I was recently doing some research for a video on teams I thought could beat their over/under win totals [(video can be found here for those interested)] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsbwI99js4o&t=310s) and couldn’t help but feel the Cavaliers could be overlooked entering the regular season.

This is accounting for regular season only, as we all know playoffs can be matchup dependent, etc. Though the Cavs will have a lot of continuity in terms of their whole rotation returning and they also had a lot of bad injury luck last year. Of their core four players (Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen), only Allen didn’t miss at 25 or more regular season games. So assuming they’re healthier, I wouldn’t be stunned if they ended up being a pretty high seed. Interested to hear what others thought.

  • 2020IsANightmareBEnglish
    1·
    24 hours ago

    Are the Cavs - in literally any way you can think of - a Finals contender? No. Lol.

    Will they end up with 45-49 wins and possibly get homecourt in the first round? I think that’s a fair.

    But, just did a quick Google search. The top link had over/unders from six different sites. Of the five that listed Cleveland (didn’t care enough to read why they or other teams weren’t available on all six sites,) four had the Cavs at 48.5 wins. The other at 52.5 wins.

    I’d sooner bet my left nut that I wake up at exactly 4am, 48 minutes and 48 seconds tomorrow morning than bet the over on the Cavs at 52.5.

    48.5 is much more realistic, but as I think 49 wins is the most optimistic of scenarios, betting over on 48.5 means I’m as high on the Cavs as any rational person that watches basketball.

    Even if the Cavs are healthier this year, I think the East will be much stronger.

    Celtics finished first last year and likely finish with 60+ wins again.

    Knicks were second in the East then got WAY better.

    Bucks dragged their ass to finish the season and finished third. I think they will be better.

    Then Cavs at four.

    Magic, Pacers and Sixers were next and all finished one game worse than CLE. All will be better than last season.

    Then there were the Heat. Finished 8th - two whole games behind CLE.

    Hell, the more I type and think, the more I think CLE could overall be better this upcoming season and finish with fewer wins