How differently would the Cleveland Cavaliers season have gone if these 4 things didn’t happen…

How differently would the Cleveland Cavaliers season have gone if these 4 things didn’t happen…

let’s look at some wh ifs from the Cavs 2023 2024 season and spend a few minutes on each to see how things would have played out if something didn’t happen and our first what if Steve Jason what if Darius Garland never broke his jaw against the Celtics on December 15th I think he probably has a better year than what he what where he wound up I do think that the jaw played into I don’t think it was the only thing but I do think it it played a role in sort of the struggles that he had this year and the weight that he lost and it was a it was a it’s a traumatic injury it’s not your normal broken wrist or you know it impacts everything when your mouth is wired shut for however many weeks it was and the amount of weight that he lost that’s going to have a a significant impact on you for a long time so I can’t call that the only reason why he struggled but I do think that it was a significant factor in his year yeah the injury to Darius and then the subsequent injury to Evan Moy is what kind of unlocked that 4 out one in b lineup now Darius would have been part of that if it was just an Evan injury but I I think Darius shot the ball poorly and that’s not going to change he was not shooting the ball well before injury he shot it even worse after the injury but when the NBA started allowing more physical contact Jason after the allstar break they stopped blowing the whistle as frequently darus Garland just seemed like a man in no man’s land he was scared to drive and take contact and at of fear he would get hurt again his shot wasn’t falling so he was scared to rely on the jump shot too much I do think the jaw injury well not the only excuse for the reason he was not the caliber of player the Cavs had hoped and anticipated for this season I do think that was a major factor that kind of gets glossed over a little bit when we look at his season in totality on the flip side if he doesn’t get injured we don’t ever unlocked point guard Donovan and for a monthlong stretch point guard Donovan was a top five player in basketball and it was the best stretch of basketball he had ever played his entire career I’m not 100% certain that’s sustainable from Donovan over the course of season because it it puts so much pressure on one guy to not only create for himself but create for others and the other guys around Donovan in that scenario aren’t particularly shot creaters in their own right either which means it all falls on Donovan but we got a glimpse and I going say I am fascinated by that Glimpse Jason and I want to see more of it in spurts next season so on the one hand if Darius doesn’t break his jaw he probably has a better season but we don’t get that little tiny teaser yeah of point guard Donovan which may end up being the best version of Donovan if they can find a running M at the two guard who can also be an off ball Creator and take some of the pressure off them the question is I I’m not sure you’re going to see that regardless I don’t think I don’t know I’m really curious to see how the summer plays out I know you know we we’ve talked about this before and you know my name is on the story we reported it that if Donovan resigns it could try and force Darius out none of that has happened yet Donovan hasn’t signed a contract Cavs telling teams wor not trading them we’re not breaking this up and we’ll see when push comes to shove if they stay true to that they don’t have to trade them they don’t they don’t just because they’re trying to push him out or force him out they don’t have to trade him so it’s going to be an interesting summer our second what if we were told all offices that Evan Mobley was in the lab working on his jump shot Jason so what if Evan Mobley came into the 20123 2024 season with a reliable three-point jump shot what if there would not be any talk about having to break up Jared and Evan I think that they would fit together a lot better than that and there wouldn’t be a discussion I mean Jarrett was your second best player last year and yet there’s and I’m in that camp that believes that you have to they you probably should split him up in large part because that the Evans shot hasn’t come around the way that we thought that it would defensively he’s exactly what you thought he would be offensively it just hasn’t gotten there yet and had he progressed as a shooter it would open up so much more the offense hell maybe JB bicker staff’s still the coach of this team quite frankly I think part of the reason I think Donovan was a big reason why JB’s no longer here and I also think the lack of development in Evans offensive game played a role in that as well so he could be and maybe Jared is still here next year it very well could be but all the talk around having to split these guys up would dissipate and JB could still be the coach of this team I agree with everything you said but indulge me for a second let me go on a a magical Fantasy Ride of the what if Evan Mobley had a jump shot if Evan Mobley came into last season as a 36% three-point shooter Jason m not asking for 40 I’m not asking for dirk I’m not asking for Carl Anthony towns I’m saying just a reliable three-point shooter Evan moble is an All-Star Evan Mobley is Right In The Fringe for an all-nba caliber player because the list of forwards who made the all-nba team this season there were a few spots up for grabs the combination of Mo’s defense which we know currently is terrific with a full bag of offensive weapons including a three-point shot which by the way if he’s making three-point shots it spreads the defense that means Darius Donovan Jarrett all have more room to operate it also means defenses