Better spacing should improve Cavs’ efficiency in restricted area

The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t efficient enough in the restricted area in 2018-19, in large part due to their spacing being pretty limited, and with more spacing in 2019-20, their efficiency near the rim should be better.

As we’ve emphasized here at KJG throughout this offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have better spacing in 2019-20 than they had the majority of last season.

Cleveland converted on three-point shots pretty well in 2018-19, as only 12 teams shot it at a better clip from there (per NBA.com).

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The Cavaliers placed in the bottom ten in both three-pointers made and attempted per game, though (again, per NBA.com), but the way they improved in those areas post-All-Star break last year makes me optimistic that with more legitimate three-point threats in their rotation next season, that they should have better spacing and in turn, be more efficient near the rim than they were last year.

With Collin Sexton‘s surge in three-point shooting volume post-All-Star break (5.8 attempts per game as compared to 2.7 per game pre-All-Star), and with Kevin Love being involved more in the rotation and at times playing big minutes, the Cavs were trending in the right direction offensively.

Cleveland was 13th in three-pointers made in that post-All-Star stretch, and only ten teams attempted more of those shots per contest (per NBA.com).

Plus, though it was not a massive improvement, the Cavaliers shot 62.2% in the restricted area in that time, as compared to them shooting 59.7% for the year, which was third-worst in the Association.

The key for me in 2019-20, though, is again, that better spacing provided with Love in the lineup more (he only appeared in 22 games last year, per Basketball Reference, mostly due to reported toe injury) combined with pieces such as Darius Garland, Dylan Windler, Kevin Porter Jr. getting meaningful minutes I would imagine for most of the season, along with Sexton and Cedi Osman and a quality off-the-catch perimeter shooter in Jordan Clarkson, should lead to Cleveland being more efficient at the rim than they were last year.

That also should make them more competitive in games, generate more free throw attempts (the Cavs had the fourth-fewest FT attempts per game last year, per NBA.com) and not force them into so many highly-contested mid-range shots that often led to long rebounds the other way, and put an already-bad Cleveland Cavaliers’ defense is an even worse position in secondary transition.

Playing into that, with Cleveland likely having better ball and man movement under new head coach John Beilein and his staff, the offense should have more counters to defenses overplaying pieces such as Windler and Garland from deep, and more looks should open up on the interior as a result of that attention drawn off-ball, leading to better shot opportunities near the rim for Windler and Garland, along with rollers/off-ball screeners such as Larry Nance Jr. and Ante Zizic, as we’ve hit on previously here at KJG.

That being said, Love being regularly in the rotation will certainly play a considerable role when it comes to spacing, though, and as KJG contributors have mentioned, the advanced passing he and Nance should provide a good amount in 2019-20 (and beyond, really) will help efficiency likely increase both outside the arc and likely inside in dishing to cutters with their vision.

As we’ve hit on, too, Windler proved to have excellent feel as a cutter/finisher at Belmont, and though Garland and Sexton won’t be outstanding in terms of efficiency, they should get plenty of good chances in times with Love and/or spacers such as Windler, to a degree Osman, and occasionally Porter on the floor with them.

Furthermore, if the Cleveland Cavaliers are patient enough and have more swing-swing sequences than they had last season, which I believe they will, they should finish better and at least be more competitive game-to-game and have less offensive lulls.