Zach Lowe's rankings of "League Pass" teams (basically: interest and watchability of teams) ranks my home team, the Wizards, the worst in the league and the Cavaliers just one slot above. That kind of sucks.
Here he is on the Cavaliers:
29. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (19.5)
One of my random vivid memories from last season: watching from courtside on March 12 in Philadelphia as Collin Sexton kept the Cavs -- without Kevin Love -- close against a full-strength Philly team acting as if that game was beneath it.
I fell a little in love with Sexton that night. He sensed Philly's disdain. It fueled him. He went at Joel Embiid and talked trash, chin-to-chest, during dead balls. He demanded the ball on every fourth-quarter possession, and produced: 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting.
He also had one assist. A Sexton-Darius Garland backcourt is going to chuck wacky shots as open teammates scream for the ball. At least Jordan Clarkson realized halfway through last season that passing is legal!
But Sexton has something you can't teach -- a little Westbrookian bravado that, if channeled the right way, can lift everyone around him.
Love will bring playmaking style and overall respectability unless and until the Cavs trade him. He has a nice pass-and-cut chemistry with Cedi Osman. Larry Nance Jr. is vowing to expand his perimeter game. Perhaps we will see one nostalgic glimpse of the Matthew Dellavedova-Tristan Thompson lob connection. If Kevin Porter Jr. sticks in the rotation, this ranking might look foolish.
Here he is on the Cavaliers:
29. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (19.5)
One of my random vivid memories from last season: watching from courtside on March 12 in Philadelphia as Collin Sexton kept the Cavs -- without Kevin Love -- close against a full-strength Philly team acting as if that game was beneath it.
I fell a little in love with Sexton that night. He sensed Philly's disdain. It fueled him. He went at Joel Embiid and talked trash, chin-to-chest, during dead balls. He demanded the ball on every fourth-quarter possession, and produced: 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting.
He also had one assist. A Sexton-Darius Garland backcourt is going to chuck wacky shots as open teammates scream for the ball. At least Jordan Clarkson realized halfway through last season that passing is legal!
But Sexton has something you can't teach -- a little Westbrookian bravado that, if channeled the right way, can lift everyone around him.
Love will bring playmaking style and overall respectability unless and until the Cavs trade him. He has a nice pass-and-cut chemistry with Cedi Osman. Larry Nance Jr. is vowing to expand his perimeter game. Perhaps we will see one nostalgic glimpse of the Matthew Dellavedova-Tristan Thompson lob connection. If Kevin Porter Jr. sticks in the rotation, this ranking might look foolish.
