Tag Archives: Jordan Clarkson

Cavaliers trade Jordan Clarkson for Dante Exum

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to send Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Dante Exum and two draft picks.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to their first of many possible trades this season. Cleveland will send Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz for Dante Exum. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the deal Monday.

Utah is also sending two draft picks to Cleveland.

The draft picks being San Antonio’s 2022 second rounder and Golden State’s 2023 second rounder.

The Cavaliers originally acquired Jordan Clarkson during the 2017-18 season, looking for help in their final NBA Finals run. Cleveland got some help with Clarkson coming off the bench last season, but the results this season have not been what the team was looking for with their current roster construction. Cleveland needs to give the majority of touches to the duo of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. Since Jordan Clarkson needs a high volume of shots to be effective, things just were not going to work.

Utah will get a solid sixth man type in Jordan Clarkson while sending a reclamation projection in Dante Exum to Cleveland. Exum has not enjoyed the career that many pictured for him coming into the league back in 2014. Exum’s experience so far has been a struggle, but luckily he is still young enough that he has plenty of time to get things in the right direction. With the possibly of more trades on the horizon, Exum could get plenty of plenty of opportunities to prove himself in a Cavaliers uniform.

Airing of grievances: Cavaliers edition

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It is time for the airing of grievances for the Cleveland Cavaliers

Uniforms 

They are terrible. Maybe you realize they are terrible which is why the 90’s throwback and City Edition are worn so often. This could be an attempt to give the standard uniforms less on court time before ultimately re-designing them again. An event that could not come soon enough. 

Three-pointers

Stop shooting so many three-pointers. Fifth-lowest percentage in the entire league while shooting an average amount. The roster clearly is not great at shooting from deep, why keep trying? It just becomes so difficult to watch. Nothing is worse than multiple possessions in a row with bricked three-pointers. Fix it.

Kevin Love

Are you going to trade him or not? The Kevin Love trade saga has to come to an end eventually. Fans of the Cavaliers are tired with having to listen to the will they or won’t they when it comes to Kevin Love. Make a decision and move forward with the roster construction.

Tristan Thompson 

Same can be said for Tristan Thompson. Contending teams may value Thompson more even though he is limited more offensively. Is he staying in Cleveland or not?

Jordan Clarkson

It does not seem like he is going to re-sign after the season. Like Thompson, contending teams may value him more than Love. Clarkson could prove to be a valuable asset off the bench in basically any other situation. Additionally, fans of the Cavaliers have turned on Clarkson. Go check twitter after he misses a few shots in a row or appears to go rogue. It isn’t pretty.

  • UPDATE: The Cavaliers have traded Jordan Clarkson to the Utah Jazz for Dante Exum.
When are you going with the youth movement?

This is a developmental year. John Beilein is here to coach up and develop the young talent. He is not here to deal with veterans who are already set in their ways. Play the young guys and find out what they have. This theory can also be applied to fringe roster guys to see what, if anything they have. Evaluate the young and fringe talent and build the roster accordingly. The Cavaliers need to find out who is going to be here next season and who will be elsewhere.

Cavaliers keep it close, fall to 76ers

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The Cleveland Cavaliers had a chance to win, but Kevin Love was unable to make a wide open three-pointer in the final seconds.

Sometimes a wide open shot goes in, other teams it doesn’t. Kevin Love’s wide open three-pointer as the game ended did not go in. It is hard to fault the play or the shot. It was the shot the Cavaliers wanted and it did not go in.

Most statistics between the two teams were comparable on Tuesday. There was only one where there was a clear advantage for one team over the other. Fast break points. Philly nearly doubled Cleveland’s output on the fast break (25-13). Even with this difference, it was not the reason the Cavaliers lost. The Cavaliers lost because they were unable to score in the final three minutes. The failure to capitalize and put the game away at that point in the game is ultimately why they lost. Well, that and allowing Joel Embiid to get an easy dunk with 13.2 seconds left in the game.

