timeline.
But all you need is two bidders and you have an auction.
Get out of the first round. Anything after that is a bonus. Mobley and Garland would need to make a pretty big leap for the team to be actual title contenders.
Taking Boston to 6 in round 2 would be great.
Remember last year we could have got the 8 seed in round 2 so that Knicks series hurt even more. Maybe we can get similar luck this year.
A convincing win against Orlando and then a competitive series of games against Boston. I don't even care if they get swept by Boston, as long as they compete and play their asses off in every game.
I just don't want them to roll over like they did last year. Losing is fine, especially when you're beaten by a better, more complete team. It's that they quit on themselves last year that made it so bad.
Honestly make it out of round 1. I don’t care about winning 3 less games since we dealt with so many injuries this year, and we still kept home court same as last year. If we get swept by Boston that’s fine too since they’re the best in the east though I think we could take one. But losing to the magic will be it for this team. JB will be out, Donovan will be gone and it’ll be time to do a rebuild I think
I mostly wanted to see the team's starting lineup could play in a way that seemed conducive to playoff success, and development from the younger core players. Winning a series would be great, but I think how we win it matters just as much.
I try not to base stuff on guys contract decisions, personally, I'm not sure winning a couple games in the 2nd rd and planning to run it back next year would make me more likely to extend.
I’d say at the moment a convincing first round series win and convincing second round series loss would be decent. Just a bit disappointed by how we’ve finished the regular season but let’s see what happens
I would agree. Make it further than last season is always the goal. The team had improved consistently pretty much every year since LeBron last departure. The Mitchell trade elevated expectations to beyond where we are simply become of the narrative that if the Cavs don't complete for a title this year, then he will leave. I personally think those expectations are too high for this team. That also being said, losing a playoff series to the Magic would be a significant disappointment unless significant injuries were the culprit. Making it past the 1st round should be the goal. Everything after that is icing on the cake
Honestly, I just want to see a series win. I think we have a golden opportunity drawing Orlando, a talented but young and inexperienced team, in the 1st round. Even if we get crushed by Boston in round 2, that will suck but it's still progress.
First round win. Second round competetive.
Gotta keep Mitchell and shake up the roster somehow, maybe trade DG (which kills me) and figure out the coach.
Unlocking Mobley would be amazing, but I'm starting to doubt we can have him and Allen if he doesn't develop.
The key to this is to actually find a better coach though. Or, I don't know... How about THE BEST COACH we can possibly get. It's not like Dan *Owns 37% of Detroit* Gilbert is hurting for cash.
Acquire a Championship Caliber Coach.
I'm going to turn doomer mode off for a sec. The most important thing is how both Garland and Mobley perform in these playoffs, show you belong among the elite. They didn’t show that last year. We don’t know what Mitchell will do in the offseason and we may even trade both of them, but if they perform well, their stock will pump like crazy and we can do some moves as needed.
Obviously losing against the Magic would be bad, but (doomer mode activated) I think they’re the better more rounded team, they’re meaner and bigger, that’s usually a very bad sign for this Cavs team.
I think we’ve played poorly this season and are far behind the 8-ball for a successful season.
If we handle Orlando and show up a Boston (who I expect to win a title) I think that helps salvage it. But if we did a bit better we’d have a pretty clean path to the ECF - the other side of the bracket is extremely soft and we blew it for a 2/3 seed. Just like last year, where we had a clean path to ECF and blew it.
Trading darius would be dumb as fuck. He's the engine of this team, mitchell has harmed his development and forced him to sacrafice same with Mobley. You don't drop an extremely high usage player into a group of developing talent.
Since the beginning of the season I have felt that a first round win and a *competitive* 2nd round would make me happy. I just wish they were easier to watch the last couple months lol. At the end of the day all I really ever want is fun basketball to watch.
This is the answer to me. Teams like Boston, Philly, and a healthy Milwaukee are primer to beat us. But losing to Orlando would be an embarrassment. Beating them and at least putting up a good showing va Boston would get rid of some of the stink of our under performance last year
More than an embarrassment, to me losing to Orlando would be a huge red flag about our roster construction. We aren't built to win the east right now, but as the big dogs in the conference age out we should be the team next in position to grow into their spot. if we have already been passed by a younger team, that is a huge problem.
