Cavs 2020 NBA Draft pick can help get better guage of young pieces

A Cavs wing selection can help gauge the backcourt’s viability

The Cavaliers and Darius Garland didn’t get the rookie year they both wanted out of the young guard in 2019-20. Garland only shot 40.1 percent from the field, and defensively, he mightily struggled.

Now, Garland was seemingly not nearly at full capacity due to his prior meniscus tear at Vanderbilt, and he came into year 1 out of shape, also because of a foot injury at that point.

Him and Collin Sexton together for long stretches had their share of problems defensively, and while I thought Sexton showed growth there on-ball, honestly, Garland again is a major defensive question mark regardless. And Sexton’s off-ball feel defensively needs to improve, but it is a key positive that Garland looks fully ready to roll and was a standout at Cleveland’s recent in-market bubble team workouts, as KJG”s Grant Puskar highlighted.

Nonetheless, with the Cavs seemingly wanting to give this backcourt more starting time together, having Cedi Osman for long stretches out there with them, from a defensive standpoint, won’t aid them. Osman is a decent rotational player to have, as he is an instinctive passer, and has worked into becoming a highly capable spot-up threat.

But for the Cavs, to help guage the Garland-Sexton backcourt’s viability, getting a high level defensive wing, such as Okoro, Vassell or I believe at least one that projects as being more competent on-ball than Osman in Avdija, who might be more capable on-ball offensively, would be a logical move.

All three are especially active in the team sense, close out effectively, and get their hands in passing lanes to disrupt offensive flow. And Okoro, most notably, is arguably the best and also, most versatile defender in this draft, and the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Auburn product could aid Garland, Sexton and Cleveland’s team defense even early on with his varying tool box on that end.

On the offensive end, while Okoro’s shooting (just 28.6 percent from three-point range in 2019-20), is a question mark, Cleveland has aided Sexton, Osman and Larry Nance Jr. in that realm in a big way, and perhaps they could again. The same goes for Avdija, although pull-up shooting ability he’s shown flashes of, which is a plus, and Okoro is a great finisher on drives.

Both are particularly active cutters, too, and the passing feel of each, and even more so Avdija, could aid Garland and Sexton in terms of off-ball growth also.

When it comes to Vassell, he made considerable strides as a pull-up shooter during his sophomore season, and in two seasons at FSU, he hit 41.7 percent of his three-point attempts. He’d project as a player that could be a really nice kickout target for Sexton and Garland, and maybe could be a relocation threat as the year progresses more.

Moreover, even fairly early on, a selection of one of these three wings would seem to have a good shot of unseating Osman as Cleveland’s starting 3, factoring in the defensive end.

And I’d still more so expect Dylan Windler, given how he missed 2019-20 due to injury, to be primarily a bench contributor in his first year; he could play the 2 a bunch, too.

Moving on, we’ll touch on how Cleveland’s 2020 NBA Draft selection could aid Windler, Porter and/or the key youngsters in more of the general sense as well.