Love, Clarkson, Sexton and Thompson led the Cavaliers

Kevin Love led the Cavaliers starters with 20 points and eight rebounds. Love did not have an effective shooting night (5-16 FGA, 2-7 3PT). Love had to deal with some tough defense from Philadelphia and it showed on his final line.

Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points off the bench as per usual. Clarkson made eight of 16 field goal attempts including 1-4 from deep. Clarkson continues to show why he is a valuable player off the bench for the Cavaliers.

Collin Sexton had a solid performance coming off his career-high scoring night on Sunday. Sexton finished with 18 points (8-18 FGA), five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sexton did not make a three on the night, this snaps a three-game streak of making a three.

Did Tristan Thompson record a double-double? Of course he did! Thompson had 17 points and 12 rebounds on the night. This is Thompson’s eighth double-double in 10 games. This is not Tristan Thompson’s highlight though. The highlight? Tristan Thompson making two three-pointers.

Tristan Thompson came into this season without having made a three-pointer in his career. Thompson is currently 3-6 on the year. It is unlikely that the three will become an integral part of his game, but he is proving he can hurt you from time to time.

Cleveland previously won their two previous games in their red uniforms. This loss drops their record to 2-4 on the year.

https://twitter.com/ThisIsCavs/status/1194441180064419841?s=20

Suddenly the red uniform seems like a better option than it did before, even with the loss on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers return home for their next game, taking on the Miami Heat on Thursday at 6:00 P.M.

Cavaliers blow out Knicks 108-87

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The Cleveland Cavaliers came away with a very comfortable 108-87 victory on the road over the New York Knick Sunday night.

This was the second consecutive game in which the Cleveland Cavaliers did not trail. Cleveland defeated the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden by a score of 108-87.

Fast break points and points in the paint were the two areas the the Cavaliers had a clear advantage in. Cleveland outscored New York 23-11 on the fast break and 50-32 in the paint. The Cavaliers were clearly in control throughout the game.

Collin Sexton scored a career-high 31 points at “The Mecca”. The important thing to take away from his performance was his efficiency. Sexton made 10 of 16 attempts, including 5-8 from three-point range. As the season progresses, Sexton will need to continue to be on the more efficient side of things when it comes to shooting. There are times that Sexton does seem to struggle in that area.

Jordan Clarkson came off the bench and had a stereotypical Jordan Clarkson performance. Clarkson went 6-14 from the field (1-4 3PT) and made all four free throws. This led to Clarkson tying Kevin Love for the second-most points scored by a Cavaliers player Sunday.

Speaking of Kevin Love, Love had an excellent night at the free throw line. Love made all nine free throws en route to scoring 17 points. Shooting from deep was not kind to him as he missed all three attempts. Love finished going 4-11 overall and was able to grab eight rebounds.

Tristan Thompson was not able to get a double-double as he finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Thompson is still a double-double machine and has seven in nine games. It is not out of the question to expect Thompson to have a double-double in his next game.

Sunday’s victory gave the Cavaliers two consecutive wins in their red uniforms.

https://twitter.com/ThisIsCavs/status/1193724539211001856?s=20
Cleveland’s road trip continues as they will face the 76ers Tuesday in Philadelphia at 7:00 P.M.

Love has big night, but Cavaliers fall to Dallas

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Kevin Love’s team-high 29 points were not enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they were unable to defeat the Dallas Mavericks.

Kevin Love scored 29 points and was the only Cavaliers player to be a positive in plus/minus. Unfortunately the efforts for Love were all for naught as the team fell to Dallas by a score of 131-111.

Dallas simply outshot Cleveland, making 53.2% of their shots compared to just 40.6% for the Cavaliers. The major difference was point in the paint. The Mavericks made scoring in the paint a priority, 52 of Dallas’ 131 points came in the paint. Cleveland was only able to manage 28 points in the paint. Besides field goal percentage, this was the only real major difference in the game.

