Present MVP candidate Donovan Mitchell is converting shots at career-best levels in Year 1 in Cleveland (@Cavs/Instagram).

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After an 8-1 start to the season that had some prognosticators pegging them as dark-horse title contenders, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been hit with the On the NBA Beat curse and have lost their last four games. To help us get into the ins-and-outs of this enigmatic team, we’ve brought on Cavaliers expert and longtime friend of the show Justin Rowan, host of The Chase Down Podcast. Justin takes us through what the offseason trade for Donovan Mitchell unlocks for Cleveland, the growth trajectory of young stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and how he projects the Cavs to compare to the other members of the Eastern Conference elite this season and beyond.

4:45-5:39: “I think the floor of what you’re hoping for is to avoid the play-in tournament. But I think they have more than enough talent to get home court in the first round, and that should be the goal. If you’re talking about translating that to the postseason, I’m always going to give the benefit of the doubt to the teams that have been there. Experience matters so much … so I’m going to give the edge to teams like Milwaukee and Boston when it comes to the playoffs, but in the regular season I do think they are up in that tier.”

7:11-7:56: “The biggest difference from Donovan Mitchell and what the Cavs probably would have been pre-Mitchell trade is Mitchell kind of combines a lot of what you were looking for from multiple players. Collin Sexton is a good scorer. He’s a very good scorer, and I think his passing maybe was a little underrated, but it’s not at the same level as Mitchell. A lot of the actions that they were probably planning on running for Ochai Agbaji, like pin-downs and all that kind of stuff, you can run for Mitchell, but you also have the added benefit of his playmaking, the volume 3-point shooting, the improvement on defense, which I think was one of the things they were banking on prior to that trade. The fact that he brings all of those elements into one player is a massive boost for the Cavs.”

18:38-19:24: “The fact remains, [Darius Garland] is pressing out there. He doesn’t look comfortable. He doesn’t look like he’s in a rhythm. But I’m not concerned, especially because of the fact that he looked so good in all those other games when he wasn’t under the weather, so maybe that’s going to turn around. But really, when you look at these close losses that they’ve had, you get a B-minus game out of Darius Garland in any of these, you probably come away with a pretty comfortable win, right? And I think him being better and being himself again is going to make things easier for everybody. It makes things easier for Mitchell. I think it’s not a coincidence that since Garland has come back all of a sudden Evan Mobley is looking a lot better offensively and is having more high-output games.”

20:24-20:49: “One of the things that really jumps out to me is that the Cavs need to maintain pace because they are an unconventional lineup and what makes it work is that all the cuts, all the actions, everything is done with pace, the split cuts that they do. That doesn’t work if you’re kinda walking it up and just getting that one screen and you need to get a shot off within 4, 5 seconds. You’re just going to get bogged down.”

23:02-23:14: “[Mobley]’s impact transcends the box score, where it’s just such great feel for the game. Defensively, the instincts are like Draymond Green with a 7-foot player.”

26:37-28:24: “I’m especially excited for when Ricky Rubio is back because I think having both Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio as kinda those steadying veterans that you could mix in with the lineup is gonna make things so easy. And I think that’s one of the biggest differences when you look at the Cavs rebuild the first time LeBron left versus this time: They really understand the value of having good locker room presence, having veterans out there. … That kind of locker room presence helps you get through the marathon of an 82-game season.”

33:07-35:23: “I think J.B. Bickerstaff, this year is the year we’re learning probably the most about him. Because when he was an interim in Houston, they led the league in 3-point rate. It was an above-average rate even in today’s game. Then you go to Memphis, and all of a sudden the narrative around Bickerstaff is ‘He’s allergic to shooting 3s’ and ‘He refuses to play young players.’ Again, that’s an interim situation. … He goes to Cleveland…he plays a ton of young guys, and now that there’s more talent, you’re starting to see more 3-point attempts. … Everything fell apart [last season], but the fact that he was able to adapt the game plan on the fly throughout the regular season and find success with multiple styles, to me, that’s indicative of a head coach who’s willing to adjust, who is willing to try to figure out what’s going to work.”

41:29-43:09: “Now that you have Caris LeVert more established, now that you have some of these other guys that have been playing well, it makes it tougher. There’s a little bit of a minutes crunch, so I think [Isaac Okoro]’s out there pressing. And you’re always going to have an adjustment period when you change form, but it seems like he’s in his own head. One thing I would advocate for… through the first three quarters, I’d like to see more of kind of an established rotation, where win, lose or draw, whether you make your shots or miss them, we’re going to continue to give you steady minutes and a steady role, and see if that helps him get back on track. … I think you have to keep giving these opportunities to Okoro and try to get him on the right track because you have to pay a premium if you’re bringing in a wing from outside.”

Our recent episodes on the Cavaliers:

Our previous episode with Justin Rowan:

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Music: “Who Likes to Party” by Kevin MacLeod.