Who were the best performers for the Cleveland Cavaliers this NBA Season?

It’s been an incredible season in the NBA and the playoffs were some of the most exciting games for players and fans this year, with the Denver Nuggets becoming the victors for the first time in their history. Real money poker fans having their post-game parties will be counting their chips and looking ahead to who will win the Championship NBA finals next year.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers the year came up short, defeat to the New York Knick by four games to one in the Playoffs Round 1 brought the season to a close for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his side.



A promising season ended in disappointment with the Cav’s comfortably dealt with by the Knicks.

“We didn’t play our best – the players told you that they didn’t play up to their standards,” General Manager Koby Altman told the NBA. “But a lot of it was first time stuff that we hadn’t been through. The Knicks are a really good team – super-disciplined, talented. And we didn’t play our best. For us, the things that were unknown were the physicality of the Playoffs; the laser-focus you need to have, possession to possession.

While they stumbled when it mattered, they are a side with plenty of talent. They were the best ranked defence in the regular season though when they arrived at the playoffs, they were the worst in offensive performing side.

There was a lot to enjoy in the regular season which will bring hope for a better performance next season with some star talent on the roster.

Donovan Mitchell

This season was the best Mitchell has enjoyed since coming to the NBA. In his 28 games in the regular season Mitchell averaged 28.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

At 26 years of age Mitchell has been an impressive shooting guard with great performances, especially in clutch moments for the Cavaliers. Against the Chicago Bulls, Mitchel put in an incredible solo performance where he registered 71 points in the game, a franchise record.

In his debut season, Mitchell has adapted so well since arriving from the Utah Jazz in September. He was consistent throughout the season and showed an ability to dominate games finding ways to score inside the paint as well as beyond the arc.

Evan Mobley

Taking with pick number three in the 2021 NBA Draft and his debut season saw him named runner-up in the Rookie of the Year rankings in 2021/22. This year he has continued to take strides in his early career in the NBA.

He is a dynamic and exciting player on defence and help his side become ranked the best in the league during the regular season, a huge improvement on where the side were before Mobley’s arrival.

The six-foot eleven inch forward has an abundance of athleticism and great footwork which has led him to become a real threat at both ends of the court. He has impressed in grabbing rebounds and blocking shots as well as averaging 16.2 points per game in the regular season.

Jarret Allen

Jarret Allen was the only player on the roster with playoff experience after his appearances in the post season with Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and 2020.

He made a similar impact to what Mobley did this year with an ability to make plays on offense and defense. He was the team’s leading rebounder and shooting percentage leader throughout the regular season in what was his second year with the Cavaliers after arriving from the Nets in 2021.

Allen ended up with 14.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game during the regular season but was not able to help his side progress past the Knicks in the playoffs.

What went wrong?

Questions have been raised as to whether Bickerstaff is the right man to take the Cavaliers to the next level. While he has built some good support, especially with his team’s defensive performances in the regular season, but does he have enough about him to take his team far in the post season?

Questionable rotations, poor late-game management as well as a worrying trend of his team letting opponents into games late on down the stretch added some concerns.

The Cavaliers could be considered to have appeared unprepared for the contest with the New York Knicks in the playoffs and this only did more to highlight the fact Bickerstaff has never won a playoff round in his career as a head coach.

Another area above Bickerstaff is the lack of trades or activity on the roster leading into the playoffs. Altman seemed to suggest he could not see any players out there that were available that would have improved the roster.

With some star potential players and their experience this season on defence, there is plenty to be positive about, though decision making and a playoff mentality needs to be developed and improved if they want more from next season.