All-Star Break Progress Reports

It’s that time again! Time for player progress reports on your Cleveland Cavaliers, courtesy of Cavs: The Blog. A lot has changed with the Cavaliers since our last progress reports, and they head into the All-Star break and next week’s trade deadline with nearly as many questions about the team as they’ve had all season. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but here’s a look at where each player is right now.*

Jared Cunningham

Cunningham was able to keep his roster spot and see his contract become guaranteed for the season, which was undoubtedly a huge victory for the journeyman. Since then, Cunningham has fallen out of the rotation, averaging just 3.3 minutes per game in January, and failing to get into a game so far this month. Cunningham is an excellent athlete, but he has no real offensive skill, and his defense isn’t enough to make up for that. Grade: I. Incomplete player or invisible from the rotation. Cunningham is both of those things right now.

Matthew Dellavedova

After a phenomenal start to the season, Dellavedova has come back to Earth a bit in the new year. He shot just 40.4% from the field in January, and has been dealing with hamstring issues that have cost him the last four games. His assist-to-turnover is still a terrific 3.13, but it’s no longer the best in the league. Still, Dellavedova’s combination of shooting, defense, and ability to run the offense make him a huge part of the Cavaliers’ success. Grade: D+ Not the kind you think though. Delly is the only one of the Cavaliers’ three point guards who is even an average defender, and he has played at a level this season that we’ve never seen from him.

Kyrie Irving

Irving’s season has been a mix of extremes so far. He’s shooting 51.3% on two-point shots and 88.8% on free throws, both of which are career highs. On the negative side, Irving is shooting 25.5% from three, and is averaging just four assists and 0.9 steals per game, all of which are career lows. After taking a step forward last season, Irving’s defense has slipped back to abysmal levels as he cannot seem to fight through picks to save his life. Some of this should improve as he works his way back into peak condition. Irving’s shooting his a huge part of the Cavaliers’ offense, and on the other end he has to at least make opposing point guards work for their points. Grade: O- Everything seems to be falling in place for Kyrie in terms of scoring, but he still hasn’t found his outside shot and plays far too much isolation basketball.

LeBron James

No player in the entire NBA gets the same treatment from the fans as LeBron James. We expect him to make every basket, and then are shocked when he misses. We expect him to improve his outside shooting, then are appalled when he takes a three pointer. We want him to take over games, yet not dominate the ball. Clevelanders defend him as one of our own, yet are harder on him than any other athlete. He is deified and mocked every day. The reality is, James has started to slip, but he works tremendously hard on his craft, and we’ll likely never see another athlete like him playing for a Cleveland team in our lifetime. Get back on D though, bro. Grade: S-  for his shooting. LeBron is still one of the five best players in the game, but he’s graded on a tough curve and his poor shooting this season is starting to have a negative effect on the Cavaliers’ spacing.

Richard Jefferson

Jefferson has done a nice job spacing the floor for the Cavaliers as both a backup to James and lately as a stretch four in certain lineups. He’s also shown that he has good explosiveness left with some impressive finishes at the basket. The biggest area in which age seems to have affected Jefferson is his defense, as he has trouble keeping up with speedier wing players, and can be outmuscled by true power forwards. Still, he has been a nice addition for the Cavaliers this year and deserves his spot in the rotation with the current roster. Grade: S. For solid veteran. Jefferson has given the Cavaliers great outside shooting and smart play throughout the season. He has been a huge upgrade over Shawn Marion and Mike Miller.

James Jones

“Champ” is one of the most respected voices in the locker room, and has the gravitas to speak his mind to any of his of his teammates, including the Big Three. That’s an important role, and likely the only consistent one Jones will have this season, as Jefferson has taken all of the minutes that were previously allotted to Jones. Still, he’s exactly the kind of player you want at the end of your bench, a professional who is always prepared and could potentially swing a game for his team. Grade: O- This doesn’t have the same meaning as Irving’s grade. Jones is 35 years old and is shooting just 35.5% from deep, basically league average. If he can’t help the offense with great outside shooting, then Jones needs to be on the outside of the rotation.

Sasha Kaun

With the trade of Joe Harris to the Orlando Magic, Kaun is undoubtedly the last man on the Cavaliers’ bench. He’s played just 39 minutes over nine games this season, and while his RPM and per 36 numbers are solid, there’s not nearly enough data to know what kind of player he is. Grade: W. As in who are you? What kind of player are you? No one really knows, but if he was good enough to earn minutes, then he would be playing

Kevin Love

I wrote last week about Love’s value to the Cavaliers and whether or not he should have been an All-Star this season. While his numbers have dipped since Irving’s return, his combination of rebounding, passing, and shooting open up things offensively for the Cavaliers even when his own shot is not falling. There has been some talk of Love replacing Jimmy Butler as an All-Star if a knee strain forces Butler to miss the festivities. It’s not the ideal way to get in, but Love more than deserves it. Grade: M. As in Kevin Love may be the second-most important player on this team.

