14. Cleveland Cavaliers
Key offseason move: Acquired Max Strus
The Cleveland Cavaliers were one of the most improved teams last season with the addition of Donovan Mitchell. It was a better acquisition than many anticipated and the Cavs entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks didn’t exactly pan out as they had hoped, but there’s no question that this team is in a good place heading into next season.
The big move of the summer for the Cavs was their acquisition of Max Strus. He comes over from Miami with plenty of playoff experience and should fill a need at the small forward position for the team. He’s a good shooter and has shown the ability to be a capable rim attacker at times. The big question with Strus fall on the defensive end.
I’m not sure how much better the acquisition of Strus makes the Cavs but their young players should also take another leap in their individual games that should equate to an improved Cleveland team next season.