It’s no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a terrible defensive team, as the team posted the second-worst defensive rating in the NBA this past season, beating out only the rebuilding Phoenix Suns in that category. Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum is no stranger to the Cavaliers’ defensive woes, and on the latest episode of his Pull Up podcast, the two-guard spoke on the team’s struggles on the less glamorous side of the floor (11:40 mark):
Which team makes you work harder: the Celtics or Cavs?
CJ: “Cleveland is one of the worst defensive teams I’ve ever played against, honestly.
I think it’s just the spacing. They have a lot of players on their roster throughout the season, so terminologies not the same, the continuity isn’t always there.
Think about how many players they’ve had on their roster the last 3 or 4 years. They’re literally in-and-out, new guys every year. So it’s hard to be on a string and be united as one when you have all that uncertainty on, ‘Hey, if things don’t go well, I might get shipped out.’
“So I think that’s one of the reasons why their defense has been up and down. But then when it’s time to lock in and focus on one team, their defense is a lot better.”
McCollum has a point, as the Cavaliers’ massive overhaul at the trade deadline – while it brought in more defensively capable assets – failed to help the team on the defensive end, or find the identity the franchise had been lacking through that point in the season. This has also held true in the postseason, as Cleveland has the seventh-worst defensive rating out of the sixteen playoff teams thus far.
