There were so many expectations and even more speculation for this iteration of the Cleveland Cavaliers coming into this year. Would the Cavs make a playoff run this season? Will Donovan Mitchell recommit to the team? What does Evan Mobley look like in his third season? How will the new offseason additions click with the holdovers from last year? Who would step up to be the Robin to Mitchell's Batman? When will the puzzle of this team be solved after finding a new offensive-driven approach?

Several games into the Cavs 2023-24 regular season, none of these questions have been fully answered. A lot of that does have to do with Cleveland not playing enough games to start painting the full picture. Moreover, the fact that the Cavs have been plagued with injuries since the first day of training camp has made it even harder to understand everything fully.

It started with Jarrett Allen suffering a bone bruise in his left ankle during training camp, which sidelined the big man for the entire preseason and Cleveland's first five games. Soon after, Darius Garland tweaked his hamstring in a preseason game against the Orlando Magic. Garland was able to play in the Cavs' season-opening win over the Brooklyn Nets but was then shut down for nearly a week to allow time for his hamstring to heal.

Speaking of hamstring sprains, Mitchell and Caris LeVert have already missed time due to them. Ty Jerome, meanwhile, has been sidelined since Cleveland's home-opening loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder after spraining his ankle.

Like a plague of locusts, the injury bug swarmed and infected the Cavs' locker room early into the year, and the team is still recovering from its impact. The latest victim is Isaac Okoro, Cleveland's best perimeter defender, who will miss two games in a row due to a sore left knee.

Before the Cavs left town for their multi-game road trip, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff told ClutchPoints that Okoro's knee is doing better, which is encouraging. But doing better doesn't mean an instant transition back to the court since a sore knee, like all injuries, requires time to heal properly.

Cavs need to get healthy and gel

Injuries always happen no matter which team it is, but it seems like the Cavs keep dealing with a new ailment at the most inopportune moments, especially to their stars and key rotation players. With the preseason now over, Cleveland has fewer opportunities to practice and execute their new offensive vision. Instead, they have to use in-game opportunities against opponents trying to win to learn what does and doesn't work.

Is it an ideal situation? Of course not. Again, injuries happen to everyone, and that's just the nature of the beast in the NBA. But, early on, it's clear that the biggest disappointment from this Cavs season is the fact that the team is struggling to stay healthy.

Thankfully, the Cavs rode out the wave of the early rash of injuries and are still standing with a 3-4 record and haven't lost much footing in the Eastern Conference. What matters now is managing the load without the few remaining players getting injured.

Going on the road could be the perfect conduit since players aren't within the normal comforts of home and spend more time together, bonding as a group. That can help translate to more immediate on-court success and prime them to dominate the Eastern Conference when the team is finally fully healthy.