Pundits are giving flowers to the Cavaliers
It appears that the Cleveland Cavaliers are finally turning heads. Since the Cavaliers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last Wednesday it feels like a serious page turn has occurred for how Cleveland is covered. The best team in the NBA went from a league-leading afterthought to getting the appropriate attention and accolades.
The Ringer released an update to their Top 100 rankings on Thursday. Previous lists have included four Cavaliers. This time, those four were all higher up compared to the Dec. 12 edition and there was the addition of a fifth Cavalier to the list.
Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen saw modest increases in their stature. Mitchell rose from 14th to 12th surpassing names like Jaylen Brown (15) and Devin Booker (18). Allen saw a similar climb rising from 54th to 49th rising above Paul George (52) and Kristaps Porzingis (54).
The Cavaliers’ high risers came in their two All-Star Game hopefuls Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. Both players climbed eight places from their prior ranking. Garland went from 41st to 33rd passing names like James Harden (34) and Derrick White (40). Mobley similarly ascended to 22nd in the latest ranking from 30th. He passed names like Kyrie Irving (24) and Tyreese Maxey (30).
The new inclusion to the list was Caris LeVert who made his debut at 97. This puts him in the realm of players such as Dillon Brooks (98), Benedict Mathurin (96), and Brook Lopez (95).
Lists like these are subjective and have no effect on the on-court product these players have put on. However, it is always nice to see the underappreciated get their flowers. Do I personally have issues with the list as a whole? Of course, as I am sure everyone who reads the list does. Rankings and tier lists are all the rage these days but are highly subjective to the people polled. That’s what makes them great content, and here I am writing about it adding to the discourse these articles generate. Just another cog in the machine.