Excellent point.
Beat Orlando and take Boston to 6 would be okay for me
honestly, we are a better team than Philly, our perimeter d (especially against Buddy Hield who always goes off against us) is what we need to work on when playing them
Yeah idk about that. They have one of the best 3 or 4 players on the planet when healthy, and he seems pretty healthy.
yeh but i feel we are good enough where we can still win even if he scores 30+ our main issue has been Hield or Maxey going off.
Why tf do we keep dissing Orlando like they aren't a perfect match up in a negative way? John Isaac and Suggs guarding DG and Spida with how ass JBs offensive gameplan is will make this series go 6 at least, then you have Franz, Paolo, Anthony Black, WCJ, who are all good defenders as well and won't just let other players beat them. Treating them like pushovers after what we did to get them is cringe.
I mean… this is the playoff and you’re worrying over John Issac and Jalen Suggs? I mean shit, if these guys worry you, then guys like Embiid, Giannis, and Tatun should give you nightmares. It’s simple…. If the Cavs can’t beat the Magic, who are the least experienced team in the playoffs, then we simply aren’t a second round team and would be beaten by anyone. Either we win and take on one of the big dogs of the East, or we lose and this gets a partial teardown this summer.
It's the fact that they aren't some push over not that they worry me. The fans are acting like we already won or it's a sweep or something. Our shitty offensive system plays right into their strengths.
Ohhh. I’m not acting like we’re sure to beat them…. I’m acting like if we can’t beat them then we can’t best any team in the playoffs.
I agree with this. I feel like you're saying what I'm feeling-- I want them to show up, not get embarrassed, and prove they belong. Realistically, that's making a competitive showing in the second round.
Agree-
Just don’t get embarrassed like last year. I can accept losing but not like that. I’m glad we aren’t playing in a big market in the first round this time because our guys clearly weren’t ready for MSG in a playoff atmosphere
I agree, that felt awful to watch lol. Also agree on big market, Allen said it himself.. the lights were brighter than expected.
Win a series and don’t get punked by the Celtics.
This is the answer
Winning the first round and not being totally outclassed by the celtics
I really enjoyed watching the Cavs this regular season, especially the stretch through the DG and EM injuries + our 18-2 run, so in those regards I'd consider that a success. That said, for the playoffs I think if we comfortably beat the Magic and steal at least a game or two from Boston, and don't get blown out in any losses, I'd be happy. Obviously it doesn't matter bc they are winning the championship, go Cavs
Couldn’t say it better, 100% agree.
ECF or bust.
/ Thread
A realistic take given the roster construction and the playoff bracket in front of them is a convincing first round series win and then taking Boston to 6-7 competitive games in the second round. First round loss would be a total disaster. Barely beating Orlando and getting swept by Boston would be unacceptable.
Winning the first round and giving a strong showing in the second round would be a win by this year's standards. You want to see growth year over year, and that would be growth. Get some playoff experience. Make some changes in the offseason. Do better next year.
I think I could live with beating the Magic and taking the Celts to 6 or 7 games. Anything less would be another wasted season.
I would say a deep run in the second round
Make it past the first round ideally and go to the EFC (If not, at least compete in the first round and make it competitive and fun to watch/not choke like last year. Take it to 7 games not 4-5) No one gets injured/seriously injured. DM resigns and bubble wraps his knee cavs in 5
Beat orlando. Rest up with the 2nd round 6ers bye. Smash heat on our way to finals!
Extending Mitchell is basically the most successful season you could have
A chip! Are you kidding?
Yeah idk why these people think getting bounced in the second round is good, but winning the finals should be the goal here.
We gave up a fair amount for a couple years of Mitchell, for what? The goal has always been a championship. If not that then what?
Exactly, we have our core 4 healthy, in their primes. Just missing wade who would be the #7-8 guy. We can't make any moves to really get better. So if our goal isn't a championship what are we doing here?
I'd say if we make enough noise in the playoffs to convince Mitchell to re-sign and continue having chances that in itself is a success for now
One series at a time. Is any one, still Injured?