can’t overload half the court when they’re running pick and rolls on one side of the court with Evan and Darius Andor Donovan and Jared and it makes everything look so much better mhm more importantly than that Jason we were promised a unicorn and I’m not saying that Evan Moy with a three-point shot would be in the Wy category I’m not saying Evan with a reliable three-point shot would even be top 15 player in the league right now but instead of being little Sebastian which is who Evan Mobley currently is a very good show Pony but not a unicorn he’d be a baby rhinoceros and you’d see the beginning of a hump on the top of his head starting to blossom into what the Cavs told us we were getting when they drafted Evan Moy third overall I’m not saying there’d be world peace I’m not saying it would end world hunger I’m not saying there’d be no water droughts I’m not saying bad people would all be admonished but I am saying if Evan Moy came into last season with a reliable three-point jump shot we wouldn’t be having 75% of the conversations we are having today about the future of the Cavs roster Evan Moy with a three-point jump shot makes the core four work Evan mble with a three-point jump shot makes the Cavs a legitimate threat to beat the Boston Celtics to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Evan mble with a three-point jump shot means JB bicker staff probably isn’t fired to your point and most importantly most most importantly Evan Mo with a three-point jump shot is a guaranteed lock for the rookie Max which is’s going to get anyway but instead of us having the conversation of we know he’s going to get it but is he really worth it yeah it’s the question of we’re only getting him for that what a steal that is the what if Evan Mo are liable a three-point jump shot entering the 2023 2024 season I love it all right number three Steve what if and I believe it’s the Donovan Mitchell one what if Donovan Mitchell Jason never heard of in February and I spel February wrong I think no I didn’t no you got that one right it looks wrong every time I see it but what if he never heard his knee on that free throw attempt against Chicago which then derailed the rest of the season you want me to start on this one yeah I don’t know go ahead I want to hear what you say go ahead the month of March was terrible for the Cleveland Cavaliers yeah that’s where they were riding High coming off that uh 19 And1 Street was it 19 and2 18-2 whatever it was coming off off that hot streak they roll into the All-Star break Donovan tweaks his knee he misses a few games in March then Darius all his shortcomings this season get put under the magnifying glass because he can’t hide next to Donovan Mitchell who just erases so many other mistakes and so many other shortcomings offensively Evan Mobley also his offense development while it did see progress throughout the season it becomes less of a storyline because they’re winning games part of the reason these stories become such a big issue is they’re losing and when win those stories are non-existent and non-talking points because guess what there’s not a lot to criticize in the moment you could go big picture in the offseason talk about it but in the moment when your team’s going 18 and two we don’t talk about the fact they played a crappy team almost every night during that 20 game stretch they played Washton three times they played San Antonio twice like they didn’t beat a gauntlet of great teams but if Donovan doesn’t get hurt that means he’s not hurt entering the postseason so he’s probably doesn’t get hurt against Boston which gives him a better chance if he’s not injured they probably don’t take Orlando to seven games that Ser is probably wrapped up a little earlier I still think he was not at 100% and his inability to continue that scoring out first on a night in Night Out basis changes and although at the end of the day they got enough from Donovan to beat teams in the playoffs or at least beat Orlando and compete with Boston I think a lot of the big questions that came to fruition about JB bicker staff and the complete uh makeup and correlation of this team don’t ever come to the surface because they’re 50 55 and whatever that would be Jason it’s hard to ask a lot of questions in the moment for a team that’s on a 57 win Pace I don’t know that anything changes if he doesn’t get hurt and I know that’s I know that’s wild to say because you think your best player hurts his knee it derails everything they still lose to Boston if they’re fully healthy they still they’ll probably beat you’re right like they probably beat Orlando a little bit easier but I I don’t think they’re good enough to beat Boston they still lose to Boston if they beat Orlando in five and then lose to Boston the way they did is JB still a coach yeah no it’s okay still he’s still he’s still going to get fired I guess the sliding door theory if you really want to go down it is do they try and manipulate to get to Orlando if they have a fully healthy Donovan and I think the answer to that is yes I think it still plays out the same way but what if they they’re only in that spot because of how poorly they played in March and the record in March was I forget the exact number was not good yeah they were not good if Donovan’s healthy they’re probably not even in a situation to try and manipulate that because they probably had the two- seed in the East they they finished what a game out of the two seed despite a piss poor March I’ll actually go the other way that where the injury could be a good thing now if you’re going to believe if you’re going to take everything Donovan says is true then this could be a good thing because we had the conversation going back to last season before the loss to the Knicks where I asked him would you ever punt a game just to