3 teams exposed in the NBA Playoffs that need a rebuild

Sometimes losing in the NBA Playoffs is just about running up against a superior team. In the case of these teams, it’s a sign that big changes are needed.

“There are 82-game players, then there are 16-game players,” Draymond Green once said, explaining his ability to ratchet up his effectiveness in the playoffs. The same is true for teams.

The postseason has a way of baring a team’s soul for the world to see, flaws and all. Sure, there can be mitigating circumstances: injuries, bad matchups, an uncharacteristic shooting performance by the other team. But a seven-game series tends to expose any cracks in the foundation.

There has been precisely one win and one loss by every single seed, 1-8. That means that a whole lot of teams with high playoff expectations found themselves without a single playoff series win. In several cases, it isn’t clear that the team, as currently constructed, is equipped to make a deep playoff run in the future, either.

3 teams that need substantial change to improve their future NBA Playoffs odds:

Below we’ll look at three disappointed teams, what went wrong, and how they need to improve.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland entered the playoffs feeling great.

The models plugged them as one of the best teams in the league, an analytical darling. The Cavs thought likely All-NBAer Donovan Mitchell gave them a guy who could take over a series, and their twin-tower look of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen spearheaded a league-best defense that put teams in quicksand. A surprising late-season run by the New York Knicks had even helped Cleveland avoid Miami in the first round.

Then, the Knicks proceeded to bully, bludgeon, and batter Cleveland into submission, destroying them thoroughly and embarrassingly in five games.

Allen and Mobley were too weak to grind against Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, and Isaiah Hartenstein on the boards as New York dominated Cleveland on the offensive glass. On the other end, Donovan Mitchell and fellow guard Darius Garland were repeatedly stumped by New York’s aggressive paint-packing defense (aided by the Cavs’ lack of shooting elsewhere on the court).

The Cavaliers entered the playoffs feeling confident that Caris LeVert, Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro, and Dean Wade gave them multiple options to play at the three-spot. But it quickly became apparent that none of the four could suitably play two ways or space the floor effectively.

Worse, the way that the Cavs’ undersized guards struggled in the playoffs was foreshadowed by Portland’s similar struggles in the past — the problems were predictable. Mitchell and Garland could not navigate the tight corridors presented by New York’s clogged-toilet defense, and they were exploited on the other end (most notably by Jalen Brunson).

The biggest problem was a lack of flexibility. The guards are excellent offensive players but smaller and not as stout on defense, particularly Garland. As a result, they can’t switch onto bigs or play up a position. Similarly, the Cavaliers’ tallest guys are too offensively limited to space the floor effectively for the guards and too thin to bang with the sturdiest opponents. If this is what the Knicks did to them, imagine what Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo might’ve done over a series.

The Cavs lack the size to play big and the shooting to play small. As a result, they are locked into one style of play. It worked great in the regular season, but the NBA playoffs increasingly value flexibility above all else. The Cavaliers desperately need to find a reliable player or two who can help them shapeshift.

Cleveland emptied the bank for Donovan Mitchell, and he largely performed better than expected (at least during the regular season). Garland is young and promising, and Mobley is an improving offensive player who just came in third in Defensive Player of the Year voting as a sophomore. Cleveland’s only real avenue for change is exploring what they can get back for Jarrett Allen, but the market isn’t likely to be particularly excited by an offensively-limited center, even one as good and useful as Allen.

All of the Cavaliers’ core four are young and talented, but Allen isn’t going to suddenly start popping from outside, and Mitchell and Garland aren’t likely to hit a growth spurt. It’s possible that Mobley bulks up and extends his shooting range enough to mitigate many of Cleveland’s issues, but there will still be a need for shooting and defense from the fifth starter spot. Internal improvement can only account for so much.

Cleveland is already over the tax for next season, but the new CBA will allow them to use their mid-level exception in trades to take back more salary. Look for Cleveland to aggressively pursue players like Royce O’Neale, and they may even take a look at Memphis’ departing Dillon Brooks. Kyle Kuzma will likely be too expensive for Cleveland to nab, but one can dream.

With limited assets, the only way for Cleveland to make substantial moves will be to dangle Allen in trades. Getting back a two-way wing, even someone worse than Allen in a vacuum, may be necessary to improve the team’s long-term playoff outlook.