Cleveland Cavaliers: Power ranking the roster so far this season
#9 – Matthew Dellavedova
Veteran guard Matthew Dellavedova hasn’t had a great season from a statistical standpoint. However, his presence and leadership are very important to this team. He missed a couple of games early in the season due to the birth of his son and the Cavs clearly missed him.
Brandon Knight filled in for Dellavedova in those few games and the difference between the two was clear. Dellavedova runs the offense and is a coach on the floor for the Cavaliers while he’s out there. He also has great chemistry with Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love stemming back to his first stint with the Cavaliers.
On the season, Dellavedova is averaging 15.3 minutes per game, 3.1 points, and 2.7 assists. He has shot it very poorly so far this year so expect his scoring average to see a slight uptick when his shooting improves, water tends to find it’s level. He is shooting a head-shaking 5.6% from three-point range.
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#8 – Kevin Porter Jr.
Cavaliers rookie Kevin Porter Jr. started off very slow to being the season and he still isn’t hitting the outside shot at a very high clip as he’s only making 19% of his three-point attempts. Like Dellavedova, expect that number to rise. Porter Jr. was a solid shooter in college so he should be able to bring that number up as the game starts slowing down for him.
Where he has improved is in the mid-range and around the basket. He has a knack for putting the ball in the bucket and has been very solid over the past couple of games.
He has also shown a solid ability over the last couple of games as a primary defender. His defensive rating isn’t anything to write home about, but it is solid at 108.
For the season, Porter Jr. is averaging 19.2 minutes, 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
#7 – Darius Garland
This may be a little surprising as Darius Garland has started all 11 games in his rookie season. While he has had his moments, he has struggled to adjust to the pro game. That is somewhat to be expected as he only had five games of collegiate action as a freshman last season.
Garland started the season very poorly, and like Porter Jr., he is starting to find his footing. He is still a little inconsistent, however, but he has scored in double figures in three of the last four contests for Cleveland. In their last game, against the Miami Heat, he was a big reason they were able to get back into it as he scored all 11 of his points in the third quarter.
He has shown the ability to make plays off of the dribble, but he has to start converting the floater that he shoots so often. Once he starts making those shots expect his season averages of 8.8 points and 3.7 assists to start going up.