Cavaliers

Pregame Dribbles: Cavs, Thunder Have Lots in Common

October 27, 2023

CLEVELAND — Random dribbles on the Cavaliers’ home opener, which takes place Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

1. When the Cavs look at the Thunder, they may see a little of themselves — but even younger.

2. A poll of NBA GMs before the season showed that league executives believe Oklahoma City is the league’s most promising team, and by a wide margin. The Cavs were second.

3. Last season, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named All-NBA first team. So he beat out Donovan Mitchell. SGA averaged 31.4 points last season.

4. The Cavs have Evan Mobley as their young power forward with loads of promise. The Thunder have Chet Holmgren — officially a rookie after being sidelined with a leg injury last season.

5. And guard Josh Giddey is sort of OKC’s version of Darius Garland (though I suspect Giddey will never be quite as good).

6. One of the main differences is off the court. Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti seems to have a thousand picks in the upcoming drafts. Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman traded most of his away in the Mitchell deal with Utah.

7. That doesn’t make one approach better or worse. Just different. I like how both men have built their teams.

8. At any rate, all that matters is that the Cavs play their game and that the likes of Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and Max Strus continue to carry over their mostly fine showing from Wednesday’s season opener in Brooklyn. (Related Dribbles.)

9. Jarrett Allen remains out with an ankle injury. Dean Wade (illness) could make his season debut, as he participated in shootaround, per my guy Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

10. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Cavs will stay home and face the Pacers on Saturday night. By the way, the Thunder beat the Bulls in Chicago to open the season on Wednesday.

11. In case you missed it, I wrote about late Cavs legend Bingo Smith and what he meant to the franchise — and me. You can read that column here.

12. Also, the first Cavs on the Break podcast of the season is about an hour long and brought to you by Draft Kings. That’s an exciting sponsor. If you’re looking to kill some time before tonight’s game, you can listen here.