3 potential clutch lineups that the Cavs could run next season

Potential clutch lineup #1 for the Cleveland Cavaliers: Darius Garland-Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr.-Kevin Love-Andre Drummond

This lineup looks to give the Cavaliers their best shot at closing out a game and seems to be the most likely clutch lineup we see next season.

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This lineup is led by the backcourt duo of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton. Though the duo hasn’t had the best success together, we have seen the potential that the two share together and as they progress in their careers, we could see the two really take off.

Garland was the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and so far, his career has been up and down. In college, Garland had only played five games for Vanderbilt due to a meniscus injury but that small sample was enough to entice the Cavaliers.

Rather than easing him into the league, the Cavs’ coaching staff immediately threw Garland to the wolves as he was told to play 30 minutes per game right when the season started.

In 59 games played, Garland averaged 12.3 points and 3.9 assists per game, shooting 40.1 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from the three-point line.

Looking at his season, Garland’s best stretch came in early January, as I highlighted in a previous article. Also, during that January month overall, Garland averaged 14.4 points and 5.3 assists per game, both of which were the highest he’s averaged in any month.

This month from Garland showed us that the potential is there. With an offense to fine-tune his game and bulk, we could see him take a much-anticipated leap in his play.

The second player to this duo is Sexton. In two seasons, Sexton has established himself as a core player for the Cavaliers and has made watching them worthy during his short time on the team. In 2019-20, Sexton made strides that have many people looking at him as a possible All-star level player in the near future.

In 65 games in his novel coronavirus-shortened second season, Sexton averaged 20.8 points and 3.0 assists per game, shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from the three-point line.

Sexton’s game took a massive step after the New Year as, since January 1, Sexton averaged 23.6 points and 3.6 assists per game, shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 44.9 percent from downtown. Diving even deeper into statistics, this pandemic looks to hurt Sexton the most as he was just hitting a groove before the NBA’s suspension.

Looking at his last eight games, Sexton had averaged a staggering 28.1 points and 4.0 assists per game, shooting an astonishing 56.2 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from three-point land.

Looking ahead, Sexton looks to be the Cavaliers’ go-to guy for at least this upcoming season and if he can continue where he started, the Cavaliers could return to playoff contention faster than many people expected.

The small forward of this lineup is Kevin Porter Jr. who has quickly turned into a fan favorite and seems to have the most potential from the Cavaliers’ current young core. KPJ was the 30th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

To acquire his rights, the Cavaliers gave up a lot, don’t get me wrong. They then sent four second-round picks and five million dollars in cash considerations to the Detroit Pistons, the team that originally had the selection via trade before the draft with the Milwaukee Bucks.

In his rookie year, though, KPJ showed off a complete package, giving us high-flying highlights, showing off his isolation and scoring abilities, and letting us know about his defensive potential.

Previously, I have gone in-depth on KPJ’s season and looked at the good stretches he has had during the season. KPJ has immense potential and if he can continue to improve with more repetitions, the Cavaliers may have found a star.

This lineup is rounded out with Kevin Love and Andre Drummond in the frontcourt.

Looking at Love, his time with the Cavaliers has been up and down, and his time here could seemingly come to end in the near future, or at least before 2021-22. That said, Love’s floor spacing and rebounding ability have proven to be vital for the Cleveland Cavaliers and it may be best to keep him around as another offensive option.

Albeit next season, that’d be expected, given how the next salary cap could drastically decrease due to COVID-19 and with how teams will likely be looking to hold on to cap space for 2021 free agents.

The Cavaliers traded for Drummond on the day of the trade deadline for pennies on the dollar and he could be flipped again for a decent return or the Cavaliers could look to re-sign him. Drummond has previously emphasized that he fully intends to pick up his $28.8 million player option for 2020-21, and Cleveland and him reportedly have “shown interest” in a contract extension.

Granted, that latter scenario seems anything but a certainty at this point, but it is beginning to seem more likely he’s extended than eventually traded, with it being hard from a simple task to deal him before the 2021 deadline.

Overall, this lineup gives the Cavaliers a lot of offensive capabilities, seeing as Garland, Sexton and KPJ could find success with isolations as well as pick-and-rolls/pick-and-pops with Love and Drummond.

The biggest downside from this group is defense, seeing as the Cavs would be giving up a ton of size with their small backcourt and 6-foot-4 small forward in KPJ. Not to mention, Love and Drummond have their defensive woes outside the paint on-ball, too.