Es Baraheni

It's not going to be the core four that everybody in Cleveland called them when Garland was here, but that's going to be the best four.

And then that fifth spot, I think, is something that's going to rotate based upon what the Cavs need.

If they need offense and shooting, Sam Merrill might be that answer.

If they need...

more of a defensive minded guy, it might be Keon Ellis.

I'm not exactly sure how that fifth spot is going to go.

Maybe it's Dean Wade.

If you look at how good in the impact that he has, like he's never going to be somebody that blows you away with box score numbers, but like the impact he has had defensively, he's been one of the best defenders in basketball this year when he's been available.

So I think that they have optionality with that fifth spot.

which I think can be both good and bad.

Like sometimes I think teams like to know, okay, when the game's on the line, these five guys are going to be on the floor.

I think the Cavs have the answer for four of them, but that fifth one's just going to continue to rotate.

So I still think that they're in the middle of the pack because we, of that pack, I should say, like, I know that they lost three games to the Raptors this year and you have to look at what happened in those games.

Like nobody played for the Cavs in them.

And that's part of the reason why they lost those games.

And like, I don't mean this to be a shot at the Raptors because that's not the case.

But like, if those two teams played right now, I would pick the Cavs to win a playoff series.

Now we have to see what this Cavs team looks like.

And by the time we get to the playoffs, we will have a lot more answers about the Cavs at this point or at that point.

But the way that I look at the Eastern Conference, Detroit has had this awesome season.