Kevin Love went 9-18 from the field (5-11 3PT), and made all six free throw attempts. Love also grabbed eight rebounds (two offensive) and rounded out his performance with two assists, one steal and one block.

Jordan Clarkson continued his productive play off the bench. Clarkson’s 17 points on 6-11 shooting was the second-highest scoring total for Cleveland.

After failing to register a double-double in their last game, Tristan Thompson scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Sunday. Thompson now has five double-doubles in six games. If Thompson is able to continue this level of play, the wins will eventually come for the Cavaliers. That is if Thompson remains in Cleveland for the rest of the season.

Here is a record update for the Cavaliers in their uniforms they have worn this season.

https://twitter.com/ThisIsCavs/status/1191184907885830144?s=20

Maybe it is time to stop wearing the red uniforms since they are winless so far this season. The Cavaliers have plenty of other options at their disposal.

Cleveland will face the Celtics at home Tuesday at 7:00 P.M.

Cavaliers fall to Bucks in Milwaukee

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The Cleveland Cavaliers were unable to climb above the .500 mark as they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks by a score of 129-112.

The Cleveland Cavaliers competed with the Milwaukee Bucks for the majority of the game. Unfortunately, Milwaukee pulled away in the 4th quarter and Cleveland fell to 1-2 on the season. Cleveland was just bested by one of the most complete teams in the NBA. There is nothing glaring that pops out as “the reason” why Cleveland lost. This is just a game that a young team with a new head coach that they are unable to win at this moment in time.

Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson both posted double-doubles again. Love scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds while Thompson added 17 points and 13 rebounds of his own. This is another impressive performance from Thompson. Although, it is worth noting that if Thompson is the Cavs second-leading scorer that can be a bit of a problem. It will be difficult to win consistently if Thompson is towards the top of scoring leaders for the team.

Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers scoring attack with 18 points on 8-15 from the field. Sexton made two of five three-point attempts and rounded out his performance with three rebounds and one assist. Ideally Sexton’s assist number should be higher, but that is not necessarily the type of player he is. Eventually this number should improve, but for the time being this is what you’re going to get.

Jordan Clarkson did exactly what was expected of him, scoring 17 points in 25 minutes. Clarkson went 6-13 from the field, including 2-6 from deep and made both free throw attempts. This is the type of stat line that Clarkson will finish with on a regular basis. Scoring in the mid-to-high-teens on a fairly sizable volume of shots.

Cleveland returns home to take on the Bulls Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.

Cavaliers defeat Pacers in 90’s throwbacks

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The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Indiana Pacers Saturday and got head coach John Beilein his first NBA win in the process.

Maybe it’s the uniform. The Cleveland Cavaliers won their home opener over Indiana 110-99 in their 90’s throwbacks. 

This was a much improved performance over the season opener which saw the Cavs struggle to convert from the field.  Cleveland made 50% of their field goal attempts, including 11 three-point range. The Cavaliers made 29 of 49 shots from two and were able to score 50 points in the paint. 

At one point the Cavaliers were up by 24 points. This was a lead that was not expected. Yes, the Pacers were without their best player in Victor Oladipo, but Cleveland getting that type of lead was surprising.  

The Cavaliers just seemed to click and that is how it is with a young team and a rookie head coach. Some games will have everything go their way.  Other games will have everything go against them. 

Cleveland was led by an unexpected player

The Cavaliers were led by Tristan Thompson.  Thompson finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Thompson even made his first career three-pointer. This certainly got Kevin Love hyped up. 

Kevin Love added 21 points of his own and also had 13 rebounds in the contest. Love finished one assist shy of a triple-double. Perhaps Love may be able to get a triple-double later this season.  

Sexton and Garland contributed but still have room to improve

Collin Sexton did not have the best night shooting the ball (6-14), but did manage to finish with 18 points thanks to making two shots from deep and converting four of six free throw attempts.

