2019-20 Finish: 50-32

Season Highlight:

The season highlight for the Cavs had to have been the duo of Andre Drummond and Lebron James. Having two top 10 players in the NLL is insane and really created an exciting duo. Drummond averaged 17.9 ppg and 18.3 rpg in 30.7 mpg, while Lebron averaged 33.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg, and 7.2 apg in 33.7 mpg. The PER of the two combined to 70.1, putting this duo most likely at the top of PER ratings of a duo ever to be in the NLL. This duo will sadly come to an end this year as the trades that were made split the two up.

Season Lowlight:

The lowlight had to be losing to the Brooklyn Nets in the 1^st round of the playoffs. Despite having this historic duo the team ended up being a 5^th seed and resulted in a 1^st round exit. Being the 5^th seed does not usually make you a favorite, but it was hard to argue against this duo and a top 3 player in the NLL. When you build your team around a 35 year-old Lebron and lose in the 1^st round it has to be tough and make you think about going into rebuild mode.

Best Trade:

Cleveland very early into the year traded Deandre Jordan, Robert Covington, and a 2^nd rounder in exchange for Will Barton, Fred VanVleet, and a 1^st round pick. This was a very good trade for the Cavs since they ended up getting a 1^st, the best player, and a great role player in the deal. The Cavs ended up flipping VanVleet later on in a deal for Shake Milton, Maurice Harkless and a 1^st round pick. The Cavs did not know at the time whether or not VanVleet would leave the team in free agency or not and did not want to take the gamble. This was another smart trade for the Cavaliers.

Worst Trade:

The worst trade would probably be trading a 1^st and Cory Joseph for Danny Green and a 2^nd. Danny Green was kind of disappointing this year, and he averaged 9.8 points on 31.2 mpg. Green hoisted a 0.7 +/- rating in the regular season with the Cavaliers and a porous-3.4 in the playoffs. As the season went on he seemed to get worse, and ended up looking like just salary in the Lebron trade.

Other Trades:

The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Shake Milton, Will Barton and a 1^st round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Collin Sexton and 2 2^nd round picks.

This is good for each side as Cleveland loves Sexton and his style of play, while Memphis is just trying to get depth and still get young talent like Milton. By the looks of it Cleveland will test out Sexton playing alongside Chris Paul, and it looks like it could be a good duo.

 Cleveland traded Jakarr Sampson and Terance Mann to the Heat in exchange for Patrick Patterson. 

Patterson did not do very much for Cleveland and is now a free agent. Trading a player like Mann may not seem like too big of a deal, but he is a young player who could one day be valuable. This trade did not work out for the team, but there were many other trades that did throughout the season.

Free Agency:

The free agency for the Cavs this past season helped bring in two talented undrafted rookies in Terence Davis and Jalen Lecque. Deandre Jordan and Cory Joseph were brought in on big contracts and shipped out during the season. The free agency aside from the undrafted players did not bring in too much change for the organization.

Star:

Andre Drummond - C

Drummond anchored the team on the defensive end while scoring at a high level and getting the 2 most rebounds per game in the NLL. Lebron is the obvious true star but Drummond was his right hand man and doesn’t get the recognition that Lebron does. Drummond somehow increased his stats in rebounding and scoring despite a slight decrease in his minutes per game. The 8th year big man ended with a career high in free throw percentage and rebounds.

Goat:

Avery Bradley - G

The Cavaliers did not trade much when trading for Avery Bradley, but Bradley continued his poor shooting once he arrived in Cleveland. Bradley shot 38% from the field and 33% from 3 and he continued his poor shooting from 3 in the playoffs, but found his stroke from 3. Although Bradley joined a team with 2 stars mid-season, he ended with a negative +/-. His defensive presence was about the only plus of his game, but with a true shooting percentage of 45.8% it’s hard to not have him as the goat.

Draft Grade: B

Pick 14: Kira Lewis Jr

Pick 31: Xavier Tillman Sr

Pick 39: Isaiah Joe

Pick 41: Jay Scrubb

The draft was interesting to say the least for the Cavaliers, Lewis Jr is a questionable choice here, and we will find out fairly soon if he is up for the test to play in the NBA. The Tillman Sr. pick was a great move and he will become a great big in the modern NBA. Isaiah Joe is a pure shooter and will be great to have alongside his young and good shooting team. The Jay Scrubb pick is the worst of these, although Scrubb has lots of talent and could pay off, pick 41 is a high spot to take him. Cleveland should have moved back in the 2^nd to take him if possible.

The Future: