The Cleveland Cavaliers came very close to losing an All-Star player this summer.
Everything is hunky-dory now, and things are going so well in Cleveland that the drama of the summer seem like a distant whisp of a memory. This groups feels like it has always been together, always will be together, and are ready to take on the world together.
The Cavaliers have built something truly impressive this season. They are running away with the Eastern Conference and doing so on the backs of both their stars — four All-Stars in their primes, including three this season — and exceptional depth.
Darius Garland is the secret to Cleveland’s success
The true secret weapon, the reason the Cavaliers so rarely stumble and are heading for one of, if not the best, regular season finish in franchise history, may not be the excellence of Donovan Mitchell — as excellent as he has been, on pace to squeeze onto the MVP ballot — nor the improvement of Evan Mobley — who is on pace to win Defensive Player of the Year.
There are teams in the NBA who can match the Cavaliers at the top of their rosters. Mitchell and Mobley are incredible, but they aren’t the only elite pairing. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are the defending champions. LeBron James and Luka Doncic are perhaps the two smartest players in the NBA. Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler have been to eight of the last 10 NBA Finals.
Where the Cavaliers stand apart is when you now add Darius Garland to the mix. It’s not controversial to say he is the team’s third-best player, but at the same time he is probably having a better offensive season than Donovan Mitchell. Depending on your view of Chet Holmgren, Darius Garland looks like the best No. 3 guy in the entire NBA, and it may not be all that close.
