Matthes Manifesto II: Where do the Indiana Pacers stack up in the East?

The Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a unique place. Neither terrible (yet) or good (probably not going to happen) the Cavs have flexibility to saunter either direction. Make a push for the playoffs? They could. The Hornets are not a lock on the eighth seed, the Pistons are brittle and the Nets have yet to arrive.

Cleveland does still have an all-star (Kevin Love), and a roster full of role players acquainted with success. If they band together they could make a push for the final playoff spot.

But, the cost of coming close and missing is El Capitan steep. Cleveland loses their 2019 first round draft pick if they finish higher than tenth. If they finish ninth in the East they not only miss the playoffs but they likely lose their pick too.

That’s the ultimate stuck in purgatory scenario that many basketball bloggers fear. In their current iteration, Cleveland is almost guaranteed to find themselves in exactly that purgatory. It seems like Cleveland needs to pick a direction and commit to it.

If they want to make a playoff push, they’ll need to flip one of their veterans for a two-guard who can go and attack the basket, or a center who can protect the rim, or maybe both. If they want to focus on keeping their draft pick they could try to move Love, or Kyle Korver or whomever. Those moves will both allow for their younger players to get more playing time and almost assuredly secure a top ten draft pick.

Either way, the Cavs will then have direction. If they don’t pick any, the battle for the eighth seed will likely be tight and they’ll risk missing both the playoffs and the draft.