Cleveland Cavaliers: Three takeaways from the preseason

2 of 4

Cleveland Cavaliers big John Henson. (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Proceeding with caution

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a cautious approach in preseason when it came to several of their players, and most notably in relation to bigs John Henson and Ante Zizic, who did not play at all in the four games.

More from King James Gospel

Henson, a player that reportedly has looked really good when he’s been able to compete in scrimmages in training camp, did not log any preseason minutes due to a right groin strain, and he was out because of a reported ankle injury in the last two games.

On the bright side, while it would’ve been nice to see Henson, a solid rotational shot blocker and screener, get a few appearances, it did at least allow training camp invitees Marques Bolden and Jarell Martin to get some more meaningful minutes, anyhow, and Bolden, in particular, looks to be a player that could potentially be the other Cleveland two-way player at the season’s outset.

For reference, undrafted rookie big Dean Wade has one of the two-way contracts locked up going into the season.

Bolden, a 6-foot-11, 21-year-old undrafted rookie out of Duke, was tied with Martin for the Cavaliers’ lead in blocks in the preseason (per NBA.com), and Bolden could also be a candidate for Cleveland’s 14th roster spot.

Zizic, another player I would’ve liked to have seen get some preseason minutes heading into his third season, was again, a player that Cleveland head coach John Beilein and the coaching staff did not play at all due to foot soreness.

On the plus side, Love and Thompson did appear in the Cavs’ first two preseason games after combining to miss 99 games in the 2018-19 season, per Basketball Reference, mostly due to reported toe surgery (in Love’s case) and a foot injury (in Thompson’s case).

When active, Love seemed a bit off, as evidenced by him only shooting 20.0% from three-point land in three preseason games (per NBA.com), but he was at least getting to his spots for quality looks, and in Beilein’s motion-predicated offense, I think that will suit Love’s game really well.

Thompson seemed to be in a good rhythm in his two games active (he was not active in the second Boston matchup, either, due to rest), which was nice to see, well minus the two three-point attempts in the first preseason game.

Thompson had 14.5 points per game while converting often pretty close to the rim, and though he did only appear in two contests, he did look pretty sharp.

Related Story. Cavs: Thompson showing an aggressiveness offensively. light

It was also no surprise that Cavs rookie wing Dylan Windler did not appear in any preseason games, as he’s still recovering from a left tibial stress reaction, and could reportedly miss a bit of the regular season because of that.

It was a positive that Windler was able to at least play in Summer League for Cleveland, though, where he flashed his parking lot shooting range and looked comfortable as a secondary playmaker at times, too.

Lastly, given that Garland had that aforementioned ankle tweak against the Pistons, him being held out of the first Celtics game was understandable, and with him showing some good signs against Boston in the last preseason game, I hope that ankle tweak doesn’t hurt his chances of being Cleveland’s opening night starter at point guard (though again, Beilein’s offense will reportedly be a two mostly-point guard front with Sexton being the other backcourt starter).

Along with that, veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova reportedly sprained his right thumb in the last preseason game, per Cavs.com’s Joe Gabriele, which to me, is all the more reason to play Garland as the opening night starter.