Darius Garland scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting. The two three-pointers from Garland certainly helped, but the rookie still needs to work on being efficient when shooting the basketball.

Sexton and Garland will have plenty of opportunities as the season progresses to work on their efficiency.

Jordan Clarkson is back to being Jordan Clarkson 

Jordan Clarkson bounced back from a bad opening point performance with 15 points on 5-8 from the field. This is what was expected from Clarkson this season, not the abysmal shooting performance this past Wednesday. Hopefully Clarkson will be able to build upon this outing and continue being productive in their next game.

If the Cavaliers are able to keep putting up shooting nights like this in these 90’s throwback uniforms, maybe they should wear them often. 

Poor shooting buries Cavaliers in Orlando

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A poor shooting performance led to the Cleveland Cavaliers dropping thier opening game of the season to the Orlando Magic by a score of 94-85.

It is hard to win in the NBA when a team as a whole struggles to shoot. The Cleveland Cavaliers only converted 33 of 89 field goal attempts (37.1%) in their opening night loss to the Orlando Magic. Making less than 40% of their shots in a game very rarely leads to a win. Wednesday was no exception.

Collin Sexton made five of 15 attempts on the night, totaling 16 points. The story is ineffectiveness from inside the three-point line. Sexton made three of eight three-point attempts. This means that only two of seven two-point attempts went in. This is not a reason to a panic, but it is a disappointing first outing from someone that is expected to take a big step forward.

Jordan Clarkson struggled in the worst way. The Cavaliers sixth man had an abysmal night from the field (2-12 overall 0-5 from three-point range). Clarkson is someone that the Cavaliers will lean on to lead their second unit. Yes, Clarkson struggled but this should not be the norm for him moving forward.

Kevin Porter Jr. did not have a good start to his NBA career. Porter when 0-6 in 17 minutes of play. Like Collin Sexton, there is no reason to panic with Porter. Young players typically take some time to get going, Sexton and Porter are no exception.

Some Cavaliers performed better than others

Tristan Thompson had the best shooting night out of all the Cavaliers starters. Thompson made eight of his 11 field goal attempts, finishing with 16 points. Thompson also grabbed 11 rebounds, two were on the offensive end of the court.

Speaking of good rebounding performances, Kevin Love had a good night on the boards. This sort of made up for only going 4-10 from the field. Love corralled 18 rebounds (17 defensive) and led both teams in rebounds.

Cedi Osman was the only Cavaliers player to finish with a plus in plus/minus (6), Tristan Thompson finished with zero while all others finished with a negative in this category. Osman scored 13 points thanks to making half of his three-point attempts (6).

Is one game a reason to have some concern about the Cavaliers season? Absolutely not. There are 81 more games to play. There were times when the Cavaliers looked like a competent team. The times that they didn’t is when they fell behind and could not keep up with the Magic.

The Cavaliers take on the Indiana Pacers Saturday at 8:00 P.M. in their home opener.

Jordan Clarkson is a solid sixth man for Cavs

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have a good sixth man in Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson will be crucial to the Cavaliers success this season, if he remains in Cleveland.

Having a good sixth man in the NBA goes a long way. They often make the difference between a team being able to compete in a game and simply falling too far behind to be competitive. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a productive sixth man in Jordan Clarkson. 

Jordan Clarkson is instant offense off the bench, exactly what teams are looking for in a sixth man. Clarkson came off the bench in all 81 games he appeared in last season and was able to put up a career-high in scoring with 16.8 points per game. Part of this bump on in scoring is due to the increase in field goal attempts (14.6) and a clear lack of other options on offense. 

Cleveland will depend on Jordan Clarkson to lead the second unit. Clarkson is their most dependable scoring option off the bench and can handle an increase in minutes if necessary. 

There are two questions with Jordan Clarkson heading into this season. 

