Our last first-round matchup of the NBA Playoffs is a doozy — a Game 7 between two of the weirdest but still strangely fun-to-watch teams in the Eastern Conference. A lot is at stake with Magic-Cavaliers, long-term stuff like the true future of both teams and what era they are about to enter. Is the Donovan Mitchell era still alive? Are we about to enter the Paolo BanchEra?
As a simple thought exercise, let’s imagine you are in your dream job, but the branch where you got your dream job is in a city that is, let’s say, your 12th choice. It’s not the worst, and your coworkers are all good at their jobs and the branch performs quite well. However, you always imagined yourself as the coolest cat at the Manhattan office, and you’re just waiting for your chance.
Meanwhile, you have a couple of coworkers, let’s call them Evan and Jarrett, who are both individually really talented and do good numbers, but Evan is always much more productive when Jarrett is on vacation. And Jarrett is one of the top salespeople in the company when Evan is out sick. When they’re both in the office, things are pretty good, but you see that they aren’t really supposed to be in the same branch — at least not at the same time.
And then there is Darius. You like Darius; he was one of the reasons you went to this branch to begin with. Though you both have similar skillsets and work best when you’re the one on the phone with the big clients, you thought that you and Darius would mesh. At first you did, but over time your propensity to snatch the phone out of Darius’ hand to close the deal created some tension and Darius’ sales numbers dropped quite a bit.
Everyone blames you at least a little. But still, the branch is doing reasonably well, so the higher-ups are cool with you staying in that branch.
Then, out of nowhere, a young hotshot who no one thought was corporate material starts moving major units out of the Manhattan office. Everyone loves him; he’s humble but confident, he’s brash but charming, and best of all, he’s left-handed. Suddenly corporate builds out the entire Manhattan office around him, making sure everyone elevates his strengths and masks his weaknesses, and now everyone loves where that office is headed.
That was supposed to be you. It still could be, you think. You start feeling out if Manhattan would want to put you and the hotshot in the same office to really ramp up the star power. The shareholders don’t like the idea; they feel you stunted Darius’ growth in your current branch, and they don’t want the same thing happening to their young hotshot. After all, that guy is the best thing to happen to Manhattan since the legendary salesman Patrick back in the 1990s.
Manhattan is intrigued, but they also remind you that you have a big conference coming up where you have to put on a better presentation than the Orlando branch. But also, you really, really want to get yourself into the Manhattan office — or maybe the Brooklyn office, which isn’t doing well but you’d manage to be both a big fish in a small pond AND live in New York. So Brooklyn would be a fine second option. Either way, both offices will have to approve your transfer; you can’t just walk into either New York branch and start working, as you signed a contract to be in your current city.
Oops — it’s the day of the conference, and Orlando came prepared. Evan, Jarrett and Darius came prepared as well, but you’re the team leader and they are looking to you to make the final call. Are you ready to give the presentation, or is your mind on your options in New York?
Here’s the bottom line with the Cavaliers as they stand now. Donovan Mitchell is probably engaged enough to be the main reason the Cavaliers beat the Magic and move on to the second round. However, there is smoke that the Cavaliers will look to trade Mitchell this offseason if they can’t sign him to an extension. The collaboration with Darius Garland and Mitchell has not been quite as fruitful as hoped, with Garland’s numbers falling off pretty drastically this year.
There is also the matter of the two-big lineup of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen that has hit a point of diminishing returns. Mobley, while versatile defensively, is not a good enough shooter to be a 4 alongside a non-shooting center; his best path forward is as a center himself in today’s NBA. The question moving forward, then, is what the Cavaliers do with Allen. He is questionable for Game 7, and if the Cavaliers win, that could seal the deal that they move Allen in the offseason as well. He is due to make $20 million next year, which is a pretty reasonable number that should have other teams interested in a trade.
Is Jarrett Allen playing today? We don’t have a firm answer yet, nor do we have a firm answer on what the Cavaliers are going to look like next year.
No matter what happens in Game 7 — if this is the end of the Cavaliers season or they make us watch them get railroaded by the Celtics in Round 2 — this season is probably the last iteration of these Cavs. There is too much overlap in skill sets between stars and stifling of development as a result; this will be over officially sooner rather than later. And with the Magic getting plus money (+140 at Caesars Sportsbook), I’m willing to bet on that happening today.
Editor Note: Check our Magic-Cavaliers live odds page to see the best price available!
