CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers opened up the exhibition slate with a less-than-stellar 124-113 loss to a Boston Celtics team that didn’t bring their starting lineup. Still, there were some positives to take away from this one.
Peyton Watson was the bright spot of this game.
Preseason basketball can be fool’s gold. You don’t have to look further than some of the takes I had about De’Andre Hunter and Lonzo Ball after their first few exhibition games last season as evidence of that. Those disclaimers aside, Watson looked exactly like the player the Cavs have long needed at the wing in this game.
Watson has the toolset to be the most complete small forward the Cavs have had since LeBron James left nearly a decade ago. That well-rounded skill set was on display as he showed his “creative chops,” in the words of Kenny Atkinson, as a secondary creator, spaced the floor as a shooter, and was disruptive defensively.
Previous playoff runs have been derailed due to a lack of multifaceted players — particularly on the wing. One preseason performance doesn’t mean that he’s the solution to this problem, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
Speaking of promising wings, Jaylon Tyson looked impressive in his season debut. Nearly everything that I said about Watson could also be applied to Tyson. On this night, he looked like a complete all-around wing.
As good as he played, Tyson’s energy remains the best part of his game. The way he attacks in transition and hustles to rotate out to shooters on the perimeter is infectious — or at least it would be in theory if this were a game where the score mattered.
Atkinson has talked about preseason games being important for finding lineup groupings that work well together. Based on what we saw, the Watson and Tyson duo showed promise.
“I love it,” Atkinson said about that pairing before the game. “They complement each other well. Obviously, the size and then defensive chops, too. So if you pair them with one of Donovan [Mitchell] and James [Harden] or even both, that’s really interesting. Because I think you look at Jaylon and Peyton, they’re really kind of two, three, four. They can play any of those positions. We’ll see, but it seems like it could be a really good match for us.”
The lineup possibilities are a huge advantage for that particular grouping. Both being able to play the two through four means that they can go smaller with them on the court or go with a jumbo lineup featuring two bigs and a guard. Having multiple athletic wings in the same lineup isn’t a luxury the Cavs have had in quite some time.
On top of that, they seem to feed off each other’s energy. We saw that here as they rotated and recovered out to shooters on the perimeter and were dynamic in the open court.
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Sticking with things that went well, Meleek Thomas looked good in his minutes. He played with energy, was disruptive defensively, and showed some solid touch as a passer. In short, the things he did well in Summer League were evident in preseason, which is encouraging considering how much better the talent was here than in Vegas.
Thomas was the eighth man in the rotation, but the backup point guard spot is hardly decided based on Atkinson’s comments postgame. Especially after Craig Porter Jr. had a solid showing with 10 assists.
If Thomas does break into the rotation, it’ll have to be because he improves defensively. He grabbed a couple of steals — which is exactly what you want to see — but there’s still a learning curve for rookie guards on that end of the floor. And, considering some of the defensive issues Cleveland showed here, they may not be able to afford someone who’s still trying to figure out how NBA defenses work.
“Offense is going to come with the team and power that we got, but if I could be a real presence on defense, then I know I could make a huge impact,” Thomas said afterward.
As of now, it’s difficult to see Thomas as a day-one member of the rotation Atkinson would prefer to cap at 10. That’s okay. Most rookie second-round picks aren’t instant impact players.
Still, this was a strong outing for Thomas. The tight handle that allowed him to get where he wanted on the court in Vegas carried over here.
With that out of the way, let’s look at some of the concerning parts of this game, starting with the lackluster defense.
The Cavs spent the lead-up to this game talking about how they want to reestablish their defensive identity. If this performance was any indication of things, there’s still plenty of work to be done on that end.
The Celtics reserves were able to break down Cleveland’s perimeter defense and get to the basket at will. On top of that, neither Mobley nor Allen had an answer for opposing center Luka Garza, who registered 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting and seven rebounds in the first half.
You don’t want to be too critical of defensive effort in a preseason game. But there wasn’t much from this performance that would make you believe that this could once again become a strong point for this team.
Rebounding was also an issue. Atkinson pointed out afterward that this was a “concern coming into the season.” It proved to be in their first game as Boston grabbed 46.9% of their missed shots (98th percentile).
You can’t have an elite defense if you can’t end possessions.
Mario Hezonja also struggled mightily in his debut.
The Cavs have continually gone out of their way to praise what they’ve seen from Hezonja throughout training camp and off-season workouts. The things that he was praised for didn’t carry over to this outing.
It’s foolish to overreact to preseason basketball, both good and bad. Yet, it is concerning when the game looks too fast for a certain player.
Hezonja struggled with the speed of the game. His drives to the basket were walled off by multiple defenders, he didn’t hold up guarding his man on the perimeter, and overall just looked slow. It’s easy to excuse away missed shots. It’s difficult to justify looking this out of place.
Atkinson said Hezonja is still getting “his feet wet” being back in the NBA. “It’s going to be easier when we reduce the rotation and define a role for him a little bit more.”
The Cavs don’t have much financially invested in Hezonja. His contract is unguaranteed, and he’s only making the minimum. That said, the forward depth chart looks pretty thin if Hezonja ends up being unplayable. There really aren’t many ideal options at the four and five outside of Watson, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.
It’s way too early to write off Hezonja. One preseason game doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. That said, this wasn’t what the Cavs wanted to see. We’ll see if that improves in the final two preseason games.
