The Cleveland Cavaliers are rebuilding, so plenty of growing pains are to be expected. Even with that being the case, a few names come to mind that have something to prove next season.
At this point, we’re unsure if the 2019-20 NBA season will eventually resume, at least in some capacity, down the road. Currently, at this time of the league’s season suspension regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a record of just 19-46, which is the second-worst in the Association.
On the plus side, the group did appear re-energized post-All-Star break leading into the COVID-19/social distancing-induced hiatus.
The Wine and Gold had a somewhat respectable post-All-Star break record of 5-6, and it was evident that the Cavs players were seemingly big fans of J.B. Bickerstaff taking the head coaching reigns.
In that stretch, Cleveland had been moving the ball very effectively, as they had the league’s sixth-best assist rate in those 11 contests, as noted by NBA.com, and it led to quality shots consistently. The Cavs were 10th in effective field goal shooting rate, and as you’re probably thinking, it was 11 games, what’s the big deal?
I’m with you on that, but the Cavs as a group were coming together.
It was also unfortunate for players such as Collin Sexton, who had 25.5 points and 4.2 assists per outing in that span, and while Darius Garland missing five games leading into the hiatus had something to do with that, Sexton and Matthew Dellavedova (5.5 assists per game post-All-Star) and other key pieces were in a good rhythm.
Again, it is uncertain whether or not we’ll see the Cavs and even other teams potentially down the road in a possible 2019-20 resumption.
What is certain, though, is that a few players on the Wine and Gold stand out, in particular, as having something to prove next season, whenever that ultimately begins.
Dante Exum
Dante Exum has been up and down to this point for the Cavs, really since he was traded to Cleveland along with then-future Utah Jazz second-round picks in exchange for Jordan Clarkson.
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Throughout his career it’s been really tough for Exum to stay healthy, though, as he missed the entire 2015-16 with Utah due to an ACL tear, and last year, his season was cut short because of a partially torn patellar tendon and then surgery to repair that.
He was limited to just 42 games in 2018-19, and has unfortunately had knee and shoulder issues in his career, and leading into the season’s suspension, Exum had been sidelined for eight games due to a sprained left ankle. It was not certain, realistically, as to when Exum would be back, and hopefully he can get healthier.
When Exum was healthy for Cleveland, it was something of a mixed bag offensively. He had 5.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per outing in 24 appearances, which was alright, but he often seemed unsure of himself.
Defensively, Exum was pretty steady on the perimeter on-ball, and gets through off-ball screens fluidly, though, and next season, he could be a decent rotational piece for Bickerstaff and company if he can be healthy in most games.
I’d imagine he’d be put out there at mostly the 1/2 to relieve Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and/or fill in alongside one of them as a solid ball-mover that can playmake and get pieces such as Kevin Love, Sexton and Larry Nance Jr. and others the rock in their preferred spots.
If Exum can be mostly healthy, perhaps he could be a piece included in a potential deal for Cleveland near next season’s trade deadline that can help accumulate another few future picks.
If not, that’s not a huge deal I wouldn’t think, though, and Cleveland could let the rest of his contact expire (and he’s currently set to make $9.6 million next season), which could help in free agency. Or an expiration could keep the Cavs further from the luxury tax threshold and allow them to look elsewhere.
Either way, next season, the currently 24-year-old Exum has to prove he can stay reasonably healthy. That’s a massive question mark, however, and at least right now, Exum seems unlikely to be a real factor in next season’s perimeter player rotation, even factoring in guards and 3’s.
Could Exum be a nice defensive piece to put out there for stretches, though? I would think, yes.
Dylan Windler
This is another related to the injury bug.
Dylan Windler was a player that the Cavs were hoping could be a nice piece for their rotation in 2019-20, and he was set to be the primary backup at the 3 for Cedi Osman.
Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor recently touched on how Windler could feasibly have taken over at some point this season at the starting small forward spot for Osman, who has been fairly underwhelming overall.
It’s pretty clear now that ideally, Osman should not be starting for Cleveland on most occasions but l do believe he’ll be a nice bench piece.
Windler has not played at all in what is formally his rookie campaign, though, due to complications with a stress reaction in his left leg, and considering he had surgery related to that in January, even factoring in a potential return of the NBA season, Windler’s likely done until next season, anyhow.
I do think he’ll eventually get his NBA legs under him and be able to contribute as potentially a key piece of the Cavs’ rotation, though. That includes as a heady rebounder, too.
Windler could provide a good cutter and ambidextrous finisher, pull-up/off-screen shooting threat and solid ball-mover in settled offense if he can get be mostly healthier, and I could definitely see the current 23-year-old establish himself as perhaps the Cavs’ most important bench player in the near future.
That mostly relates to the way Windler could space the floor for Sexton, Garland, Kevin Porter Jr., Nance and others.
The smooth-shooting lefty shot 40.6 percent in a four-year collegiate career at Belmont, and next season if he can get his legs under him, I firmly believe Windler could really improve Cleveland’s off/screen shooting and shooting off of movement.
Whether it’s fair to say or not, though, it’s unclear at this point as to if Windler can have a notable impact, and again, let’s hope he can be mostly healthy next season. At any rate, my best guess is the Belmont product will indeed establish himself as a key bench contributor.
Darius Garland
Lastly, the other Cavs player that first comes to mind as having something to prove next season for me is Garland.
It’s been understandable for him to have had his growing pains, especially when considering he only played five games in his collegiate career at Vanderbilt and he likely needs a full offseason to really improve his explosiveness and/or get more of that back, to go with build more strength.
The Garland-Sexton pairing has taken their lumps, too, as has been far from shocking.
In Garland’s case, he’s been a bit disappointing with 12.3 points per game, but we’ve seen plenty of flashes from him in terms of shooting off-the-bounce, and it is a plus that earlier this season pre-hiatus that he joined Sexton as becoming only the second Cavs rookie to hit the 100-three-pointers milestone.
DG has shot a fairly average 35.5 percent on three-point looks thus far in 2019-20, but he has hit 39.2 percent on catch-and-shoot triples, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data, and I’ve been encouraging by his playmaking instincts.
Leading into him missing those aforementioned Cleveland Cavaliers’ last five games leading up to the hiatus due to a left groin strain, Garland was operating at a nice pace and keeping his turnovers to a minimum, demonstrating growth. In his last 10 games active, Garland averaged 4.9 assists (up from his season average of 3.9) per outing to just 1.8 turnovers (down from his season average of 2.6).
Next season, though, I want to see Garland be more assertive as a scorer, especially in taking more deep shots, and hopefully, he can gain more explosiveness/strength to help him finish in the paint and/or get more separation. The handle is there.
Can Garland become a more competent on-ball defender, though, which ties into getting stronger/more able to mirror opposing guards? That’s another big question that comes to mind.
The Cavaliers need to give Garland plenty of time for his development, and that’s clear, as he’s just 20 years old, but the youngster does absolutely have plenty to prove next season.