2019 Regular Season Predictions

[Stark]

We won 19 games last year, and that was with a terrible head coach and Love sitting out most of the year.

Team is pretty much the same structure as last season, but you add in Belien, Garland, Porter, Windler, and a healthy K-Love, not to mention hopeful improvements from guys like Sexton, Osman, and Nance.

I'll say that's worth at least 6-7 wins.

26-56. As long as we keep our pick and the young kids progress well, then this season is a success.

 

[mhi]

If Love plays 40 or more games, 31-51
If Love plays less that 25, 22-60

 

[Los216]

The homer in me says 36 wins but reality says between 23-29.

 

[Omar The Horse]

This is going to be ugly. I’m talking Noah building an ark without an advanced warning because God told him to ugly.

There will be brighter days.

Word to the spirit of Fred McLeod

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

I can't see any scenario with more than 25 wins and more likely about 20-62 at best. The defense will be beyond awful. Be fascinating to see if Beilein can make any progress with this roster at all. Coaches tend to think they are more influential than they really are. Garland strikes me as the only keeper on this roster. The season should be devoted to determining if Garland and Sexton can play side-by-side in an offense that could win games. If not, Sexton needs to go before next season. I would be shocked if Love is still in Cleveland at the trade deadline. Losing preseason games by nearly 50 points is a scary sign. This is going to be real bad. I expect at least two losing streaks of 10+ games.

 

[Ozone]

I can't see any scenario with more than 25 wins and more likely about 20-62 at best. The defense will be beyond awful. Be fascinating to see if Beilein can make any progress with this roster at all. Coaches tend to think they are more influential than they really are. Garland strikes me as the only keeper on this roster. The season should be devoted to determining if Garland and Sexton can play side-by-side in an offense that could win games. If not, Sexton needs to go before next season. I would be shocked if Love is still in Cleveland at the trade deadline. Losing preseason games by nearly 50 points is a scary sign. This is going to be real bad. I expect at least two losing streaks of 10+ games.

Yes it's going to be a rebuilding season, no shocker since they are rebuilding.
Sexton does not need to go and Beilein wanted multiple score first guards anyway. Too bad the defense will suck but they knew that would be the case didn't they.
losing like they did really means very little in the grand scheme going forward considering the type of sets they are trying to learn while trying to learn what to expect from each other with 4 rookies maybe 5 and a couple of vets that have never played for this coach either.
this year is about all the players worth retaining getting grind in w/ Beileins system.
They are not trading Sexton or Garland before next summer, because the team will be so unwatchable while they learn the system neither will have the value in a trade to make it worthwhile, even if they decide they cannot coexist.
They took a big gamble taking another score first guard who is weaker and slower than the one they took the season previously , but hey at least the guy can shoot right smh

 

[WorldFreeB]

Usually I am Mr. Optimistic,,(I had the Browns going to the Super Bowl this year,,lol) but this looks like a train wreck to me.
I didn't see anything at all to make me optimistic come out of training camp,,it looks like its going to take some time to get acclimated to
the new systems if they ever do. Got them around 20 wins....If they can keep Love healthy to the deadline and he puts up an efficient 20/10 then
he could be the big trade chip at the deadline for a contender. With Beal tied to Washington this year Love could net us some really good assets.
Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Deezus]

I'm not going to throw out a specific number or range of numbers for wins... but I will say that we'll absolutely win just the right amount to get screwed in the draft lottery and pick in the 5 or 6 spot again.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

The Cavs won 19 games last year but after Kevin Love returned they were 5-9 in games where Love played 20 minutes or more. They were a much better team when he was able to play a significant portion of the game. The 126-101 win over the Raptors was an example of what they can do when Love plays and they’re hitting on all cylinders.

If they maintained that 5-9 winning percentage over an 82-game season it would equate to 25 wins.

In John Hollinger’s NBA preview in The Athletic he has the Cavs winning 26 games.

If we assume the Cavs played this season with the exact roster that finished last year I would expect 25 wins. That’s the starting point. Will this team be better or worse? In terms of personnel, subtract Nwaba, Stauskas, Adel, and Chriss. Add Garland, Porter, Henson, and Windler. I would say Nwaba was the only significant loss, and he wasn’t all that significant. He started only 14 games and played an average of 12 minutes per game.

