Cleveland Cavaliers: What's Next?

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This season was a train wreck for Anthony Bennett. Simply googling his name results in “Anthony Bennett bust” as the second Google autocomplete option. Drew Garrison captured the struggle at its peak in January, and the numbers in that piece are simply baffling. A 1.1 PER? A horrific Cavs team being six points worse with him on the floor? How does that happen? Bennett did get better as the season closed, improving his PER to 6.9 by the end of the season, but the damage had been done. The question now becomes: How do you follow up the worst rookie campaign ever produced by a number one pick?

The answer, hopefully, lies in Anthony Bennett’s post All-Star break improvement. Bennett became a completely new player around the end of January, and while it’s a smaller sample size than his period of ineptitude, here are the splits, via NBA.com.

The difference is definitely noticeable in both the raw numbers and the advanced metrics. Bennett improved from posting 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game pre All-Star to 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds post All-Star in just over a minute of added playing time. His net rating improved from -8.9 to +4.0, a near 13-point swing that does coincide with improved team play, but is still indicative of better play from Bennett. And perhaps most importantly, his shooting improved dramatically, from an effective field goal percentage of 35 percent to 49.1 percent. That’s a 14 percent increase, and is actually an acceptable number! Basically, Bennett improved from abject failure to legitimate NBA rotation player from late-January or early-February on. It’s just a shame that he ended up missing the last few weeks of the season with a patellar tendon strain so we could make a better case that this wasn’t random.

 
ANTHONY BENNETT

 

Earl Clark had struggled all season in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform from the point that former general manager Chris Grant brought him on board for two years and $9 million last summer. He wasn’t producing at the three position the way that Cleveland had wanted him to, and it was unlikely that the Cavs would pick up the second-year option on Clark’s contract. With the team needing shoes to fill at center due to an Anderson Varejao injury, Cleveland shipped off Clark, Henry Sims and two second-round picks to bring on board center Spencer Hawes.

What seemed like a last-ditch effort to cover up a miserable free agency period (the Andrew Bynum disaster, Jarrett Jack’s frustrating play off the bench and the widening of the gaping hole at small forward thanks to Clark) turned out to be an experiment that was enjoyable to watch as Cleveland hung on to its slim playoff hopes. Having a big man that could spread the floor on offense opened up opportunities for a Cleveland offense that was struggling to find any sort of consistent rhythm prior to Hawes’ arrival.

SPENCER HAWES

 

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TYLER ZELLER
 
JARRETT JACK
 
MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA

 

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CJ MILES
 
SERGEY KARASEV