As the 4th seed in the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers have impressed everyone with their performance this season. Guys like Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Alen have led the way in an inspiring effort that should have Cavs fans excited about what is to come.
League Commissioner Adam Silver even likened them to a super team in a recent chat with the media.
“The term ‘Super Team’ can have a positive connotation or it can have a negative one,” Silver told 3News’ Jim Donovan ahead of the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland. “The negative one is where you have players coming together for the sole purpose of winning a championship, particularly later in their career. And I think, on the other hand, you have super teams — and I think Cleveland is becoming one — where they’re constructed in just the right way. Where there’s a recognition that this is a team sport, that in order to truly win championships, to compete at the highest level, all those players have to come together and to sort of feed off each other.”
Since LeBron’s departure in 2018, the Cavs haven’t had a whole lot to cheer for. Dysfunction and mediocrity have been the theme for years.
Now, the Cavs have some real talent and look to be a team that can compete against anyone in the East.
“When you look at this Cavs team, I’m watching them; they have these twin towers in Allen and Mobley, and the way that they’re protecting the basket is something beautiful to watch,” Kendrick Perkins said on NBA Today. “They might be the best defensive tandem as far as bigs in the NBA. … Then you have the setup guy in Garland. Look, Garland is a phenomenal talent. Something about Garland says ‘superstar’ written all over it.”
The best thing of all about this Cleveland team is that they’ve built it from the ground up, by drafting young guys and trading for talented pieces. In an era where superstars are all too eager to jump ship and join forces, this kind of development needs to be appreciated.
So, while the Cavs are young, inexperienced, and clearly flawed in more ways than one, they have a team worth cheering for and a future as bright as any other team in the NBA.
It will be exciting to see how far they go.