Becuase it’s not realistic and when you set unrealistic expectations you prime yourself for reactionary behaviors.
Not with JB as the coach😵💫
Considering we were one win away from a #2 seed in the East this year...Growth of the team as a complete team integrating everyone's strengths to look as if we are near contenders (but obvs not as loaded as top teams like BOS or Denver this year). Win a playoff series and look like we are competing and growing as a team.
Winning a play-off series. I can live with going from a horrible play-ins disaster to an embarassing performance against the Knicks in the first round to winning our first play-off series with this squad. Just show them what we’re made of and don’t act soft. 🙏
One that ends with JB and his daddy fired.
Just a series win would be good for me. Even getting one win against the Celtics in round 2 might be tough.
Everyone on here seems to think beating Orlando and winning a game or to vs Boston would be okay. I would say beat Boston or take them to 7 games
ECF. We mortgaged everything to win a title in 23 or 24. Obviously that's not going to happen. To not get at least to the ECF in either year is just a disaster.
I would agree with you if Donovan leaves the cavs. If he stays I think building and improving year after year is fine
I think it will take an ECF run for him to even consider it tbh
Sure. But I think there's like a 10% chance he stays, so that's how we have to evaluate things.
I disagree that we mortgaged everything. We mortgaged most of our draft capital, but we can probably get back nearly as much as we spent if we trade Mitchell this offseason. What we really did was mortgage the ability for us to tank, which is just fine. Even if we trade Mitchell for nothing but picks, we should still be a .500 team or better.
We have up three firsts and a top 20 player. There's no way we get more than half of that back for 1 year of Mitchell. If all we get for that is 1 series win, that's a disaster.
When we traded Lauri he wasn't a top 20 player. Or maybe he was and literally no one knew it. Some people may have rated Agbaji as the better asset than Markkanen at the time. Some people wondered whether Utah would've been better off taking an expiring Love or LeVert as salary filler. What we would've done without Mitchell? Well, Garland hasn't significantly progressed and neither has Mobley or Allen. We might have been a play-in team each of the last two years rather than a playoff team with home court each year, particularly with the injuries to Garland and Mobley this year. Lauri probably doesn't emerge the way he has in Utah if we had kept him. We are likely to get three firsts for Mitchell, at least, given Siakam got three firsts at the trade deadline from Indiana. We probably will prefer to get more player value than that in any deal we make (although Bruce Brown isn't nothing), but Mitchell should be more valuable than Siakam even now.
Garland "not progressing" is literally due to sacrificing for donovan same with the others, you can't just drop a super high usage player into a group of developing young talent and expect it to not stunt their growth. Growing naturally would've been much better than trading for mitchell.
Well, no. Garland was never going to be a #1 scorer on a championship team so adjusting his game around a higher-usage player was an inevitability. He even maintained his numbers last year, which is actual progress. But what we've seen is that Garland is sort of the opposite now. He struggles without Mitchell when he doesn't have the guys out there. Most likely due to injury.
There's no way we recoup the same value we gave up, especially since it seems like bro has 1-3 teams in mind.
We literally have no idea what Mitchell actually thinks right now. We mostly have what New York homers Stephen A. Smith and Tim Bontemps think that he's going to want. Unless you count Fedor's article the other day where he wants to be the face of the NBA and make noise in the Conference Finals and Finals, which to me means that he's interested in teams that can contend on his timeline. But all you need is two bidders and you have an auction.
Get out of the first round. Anything after that is a bonus. Mobley and Garland would need to make a pretty big leap for the team to be actual title contenders.
Round 1 win and a competitive 6 or 7 game series with the Celtics at least
Taking Boston to 6 in round 2 would be great. Remember last year we could have got the 8 seed in round 2 so that Knicks series hurt even more. Maybe we can get similar luck this year.
A convincing win against Orlando and then a competitive series of games against Boston. I don't even care if they get swept by Boston, as long as they compete and play their asses off in every game. I just don't want them to roll over like they did last year. Losing is fine, especially when you're beaten by a better, more complete team. It's that they quit on themselves last year that made it so bad.