send a message and he said no that he’s got to win every game he plays and that’s where you get into the give me the ball and get out of the way type of mentality that drove me crazy to watch and then I talked to him toward the end of this season that just ended and he said you know was he was dragging his leg up and down the floor in March and saying I’m not helping anybody here you know he he kind of came around to what I was saying and said that he agreed and he had lessons to learn too and yeah he wants to put Darius in spots where Darius has to win the game for them and it it all sort of stemm from the knee so from that aspect I would say maybe it was a good thing because it it forced him to trust guys a little bit more because he couldn’t do it and ultimately I don’t think the season ends any differently I still think it ends in a loss to Boston whether it’s the Conference Finals or the second round now if it’s the Conference Finals maybe JB saves his job in that realm uh but for the most part I know it sounds crazy to say I don’t know that really a whole lot changes I just looked at it if they get the two seed they play Philly in the first round which actually could have been a worse scenario for the Cavs so maybe it it’s actually on the flip side but if they could have avoided Boston until the third round because they had a better record who the hell knows that’s why a Big W if May yeah then maybe it does save JB although I still think it comes down to a him vers Donovan him vers Donovan in the end and which one you going to pick and the coach always loses that and the player always wins we have one more what if then we’re going to wrap this up for a special edition of the ultimate Cav show Jason what if the Cavs didn’t uh the Cavs did fire JB after the Nick series loss instead of letting him Coach the team again this season I was thinking about this one obviously you have a different coach um and it’s probably not James burgo or Steve or Kenny Atkinson I guess it could be it could have been the some of the same names but it’s probably one of the guys from the last hiring cycle although I don’t think it’s eme odoko because Houston jumped on that early G halter the biggest they could have or Nick nurse I’m not a huge buen holer fan uh I’ve I’ve just I know he’s had some Su some success I know he won a championship with Milwaukee I’ve never been a big fan of his maybe it’s Nick nurse maybe Nick nurse is the coach of this team today um I like him better than buen hoer not sold on any I I think a lot of these guys are interchangeable frankly it is an interesting what if I know a lot of people wanted JB fired after last year I thought I thought he deserved another chance to run it back with a more complete roster um I I guess I would say Nick n is probably your head coach today although I don’t you don’t know if it makes him any better yeah I don’t know if it makes him better and I don’t know if Nick would want this job I think he walked into a job that he felt was pretty good at the time yeah I’m going to take the Jason route on this and say I have no freaking clue because it depends on the head coach they hired and if you want to go to Nick nurse route I do think Nick nurse is a better Coach than JB bicker staff he’s won a championship when JB is one and 10 on the road in the playoffs so like you know you’re you’re you’re picking different options but I still think the collective unit if we’re doing just this is a singular what if if you have two non-shooting bigs you can’t win in today’s NBA so I I don’t think whoever the coach is makes that much of a difference and that’s why I’m so adamant about even if you bring in a bgo or a kenak andon I did the whole breakdown on burgo like I still think you have to adjust the roster to reach the goals and the heights you want to reach because I just think philosophically speaking the construction of this Cavs roster does not meet the modern version of what basketball is today which is spacing and plague creation and shot creation and the Cavs just teally don’t have enough of that right now but what a Nick nurse and and we’re just using him as example would he have gotten more out of Evan this year offensively I would hope so I I think it’s impossible to get less than you got from J from Evan just because he was an afterthought in everything and and I know it’s a small sample size I know the Boston series was no porzingis I I get all that putting him at the high post and letting him facilitate is his best offensive skill right now and it was not at all whatsoever 0.0% in the JB bicker staff offensive scheme until it had to be because other people went down and I think that’s the one thing if you want to finger point at what went wrong this year and hey what could you have done differently to save your job JB it’s try and use that as a different look offensively than just the pick and roll variations they had yeah and we didn’t see it till it was too late so yeah they probably would have got more out of Evan Mobley but I’m I can’t assume he was a jump jump shooter coming into this season because he wasn’t a jump shooter at all and they tried to make that a priority and he didn’t

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a successful 2023-2024 season in the fact they won a playoff series without LeBron James, but it wasn’t enough to save jobs.

JB Bickerstaff got fired, the Core 4 is now in question, and the team has some major flaws to fix this offseason.

How differnetly would the season have gone if Darius Garland didn’t break his jaw? Or if Evan Mobley was a reliable 3-point shooter? Or if JB Bickerstaff was fired after last season? Or if Donovan Mitchell never got hurt?

We run through a few scenarios to figure out the outcome for each.

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