Mavs notebook: Cavs rebuilt in a hurry; Kleber’s injury update

Two seasons ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were 22-50, the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference.

They came into American Airlines Center on Wednesday night with a 17-11 record, third best in the East.

It’s been a rapid and remarkable turnaround in the post-LeBron James era (OK, the second post-LeBron era) in Cleveland.

The Cavs are proof that rebuilding teams can make quick leaps in the right circumstances. Yes, they lost even more games in the two previous seasons before going 22-50. But their front office did a smart job of drafting players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.

And when they saw an opportunity to pounce on a trade for a star player, the Cavs weren’t afraid to deal away some of that home-grown talent when Collin Sexton, drafted in 2018, was included with Lauri Markkanen in the trade for Donovan Mitchell.

It’s a credit to GM Koby Altman and the work of the Cavaliers’ players.

“Koby has done an incredible job of building within,” Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd said. “They have built this the right way. When you look at the opportunity to go after a (big-name star), they did. They landed Mitchell. They’ve done really well in the draft.

“And this is all without LeBron. So, the GM has done a great job. And they have a really good coach that has put these men in a position to be successful.”

That would be J.B. Bickerstaff, who joined the team for that rough 22-50 season but has overseen the rebirth of the organization.

The Mavericks will get an up-close view of the Cavs twice this week. After Wednesday’s game, in which the Cavaliers jumped on the Mavericks early, never trailed and won 105-90, they’ll be in Cleveland on Saturday – the second night of a tough back-to-back after playing Portland at AAC on Friday.

This, after seeing Oklahoma City on Monday. The Thunder are perhaps a year behind the Cavaliers, but are rebuilding their team the same way – primarily through the draft. And they are well-positioned with a passel of draft picks if a star-level player becomes available via free agency or trade.

Before Wednesday’s game, Bickerstaff said there’s another element of the Cavaliers’ resurgence.

“To be honest with you, they were tired of getting beat,” he said of his young core. “When you lose that many games for a significant period of time, and the way we were losing, you get fed up at some point and you got a decision to make.

“Their grit and their desire to win changed. When you’re a young team, you’re just happy to be here. You got drafted in the NBA, your dreams have come true. But then, when you get kicked in the tail a little, those priorities change and that’s what happened with our guys.”

It also helped that in the middle of the 2020-21 season, the Cavs got involved in the massive four-team trade that sent James Harden from Houston to Brooklyn. Cleveland got former Texas center Jarrett Allen in the deal.

He became an all-star the following season.

“It’s the growth of our guys,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s their commitment to want to improve as a team and then as individuals.

“But give Koby and the front office a ton of credit for building this team the way they did, giving us the personnel we have. The environment these guys created, the ability to embrace new people and new moves was also a big part of it. A ton of credit goes to the guys. But obviously, give Koby his just due for the shrewd moves he made.”

Those shrewd moves put the Mavericks in an early 14-point hole on Wednesday, when the Cavaliers made is clear that their record is no fluke. The Mavericks never got closer than nine points in the second half.

Stay tuned: The Mavericks revealed Wednesday that Maxi Kleber suffered a hyperextended right knee during Tuesday’s practice session.

The extent of the injury is not known.

“We’ll see how everything works out,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He was just dribbling the ball and just hyperextended his knee. They’re re-evaluating. Once I get that news, I can share short term or long term.”

The Mavericks also were without Josh Green for the third game in a row with a sprained right elbow.

Making a coach’s job tougher: With Green out, it has opened up more minutes for Frank Ntilikina, who typically is behind Green, Reggie Bullock and Tim Hardaway Jr. at the wing spots.

But the injury to Green has allowed Ntilikina a chance to sway Kidd’s opinion on how those minutes are divvied up.

“When you’re healthy, it’s hard,” he said. “You got Josh in front of him. You got Reggie. You got Timmy. It’s the depth you have at that position that causes a problem.

“For him to be able to take advantage of Josh being out – the way he played the other night . . . that puts internal pressure on the coaching staff to figure out how to get him in the game. But also, it’s friendly competition. That’s just having depth at the wing position.”

Briefly: Before the game, Bickerstaff said the aim defensively was to pick his team’s poison when it came to defending Luka Dončić. “When he’s getting off and his teammates are getting off, you’re going to have a hard night,” the Cavaliers’ coach said. “But if you can eliminate one or the other, you give yourself a chance.” The Cavaliers actually figured out an even better way. Just eliminate both Luka and his teammates, which they pretty much did in the first quarter when they rolled up a 26-19 lead . . . Last spring, Donovan Mitchell was with Utah and shot 20.8 percent (10-for-48) from three-point range in the six-game loss to the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. On Wednesday, he had 27 points. At halftime. “Very different,” Kidd said of the way Mitchell is playing. “He’s way above those numbers (of last year). He’s not the (guy) we saw in the playoffs. He could be in that big group of MVP talk. He causes a problem.”

Twitter: @ESefko