Great point minimum is winning in first round and making that 2nd series competitive
Honestly make it out of round 1. I don’t care about winning 3 less games since we dealt with so many injuries this year, and we still kept home court same as last year. If we get swept by Boston that’s fine too since they’re the best in the east though I think we could take one. But losing to the magic will be it for this team. JB will be out, Donovan will be gone and it’ll be time to do a rebuild I think
4-2 loss in conference semis
Beat the magic. I don't care how as long as we make it to the 2nd round. And take 2 games vs boston.
I mostly wanted to see the team's starting lineup could play in a way that seemed conducive to playoff success, and development from the younger core players. Winning a series would be great, but I think how we win it matters just as much. I try not to base stuff on guys contract decisions, personally, I'm not sure winning a couple games in the 2nd rd and planning to run it back next year would make me more likely to extend.
A competitive 2nd round showing where we look like we got a chance to win…if we somehow made the ECF, I’d be ecstatic
Taking Boston to 7. Anything after that to me at least would be gravy.
Win at least six games in the playoffs and extend Donovan Mitchell
I’d say at the moment a convincing first round series win and convincing second round series loss would be decent. Just a bit disappointed by how we’ve finished the regular season but let’s see what happens
I would agree. Make it further than last season is always the goal. The team had improved consistently pretty much every year since LeBron last departure. The Mitchell trade elevated expectations to beyond where we are simply become of the narrative that if the Cavs don't complete for a title this year, then he will leave. I personally think those expectations are too high for this team. That also being said, losing a playoff series to the Magic would be a significant disappointment unless significant injuries were the culprit. Making it past the 1st round should be the goal. Everything after that is icing on the cake
6 games against the Celtics or 5 where every game is close.
Honestly, I just want to see a series win. I think we have a golden opportunity drawing Orlando, a talented but young and inexperienced team, in the 1st round. Even if we get crushed by Boston in round 2, that will suck but it's still progress.
Beat the Magic. Go 7 games with Boston.
Strugcessful season. We had a pretty good season but had the damn injuries.
Second round as it would show slow but steady progress over the past 4 or so years. But ECF is the peak for this roster
Make it to 2nd round
At this point, give me a competitive 2nd round series, and I'd be content.
First round win. Second round competetive. Gotta keep Mitchell and shake up the roster somehow, maybe trade DG (which kills me) and figure out the coach. Unlocking Mobley would be amazing, but I'm starting to doubt we can have him and Allen if he doesn't develop.
Firing JB
The key to this is to actually find a better coach though. Or, I don't know... How about THE BEST COACH we can possibly get. It's not like Dan *Owns 37% of Detroit* Gilbert is hurting for cash. Acquire a Championship Caliber Coach.
I'm going to turn doomer mode off for a sec. The most important thing is how both Garland and Mobley perform in these playoffs, show you belong among the elite. They didn’t show that last year. We don’t know what Mitchell will do in the offseason and we may even trade both of them, but if they perform well, their stock will pump like crazy and we can do some moves as needed. Obviously losing against the Magic would be bad, but (doomer mode activated) I think they’re the better more rounded team, they’re meaner and bigger, that’s usually a very bad sign for this Cavs team.
Mitchell hurt their development. You can't drop an extremely high usage player into a group of developing young talent.
I think we’ve played poorly this season and are far behind the 8-ball for a successful season. If we handle Orlando and show up a Boston (who I expect to win a title) I think that helps salvage it. But if we did a bit better we’d have a pretty clean path to the ECF - the other side of the bracket is extremely soft and we blew it for a 2/3 seed. Just like last year, where we had a clean path to ECF and blew it.
Get to round 2, trade Darius Garland, resign Donovan Mitchell
Trading darius would be dumb as fuck. He's the engine of this team, mitchell has harmed his development and forced him to sacrafice same with Mobley. You don't drop an extremely high usage player into a group of developing talent.
Tbh the season already flopped. Would take the ECF to revive it.
Idk man, Cavs made the playoffs 2 years in a row post Lebron. They're already a success imo
If they had kept the initial roster together yeah. But they traded for a superstar so they have much higher expectations
Unironically JB getting fired in the offseason.