NBA Season Preview 2019-20: The 5 biggest questions for the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a new head coach, an enigma for a backcourt and one certified star. Here are their five biggest questions for 2019-20.

1. What does success look like for the Cavaliers this season?

Darius Garland and Collin Sexton miraculously fitting together in the backcourt; Kevin Love playing 2-3 months of dominant basketball before a trade that compensates Cleveland for near-full value; Kevin Porter Jr.’s locker being located on the opposite end from Jordan Clarkson in the locker room; Cedi Osman and Larry Nance Jr. proving themselves as intrinsic pieces for the next chapter; and a win total somewhere in the 20-25 range.

More realistically, the Cavs would probably be happy if one of Garland/Sexton thrives as the starting point guard and the other accepts his bench role; Love stays relatively healthy and plays well enough to still facilitate a February trade that recoups 70 percent of his real value; Porter simply passes Clarkson in the rotation and doesn’t learn a thing from him; Osman and Nance continue to look like okay but not great NBA players; and something in the region of 15-20 wins.

The latter set of scenarios would establish the backcourt pecking order for the future, add some draft assets to Cleveland’s cupboard as they push through this rebuilding phase, hopefully get the best out of Porter, Osman and Nance, and also set the Cavs up for a big summer where they’ll likely have a top draft pick and about $67 million coming off the books between the expiring contracts of Clarkson, Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight, Matthew Dellavedova and John Henson.

2. Sexland: Viable long-term backcourt combination or clever nickname to help stave off the darkness of another depressing NBA season?

The Cavs would love if “Sexland” became a viable long-term solution in the backcourt. In this dream scenario, the duo would average 69 points per game, there’d be no hand-wringing over their future, they would be attentive to each other’s needs and in this backcourt, size wouldn’t matter.

Unfortunately, too much of anything can be too much, and Sexland feels like one attraction Cavs fan will need some time to recuperate from (at least 45 minutes) before visiting again for Round 2. An even bigger problem is that even if Sexton and Garland are both scoring, in Sexland, where everyone scores, they’re probably also getting scored on.

In our darkest and loneliest of times is usually when fantasies set in. As fun as Sexland sounds on paper, its long-term viability is purely that: fantasy.

3. Jordan Clarkson as a mentor for Kevin Porter Jr.: Bad idea or terrible idea?

This idea is when the Grinch decides to steal Christmas. If this idea were a day, it would be Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. If this idea were a movie … well, it would still be Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I’m sorry if these references are childish, but so is the idea of letting Kevin Porter Jr. learn from Jordan Clarkson.

Last year, in his first full season in Cleveland, Clarkson posted 16.8 points per game on 53.9 percent true shooting. He only made 32.4 percent of his 3s, and despite not starting in a single one of his 81 appearances, he still took 14.6 shots per game — second-most on the team, behind only Collin Sexton (14.7), who averaged nearly five minutes more per game. The dude just hoists shots, even if they’re not good ones or helpful to the offense.

Heading into the pre-draft process, Kevin Porter Jr.’s scoring potential was his biggest selling point, but there were/are concerns over his ability to get there. Why? Because, as The Ringer notes, he “tends to take poor shots outside of the offensive system on the court.” The Stepien uses the words “volume,” “streaky” and “boom, bust player” to describe Porter in its scouting report. Sound familiar to anyone we already know on this Cavs roster?

The Stepien provides the real kicker to Porter learning from a guy like Clarkson, however: “Has a fair medium outcome as a bench scorer, but he can be much more if he is drafted to a good team that can iron out his issues.”

Yikes. Unless Porter’s talent simply bypasses Clarkson on the depth chart (a tough ask for a rookie), I say, good luck with all of this.

4. Could Kevin Love average a double-double this season?

I mean, the Cavaliers certainly hope so — not just because he’s the lone, established, certifiably great player on their roster, but also because they kind of need him to recoup his trade value after missing 60 games last year.

Still, in the 22 games he suited up for, Love averaged a double-double with 17.0 points and 10.9 rebounds a night. He’s hit the double-double mark in two of his five seasons in The Land, and over the course of those five seasons, he’s averaged a double-double at 17.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.

On a team with very little competition in the frontcourt, and not much young talent in need of developmental minutes behind him, it’s safe to assume a fully healthy Kevin Love will reach the double-double mark again in 2019-20.

5. What should we expect from a John Beilein NBA team?

Though he doesn’t have any NBA coaching experience, John Beilein is a proven winner at the NCAA level. He led the Michigan Wolverines to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, two Final Fours, two Big Ten regular season championships and two Big Ten tournament championships. The Wolverines made the Sweet Sixteen in each of the past three seasons, including the second of his two appearances in the championship game.

Beilein was a winner as a college coach because of his attention to detail. From watching film to his “Beilein Ball” to promote fundamentals, he might be the right guy to re-establish a winning culture in Cleveland and build around what the Cavs currently have.

Though he’s a bit older at 66, his offensive style should translate well to the NBA. As Fear The Sword‘s Mike Zavagno pointed out earlier this summer, Michigan ran ball screens to finish possessions 38.7 percent of the time last season, which ranked fourth in Division I and would’ve fit right in at the NBA level.

His teams played notoriously slow at Michigan, which will have to change given how the NBA is so enamored with the pace-and-space game. However, his Wolverines were also very stout defensively, allowing the eighth-fewest points per game in DI in 2017-18 and the second-fewest in 2018-19. For the NBA’s worst defense in the league last year, any help he can provide on that front will be a blessing.

Beilein is used to working with young, raw talent in college, and that’s exactly what he’ll need to do again with a Cavs roster sporting Garland (19), Porter (19), Sexton (20), Ante Zizic (22), Dylan Windler (23) and Osman (24). He’s used to working with talented, score-first guards like Trey Burke, Caris LeVert and Nik Stauskas, which should help with Garland and Sexton.

Mostly, his team will run a lot of ball screens between those two guards. The Cavs will probably play at a slower pace (they were already 29th in the NBA in pace last year) and their defense will hopefully improve a smidge, even without the personnel for an NBA-average defense.