I think any fan would be happy to trade Nwaba, Stauskas, Adel and Chriss for Garland, Porter, Windler and Henson. It’s hard to gauge exactly how good those four players will be this year since three of them are rookies and we’re not sure how many minutes Henson will get playing behind Love and maybe Nance, who now says he’s a 4.

But if these four are significantly better THIS year than those four were LAST year then the 25 win base has to be revised upwards. Stauskas is playing in Spain this year, Adel is on a two-way contract, and Chriss is fighting for the last spot on the Warriors roster.

Then there’s the coaching staff, which has completely turned over and features a rookie head coach with no NBA coaching experience at any level.

The wild cards in this calculation are obviously Beilein (how well he transitions to the pro game) and trades (whether guys like Clarkson, Henson, and TT get dealt in mid-season).

I’m thinking management won’t want to lose that first round pick so we could see some trades for draft picks if we start threatening to break out of the bottom 10. However, only six teams won less than 32 games last year and the 10th worst team won 37, so I don’t think any trades will be necessary to stay under 37 wins.

If Love stays healthy and the three rookies play up to their potential I can see 35 wins as the ceiling. But if Love gets hurt, Beilein needs some time to adapt, the rookies struggle, and management decides to move Clarkson, TT, and Henson, then all bets are off. I’m in the 25-35 win range with 30 being the number if I had to pick one. I don’t expect everything to go right or wrong - it will be somewhere in the middle.

 

[CavsFanJapan]

We will get a good idea within the first 15 games. Every team steals some early on that shouldn’t win and last year, we couldn’t steal a game or even compete. If we can steal a few, then we hit around 25-30. If we shit ourselves like the beginning of last year, lucky to hit 20. Many teams seemed to get better this offseason but a few teams, and that is not good for the Cavs.

 

[wildfan]

My prediction-- it's going to be a long and painful to watch season for us. Homer in me hopes I'm wrong.

 

[ajz20]

Anything that ends in the three rookies making real progress, keeping the pick ( maybe getting another first rounder) and finding out if Sexton is a long term fit is grand slam wether it is 18 or 27 wins. Hopefully the team is not historically bad, and I don’t think they will be. They will probably win 5 to 7 games alone just on having young legs, enthusiasm and catching a veteran team on an off night.

 

[AllforOne]

Many teams seemed to get better this offseason but a few teams, and that is not good for the Cavs.

Seems like every team improves between June and September. It's probably the result of not seeing these guys play every day, and thus forgetting about their warts.

As for predictions: I'll say 23-59, third worst record in the league, get shafted again in the lottery and end up picking fifth. The talent level of the team is better, but it's also younger and more prone to growing pains. Same is true for the coaching staff. Oh, lest we forget, The Tank is still going. When Garland gets a hangnail, he'll be out two weeks as a precaution. When Love sneezes, he'll be out a month. That effect drives the win total down a bit.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Seems like every team improves between June and September. It's probably the result of not seeing these guys play every day, and thus forgetting about their warts.

As for predictions: I'll say 23-59, third worst record in the league, get shafted again in the lottery and end up picking fifth. The talent level of the team is better, but it's also younger and more prone to growing pains. Same is true for the coaching staff. Oh, lest we forget, The Tank is still going. When Garland gets a hangnail, he'll be out two weeks as a precaution. When Love sneezes, he'll be out a month. That effect drives the win total down a bit.

I don't agree on the big tank job. They just have to have one of the ten worst records, which means stay under 37 wins if last year is any indication. I dont see this as a 37-win team even in the best case scenario. Beilein is beside himself at how bad the Cavs have looked in the preseason. He’s not going to be receptive to being told that healthy players should be benched so we lose on purpose. He would never have taken this job if he was told in the interview that the Cavs will be tanking this year.

 

[Derek]

We don't have to sit guys to be bad, our talent level will take care of that on its own. I have no problem with being extra cautious and making sure nobody ends up with a lingering injury, but let's get our team on the court and see what kind of growth they can make this year.