Cavs have talent, but will it be good enough?

For the first time since 2018, the Cleveland Cavaliers made it to the second round of the playoffs, but more was needed for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to keep his job as he was fired at the end of the season.

Enter new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who the Cavs hope can take the team to the next level. Atkinson had some success in Brooklyn with the Nets, but he’s never led a team out of the first round of the playoffs; he’s never had an opportunity to coach a team as talented as the Cavs. However, this feels like a lateral move.

The best news of the summer for the Cavs was that five-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell signed a max extension to stay in Cleveland. Mitchell is an elite scorer and the team’s best player. The Cavs go as Mitchell goes. 

At the end of last season, the thought was Darius Garland was going to get traded, and I believe they should have seen what they could have gotten for him. However, the Cavs believe the 2020 All-Star can mesh well with Mitchell. Garland is ultra-talented, but the fit with Mitchell is questionable. 

The Cavs also extended Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Both are talented big men, but like Garland and Mitchell, some question the fit. However, Mobley has shown the ability to shoot from deep. The 23-year-old Mobley can and probably will get better, and Allen is dependable and gets the job done.

The Cavs will basically have the same team from a year ago. Mitchell, Garland, Max Strus, Mobley, and Allen will be in the starting lineup. Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert, Dean Wade, and George Niang will again be in the bench rotation. 

The Cavs are banking on Atkinson making all the right moves.

Currently, there are a few teams on paper in the East that are better than the Cavs. In no particular order, the world-champion Celtics, 76ers, Knicks, and Bucks, so it will take a lot of work for Cleveland to make noise in the East.

If everything goes right for the Cavs, they might make it to the second round. Last season, the Cavs won 48 games, and they will probably be around that number this season.

Prediction: 47-35 and lose in the first round.