Cleveland Cavaliers (12-46, third worst in NBA)
Current talent: Kevin Love‘s recent return from a foot injury loses the Cavs a few points here, but the rest of the roster remains pretty bare. The post-LeBron Cavaliers are an amalgamation of heavily-flawed role players and raw prospects, and even Love at his best wouldn’t be enough to paper over the cracks. 16/20
Team needs: Collin Sexton is the only long-term fixture on the roster, and even he is far from a guaranteed starter down the road. That leaves every prospect as an option, and every other position in Cleveland’s starting lineup open.
Even if the plan is to build around Love for the remaining four years of his contract, the Cavs should be taking the best available talent on the board, regardless of position. They need as much help as possible, wherever it comes. 17/20
Injuries/resting potential: As Cleveland’s lone All-Star-level talent, Love holds the keys to this category, and his injury history suggests that he will be a capable tank commander down the stretch. He missed the first 52 games of the season, and has missed 45 games over the two previous years.
With his contract extension still young Cleveland won’t be afraid to bench him, either to keep him fresh or preserve his trade value. Tristan Thompson is still yet to return after missing 13 games with a foot injury, and fellow veteran JR Smith could also see some DNP’s. 18/20
Dell Demps Desperation Factor: It feels like Cleveland’s front office is under no pressure whatsoever. What exactly are you supposed to do when one of the two best players of all time abandons you for the second time?
By not moving on from Smith, Thompson or Love, the Cavaliers have shown they are willing to keep some remainders of their championship team around. They may still lose enough games to earn a top-three pick, but it doesn’t yet look like the front office is actively trying to do so to any large degree. 11/20
Strength of schedule: 15 of their final 24 games are against teams currently in the playoffs, including a stretch of seven games through late March. They’ll need to avoid any upset wins in that time, and look to eke out some losses from two games against Phoenix and one against New York. 12/20