1. How will he mesh the Cavaliers collection of guards?

Cleveland has several guards on the roster already. Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Brandon Knight, Matthew Dellavedova and Kevin Porter Jr. Yes, several of these guys are on the younger end of the spectrum with upside and the others are older veterans. There are plenty of guards on the roster, some will warrant a lot of playing time (Sexton, Garland) while others will play when given the opportunity (Dellavedova). The other (Knight) is clearly a buy low option that might be able to resurrect his career.

What Cleveland has is plenty of guards and not enough playing time. Balancing the minutes between this group may be a bit difficult. It will be crucial to find the right balance between the guards and their playing time in order to get the most out of the group.  If that’s not possible that could lead to another issue which brings up the next question. 

2. Will he be in Cleveland when the season ends?

Clarkson is on the final year of his contract and will be a free agent when the season ends. It is easy to imagine Jordan Clarkson being sent to a contender if the Cavaliers struggle for the second consecutive season. Not to mention his agent is Rich Paul. Clarkson’s agent being Paul could mean he does not play out the season in Cleveland. Paul is certainly able to get players out of less desirable situations and onto teams that are more appealing in terms of on court success and overall surroundings.

A trade of Jordan Clarkson could clear playing time for other guards on the roster and set him up in a situation to A.) win and B.) get a large contract upon entering free agency, something that every player wants.

Just how things will play out will be interesting. If things go well, Jordan Clarkson could be an integral part of a team that is much improved from last season. If not, Clarkson could be one of many veterans who find themselves in a new city. 

Success for Cavaliers depends on several factors

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Any success the Cleveland Cavaliers experience in the 2019-2020 season will be entirely dependent on a few, but important factors.

There is no getting around it. The 2018-2019 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers was a disaster. With injures, trades and coach turnover, the team was not going to be successful. Hopefully, there will be enough change in and things will improve for the wine and gold in 2019-2020.

Kevin Love’s status on the roster

This is no beating around the bush here. The future of Kevin Love with the Cleveland Cavaliers has been in question since he signed his contract extension prior to last season. Most predicted a Blake Griffin-esque trade to another team, instead he remained on the team during the season and through the summer. Kevin Love’s presence on the roster will certainly help his teammates if he remains in Cleveland.

The health of Kevin Love

Kevin Love’s injury just a few games into last season put the Cavaliers in a pretty bad spot rather quickly. Tyronn Lue was fired and the team was torn down almost immediately. Only a few veterans that began the season with the team remained. It was obvious last season that the team is completely different with a healthy Kevin Love. This will also apply to this season. A healthy Kevin Love makes it a little bit easier for everyone else on the floor.

How the backrourt meshes

As of now, the Cleveland Cavaliers backcourt is pretty crowded and has some similar players. Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Knight all figure to see minutes this season. Sexton and Garland are the projected starters as of now. The hope with this duo is to replicate what Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have in Portland. Even if they are 60% of that it has to be considered a win.

Jordan Clarkson will be the Cavs sixth man this season. Clarkson is quite capable of putting up points in a hurry with his off the bench role. The Cavaliers may have found a key component to this team when they acquired Clarkson from the Lakers in early 2018.

Brandon Knight should see some time as a rational guard. Knight has bounced around the league since he was drafted by Detroit but seemed to settle in a bit during his 27 games with the Cavaliers last season. Knight is not necessarily an important cog in Cleveland’s rotation, but it he is able to build upon last season that is a huge plus for a team that struggled to score quite often.

John Beilein implementing his system and how the players respond

John Beilein was a head coach in college for a long time. Sometimes a longtime college coach struggles adapting to the NBA game. Beilein clearly has a system he wants to implement that those in charge appear to buy into at this moment. Beilein has experienced a ton of success with younger players at the college level. This could be why Cleveland decided that he was the best fit for the team with all of the young players on the roster. Getting the younger players to buy in may not be all that difficult. Beilein’s ability to connect with the veterans on the team and have them buy in as well will be a huge factor. If John Beilein is not able to see eye to eye with the veterans it could be a massive problem.