Timofey Mozgov

After starting the year slowly due to offseason knee surgery, Mozgov has been slowly rounding into the kind of form Cavalier fans could reasonably expect from him. He shot 53.1% in December, 60% in January, and is at 67% in February. His rebounding and block rates would still be his lowest since his rookie season, and his minutes are decreasing with each month, which shows that the coaching staff isn’t happy with his play. Mozgov has his faults to be sure, but he again looks like what he has been for the majority of his career, a solid big man off the bench. Whether or not he can play against teams that go small is still a major concern for the Cavaliers though, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if he was traded. Grade: U, for unfair. Mozgov played a bit above his head after the Cavaliers traded for him last season. While he obviously had a slow start to this season, he has played closer to his career norms for the last month-plus. He is who he is, and Cavalier fans need to accept that.

Iman Shumpert

Shumpert came back with a vengeance from a wrist injury suffered just before the preseason, giving the Cavaliers terrific perimeter defense, and enough shooting that teams had to guard him. As time has gone on though, Shumpert’s offense has slipped further and further, and he’s currently shooting just 26% from the field and 23% from deep in February. Too often, Shumpert tries to create off the dribble, rather than spotting up in the corner, which is both better for the Cavaliers’ offense and something he is fairly effective at. While Irving gives back much of his offensive impact on defense, Shumpert is his polar opposite. His poor decisions on offense may negate his presence on defense. Grade: D+/O- Shumpert’s defense has been as good as advertised this season, and it’s a skill the Cavs definitely need. What they don’t need is more isolation shots, especially from a below average offensive player.

J.R. Smith

After a slow start to the season, Smith has shot very well over the last two months, particularly from deep, where he is now shooting 40% on the season. He provides valuable spacing and has carried the offense at times over the last few games. While there is still some debate as to whether Smith or Shumpert should start at shooting guard, it should be pointed out that Smith is 11th among shooting guards in RPM, while Shumpert ranks 32nd. Grade: S. For Swish. It’s a shame that Smith isn’t part of this year’s Three-Point Contest, he’s become a critical part of the Cavaliers’ offense.

Tristan Thompson

The current iron man of the NBA just keeps rolling along, grabbing boards, playing defense, and finishing at the rim. He’s also been able to get his free throw percentage back above 60%, and if he can keep that trend going, it should dissuade teams from going to Hack-A-Tristan. Thompson is who he is at this point, an energy big man who is quite valuable for his previously mentioned skills, despite that fact that he cannot space the floor and is a below average rim protector. In many ways he fills the role that Varejao did during the first LeBron era, and that is incredibly important for this team. Grade: R for rebounding, which he does as well as nearly anyone in the league. R for Rodman also. The game has changed, but TT would do well to emulate the way The Worm rebounded and played defense, especially during The Bad Boys era.

Anderson Varejao

Varejao hasn’t been a regular in the rotation, but a role may be emerging for the longest-tenured Cavalier. Tyronn Lue’s lack of patience with Timofey Mozgov’s inconsistent play has been evident, and he has gone to Varejao much more quickly than David Blatt did when Mozgov struggles. While a quick hook will likely hurt Mozgov’s already fragile confidence, having Varejao ready when Mozgov is struggling or in certain matchups may be an ideal way to keep him sharp while limiting his chances of suffering yet another injury. The role of fourth big man with semi regular time is ideal for Varejao at this stage of his career. Grade: P. A total professional, Varejao plays sporadically, but has been reasonably effective when he does see action.

Mo Williams

The return of Kyrie Irving had caused the exile of Williams from the Cavaliers’ rotation, and that seems to be for the best. After a hot start to the season, Williams hasn’t shot above 40% in any month since November and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of just 1.77 for the season, and he’s shooting below league average from three for the second season in a row. Combine that with horrific defense that has never been more evident than since he replaced an injured Dellavedova in the rotation, and it’s hard to justify giving Williams minutes. With Irving’s injury history, the Cavaliers need a viable third point guard, but is Williams still the answer here when he would be shredded defensively in the playoffs? Grade: B. Last time Mo got a D- for his minus D. This time it’s a B. He’s become a bit of a black hole on offense and always gets blown by on defense.

There you have the second quarter progress reports for the Cleveland Cavaliers. We’ll take a look at how things have changed in another twenty games for so, but until we do, let me leave you with a bit of knowledge I learned from my high school track coach. When it comes to sports, it’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems. The Cavaliers aren’t playing their best basketball right now, but they still sit atop the Eastern Conference and are on pace for close to sixty wins. Whatever happens the rest of this season, it’s important we enjoy the journey. It’s not often we get a team this talented in Cleveland, and there’s nothing wrong with appreciating it.

*Note, statistics were taken after Friday night’s debacle against the Celtics.