Cavs Fans Approve Of Team’s Offseason Moves

It’s been a rollercoaster of an offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It started with the possibility of securing LeBron James for a final championship run and farewell tour, only for that to go up in flames after nearly a month of waiting around.

Despite Plan A not working, Cleveland’s front office managed to do two important things this summer. They shed money, getting below the second apron after ending last season there. And they found what could be a more permanent solution at small forward by completing a sign-and-trade for Peyton Watson.

Here’s a quick overview of how the Cavs team is different now than they were at the end of last season.

Notable additions

• Peyton Watson
• Meleek Thomas
• Mario Hezonja

Notable subtractions

• Max Strus
• Dean Wade
• Dennis Schroder
• Keon Ellis
• 2031 first-round pick

These changes have Cavs fans feeling optimistic. Seventy-two percent of those surveyed earlier this week would give the Cavs an “A” or “B” grade for the moves made this summer.

We’ll have to wait a while to fully judge this offseason. Last year is a great example of why.

Many thought at this time last year that Lonzo Ball would be the perfect complementary backup guard and that the earlier De’Andre Hunter acquisition would start paying dividends. However, it became clear early on that neither of those things would be true, which forced the Cavs to move on from both players at the deadline. Hopefully for Cleveland, these moves age better than those ones did.

The rest of the Eastern Conference has gotten better as well. James and Jaylen Brown are with the Philadelphia 76ers. Giannis Antetokounmpo has a new home with the Miami Heat. Tyrese Haliburton will be back this season with the Indiana Pacers. And Kawhi Leonard is heading back to the Toronto Raptors.

Right now, it feels like there are over half a dozen teams that could realistically come out of the East. That is reflected in the current FanDuel odds.

Cleveland is currently tied with the Detroit Pistons for the fourth-highest odds to come out of the conference at +850. They trail the New York Knicks (+330), Sixers (+400), and Boston Celtics (+500). The Cavs are +2500 to win the Finals.