Cleveland Cavaliers: Trending downward
After finishing as a top 4 team in the Eastern Conference during the regular season last year, the natural belief was that with the chance that the Philadelphia 76ers could take a bit of a step back this season the Cleveland Cavaliers could be a candidate to finish as a top 3 team in the standings. The expectation was that Donovan Mitchell would continue to play at a high level and the young supporting cast would take another step forward in their individual developments (and that would equate to overall team improvement).
To start the season, that exactly hasn’t been the case. The Cavs have gotten off to an inconsistent 3-4 start and the Cavs have struggled on the offensive end of the floor. They’re ranked in the bottom 5 in the league on that end of the floor. Individually, Evan Mobley also hasn’t taken the next step forward that many believed he would.
All in all, the Cavs have not been the top-4 team in the East that they were last season. The hope is that they can turn things around quickly but that’s far from a certainty with how they’ve played through the first two weeks of the season.