Cavs: Clip of rookies highlights how they’ll likely form a special bond

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images /
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For the Cleveland Cavaliers’ three 2019 NBA Draft picks to develop into being every night contributors, the three of them have to form outstanding chemistry both on and off the floor, and I believe they will.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and their fan base seem to fully understand that for Cleveland to be successful in its’ full-rebuild, the Cavs’ three 2019 NBA Draft selections need to eventually become meaningful contributors on a nightly basis.

For that to pan out, though, the three of them need to establish outstanding chemistry on the floor, but also off it.

The Cavs are truthfully, relying on Darius Garland, Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr. (their three 2019 draft picks) to all become key pieces in the coming years, and I believe Garland and Windler will be tasked with that responsibility fairly early on in the 2019-20 season.

KJG contributors have often touched on how the three of them should help the Cavs have more spacing, perimeter shooting and playmaking next season, anyhow.

All three have the capability to shoot it from three-point land at a high clip, which should help Cleveland’s offense be more versatile in coming years.

Even though it was a small sample size, Garland and Porter both shot over 41.0% from there (though Garland’s sample size was only five games, per Sports Reference) and many draft pundits emphasized how both can hit perimeter looks both off-the-catch and off-the-bounce on a regular basis.

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Along with that, Windler had a career 40.6% hit rate from deep at Belmont in a four-year career (per Sports Reference), and had 21.3 points per game in his senior season, and looks to at least be a good ball-mover when the chances arise.

Garland and Porter could potentially be decent creators for others if given the opportunities to grow over the next few years, too, and I believe will, and the three can set each other up in minutes with maybe two paired up or even with all three on the floor together on occasion as well.

Again, however, for Garland, Windler and Porter to ultimately be successful, they need to form a special bond both on the floor for the Cleveland Cavaliers and off it.

The three of them being in the same draft class should naturally bring that sort of thing, at least one would hope, but it’s never a guarantee.

Even with the Cavs likely having mostly losses in the 2019-20 season (they were 19-63, per NBA.com, in 2018-19) with the team going to have its share of growing pains by playing so many young players big minutes, the locker room is shaping up to be one that is especially tight-knit, as it grew to be last season.

This clip (courtesy of the NBA, which made it into a GIF) was a plus for me in that the Cavs’ 2019 rookies are showing glimpses of growing really close off the floor, which is paramount.

I know, it’s a video of Porter and Windler simply dancing at the rookie photo shoot (and it’s a tough call on the NBA’s question, by the way), but again, this is nice to see for me as a Cavs fan.

For the record, Garland was there, too, just not in that above GIF is all.

The rookies of course need to embrace their other teammates, too, but during Summer League play for the team last month, the rooks reportedly had exposure to a good number of their veteran teammates, such as Larry Nance Jr., and that’s obviously important from the team scope.

Nonetheless, the Cleveland Cavaliers need Garland, Windler and Porter to be virtually joined at the hip off the floor, because they are such crucial pieces for the team in coming years and they’ll likely all get their crack at getting big minutes in due time.

The above clip, leads me to believe those three will become particularly tight-knit in the near future, though, and for the organization, that would be encouraging, assuming the others in the locker room embrace them in their own way, too (which I would imagine they will).

Next. Cavs: 15 greatest draft steals in franchise history. dark

The Cavs are a ways away from being contenders, but they’ll be fun, and that’s a plus.