We are less than a month away from teams reporting to training camps around the NBA, and the official first sign that the new season is almost upon us is the annual release of the latest installment of the NBA 2K franchise, NBA 2K24.
While fans of the game will be concerned mostly with the gameplay changes and updated game modes, general NBA fans are always interested in seeing how the ratings folks at 2K grade out all of the players and teams in the league. Player ratings always spark debate, particularly among how they rank top stars and regarding players whose impact often isn’t fully felt in the box score — or, vice versa, those who put up big stats but might not always contribute to winning basketball. As far as team ratings, 2K has moved away from dramatic differences between top and bottom teams, as the lowest rated team in this year’s edition is an 86 OVR and they don’t even show team ratings in the game setup screen (you can find them in MySeason mode when picking through teams to start a franchise with).
For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they have a young roster with lots of exciting talent, but now come into the 2023-24 season with lofty expectations after earning the 4-seed in the East a year ago. Their core four returns, headlined by Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in the backcourt, but they spent this offseason bolstering the wing with Max Strus and Georges Niang after a rough first round exit against the Knicks. The Cavs get plenty of love from 2K, boasting a 96 OVR rating as a team, and its hard not to look at this roster and see it as one of the most complete in the East. The big question is likely to be whether they can match their regular season success in the postseason this go around.
Cleveland Cavaliers: 96 OVR, 99 OFF, 93 DEF
Donovan Mitchell: 92
Darius Garland: 86
Evan Mobley: 85
Jarrett Allen: 83
Caris LeVert: 78
Max Strus: 78
Isaac Okoro: 76
Ricky Rubio: 75
Ty Jerome: 74
Dean Wade: 73
Georges Niang: 73
Damian Jones: 72
Tristan Thompson: 72
Sam Merrill: 70
Isaiah Mobley: 70
