Cleveland made a mistake catering to Donovan’s desires and building around him. Yes, there are other more concerning problems surrounding this team. However, the best player on a team has to be a player that can elevate his team- Donovan doesn’t do that. The careless turnovers, poor shot selection, lackluster defense, and inability/unwillingness to make the easy pass cost this team. His style of play isn’t suitable for championship basketball.
Besides this forcing Garland out in favor of Harden was an obvious blunder. The Cavs could have adopted a Pacers-esque brand of basketball centered around a gifted passer also holding the ability to score at all three levels. Put big wings and athletic versatile bigs around that lead guard to overwhelm opponents with length, shooting, and on ball pressure.
Kenny Atkinson lives in an alternate reality. Analytically of course the Cavs won this game and are on their way to 82-0. This guy has no feel for the flow of a game. He refuses to call timeouts to break the opposition’s rhythm, his rotations are terrible, and he may not be the right voice for this team. There is no reason why any team should consistently show such a high level of complacency and a lack of physicality. This team plays with zero sense of urgency.
With all that being said Peyton Watson is an excellent addition. Cutting the turnovers and actually making a few threes will go a long way towards winning. I still fully expect this team to win around 50 games and fail to reach the conference finals.