Season Wrap-Up: TIMOFEY MOZGOV

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Much was made of the offseason David Griffin and the Cavaliers assembled one summer ago – extending Kyrie Irving’s contract, reuniting with four-time MVP LeBron James and making a monster three-team deal to acquire Kevin Love.

But almost as critical in the squad’s success – finishing two wins away from the NBA title – were the dual deals Cleveland’s front office put together in early January: essentially turning Dion Waiters and a pair of future first-rounders for Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov.

“I look at this deal as, really, three deals in aggregate,” explained Griffin at the time. “We felt that if we could address three of our biggest holes – which we identified as consistent outside shooting that didn’t necessarily need the ball, in the form of J.R., a wing defender in the form of Iman, and a starting-caliber center with the length and defensive identity of Mozgov. If we could turn Dion and the Memphis pick into that, we wanted to try to bring that to fruition. And we’ve done that.”

Not long after those deals were done, Cleveland became almost unbeatable through the remainder of its schedule – going 34-11 in regular season games Mozgov started down the stretch – and throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, going 12-2 on their way to the NBA Finals.

The Cavaliers had coveted the 7-1, 250-pounder before they eventually dealt for him in early January, but a season-ending Achilles injury to Anderson Varejao might have accelerated their interest. In the ten games between Varejao’s injury and Mozgov’s first start as a Cavalier, the team went 2-8.

The Cavaliers also had a connection with Mozgov via their first-year head coach, David Blatt, who coached him on the bronze medal-winning Russian National team in the 2012 London Olympics – the first Russian team to medal since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

”In all honesty, Timofey Mozgov was on our board this (past) summer,” said Blatt after the deal was done. “He’s a guy that we wanted here in Cleveland. It took a little bit longer but kudos to David Griffin and the management for finding a way to bring him (here)."

Before joining the Cavs, the 28-year-old Mozgov – who began his NBA career with the Knicks in 2010-11 – started in 35 games this season for Denver, averaging 8.5 points on .504 shooting to go with a career-best 7.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per contest.

On the season, he started 80 games for the Cavs and Nuggets – averaging 9.7 points on .555 shooting (good for 4th in the NBA), 7.3 boards and 1.2 blocks – the highest blocked-shot average since Zydrunas Ilgauskas in 2007-08. He recorded half of his 18 double-doubles in a Cavaliers uniform and shot nearly 72 percent from the stripe on the year.

Mozgov had at least one blocked shot in 34 of his 46 regular season games as a Cavalier, including a stretch of 12 straight games with a swat. He led or tied for the team lead in blocks on 21 occasions.

In the postseason, Mozgov was just as good or better – averaging 3.0 blocks per game in the Cavs First Round sweep of Boston and teaming with Tristan Thompson to dominate a pair of high-profile frontlines in Chicago and Atlanta. And he saved some of his best stuff for last – coming up big against Golden State on the NBA’s biggest stage.

With Mozgov locked up for next season, the Cavaliers will return with one of the most dynamic frontlines in the NBA next year. The 28-year-old big man was rock-solid with the Wine and Gold after joining the club mid-season – giving the team an aspect it sorely lacked before his arrival.

Timo should be that much better and more comfortable when the squad reconvenes for another run as Training Camp tips off in October.

As good as Mozgov was in the first three rounds of the playoffs, he was even better when the Wine and Gold reached the Finals.

Mozgov had his way with Second Team All-Defensive center Andrew Bogut in the first two games of the Finals – averaging 16.5 points and 9.0 boards. In Game 3, Mozgov didn’t put up big offensive numbers – finishing with just six points. But he did lead both teams with four blocks.

Golden State went with a smaller lineup in Game 4 and, with an undersized Draymond Green trying to check him, Mozgov went off for a playoff-high 28 points to go with 10 boards, going 9-for-16 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the stripe – albeit in a painful 103-82 loss.

“That was a good game for me, but you have to understand, whatever game you play like that, at the end of the game, you lost, and it doesn’t make you feel good,” said the soft-spoken St. Petersburg native. “I’d rather that I played the worst game of my career and we won it. “

Mozgov was limited to just nine scoreless minutes in Game 5 before bouncing back with a strong 17-point, 12-rebound performance in the Finals finale – going 5-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the stripe, while grabbing seven of his boards off the offensive glass.

After coming off the bench in his first appearance with Cleveland – ironically, against the Warriors on January 9 in Oakland – Mozgov started every other contest with the Cavaliers. And he was the model of consistency from that point forward.

So if we have to identify a particularly tough moment for Mozgov, it’s the aforementioned Game 5 at Golden State.

Coming off his best performance as a Cavalier, the Warriors went with their small lineup and the Wine and Gold struggled to adjust. Mozgov committed two bad early turnovers and took a seat less than five minutes into the affair and didn’t check back in until late in the third quarter. On the night, Mozgov finished 0-of-1 from the floor and didn’t score a point or grab a rebound in just 9:19 of floor time.

Both of Timofey Mozgov’s parents were athletes back in Russia. His mother ran track and his father was a professional handball player. (Mozgov traditionally wears uniform No. 25 to honor him; although that digit’s been retired [Mark Price] in Cleveland.)

No pun intended, but Mozgov tried his hand at the sport and – as was the case in basketball, and much to Timo’s chagrin – the coach immediately wanted to make him the team’s center.

”Every game, I’d ask: ‘Can you put me at the forward position? I feel like I can do it!’ And he’d say: ‘Yeah, yeah, OK.’ And then the game would start and they would put me back at the center position. I was like: ‘Damn.’”

20-1 … The Wine & Gold's regular season home record with Timofey Mozgov on the roster.

The Russian big man joined the Wine and Gold on January 9 and the team didn’t see a home loss until April 10. Overall, the Cavs' home record with Timo in a Cavs uniform this season was 27-4.

Timofey Mozgov ... responding to this question from an international journalist following Game 4 of the NBA Finals: “You had a phenomenal night inside, scoring virtually at will. In fact the points in the paint piled up. Yet, it did not free up the perimeter opportunities for the Cavs. Was it a combination of just more of a harassing defense on the part of the Warriors tonight, or, as Coach Blatt said, was the team a bit tired, a bit exhausted from the three games in five nights and the travel? Or a combination?” …

“That's a long question. Can you repeat it, please?”

One of the Wine and Gold’s first priorities of the offseason was to extend Mozgov’s option through next season. He gave the Cavaliers an interior, rim-protecting presence they haven’t had since Big Z roamed the paint during LeBron’s previous incarnation.

And if you’re excited to see what Mozgov can do alongside a healthy Anderson Varejao, you’re not alone. The Cavaliers had one of the most versatile, skilled and tenacious frontlines in the NBA down the stretch last season. With two members of that frontline returning to full-health this offseason, there’s no telling how good Timo can become with a full roster surrounding him and a full Training Camp under his belt.