Cavs: Damyean Dotson could be a good 3-and-D option for spurts

Damyean Dotson was a good signing by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was a nice move by the Cleveland Cavaliers to pick up then-unrestricted free agent Damyean Dotson. Dotson, who spent his first three NBA seasons with the New York Knicks, who drafted him in the second round in 2017, was not extended a qualifying offer by New York, so he was unrestricted.

The Cavs and him then agreed to a two-year, $4 million deal, of which the second season is reportedly non-guaranteed.

Dotson looks to be a depth piece for the 2, and at times, the 3, I believe for the Cavs’ rotation. We’ll have to see in relation to the minutes-share, though, as for the two, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr. will be firmly in the fold, and for the 3, Cedi Osman, Isaac Okoro and Dylan Windler are reportedly battling it out for the starting role.

I’d expect all three of those players to be rotational factors, anyhow, and Windler could seemingly fill in at the 2 as well, and perhaps we could see at times those players fill in at the 4 a bit.

Regarding the potential rotation, Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff recently stated, via Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, that he’s “most comfortable with a 10-man rotation, seeing No. 11 as an X-factor, who will be used depending on the style of the game, matchups or specific moment.”

Nonetheless, Dotson should be a quality piece to have for Bickerstaff if/when needed, and could fit in seamlessly alongside a variety of players when his opportunities do come.

Dotson could fill in as a good 3-and-D for spurts for the Cavs.

Again, we’ll have to see regarding the minutes-share for Dotson, but when the opportunities do come, Dotson could fill in as a good 3-and-D for spurts/possibly stretches if needed.

Dotson, in the same mold of Windler, most notably, is a highly capable catch-and-shoot player off of movement. Even in days with the Knicks, in which there was not much spacing, Dotson hit 36.8 and 36.2 percent of his three-point attempts.

That was on a volume of 4.7 and 3.4 attempts per outing. And in relation to catch-and-shoot triple attempts, he hit 38.9 percent of those last season on a frequency of 37.2 percent, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data.

So to me, while we’ll have to see what the chances end up looking like for Dotson, he could be a quality fit in his minutes-share, which was 27.5 and 17.4 minutes per game the past two seasons. For context, RJ Barrett’s draft selection by the Knicks played into that minutes decline last season, but Dotson having 10.7 and 6.7 points per contest the past two years was pretty solid, anyway.

With his shooting capabilities off-the-catch, he should help space the floor more for guys like Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Kevin Porter Jr. and others. Dotson could fire away off of off-ball screens set by Andre Drummond, JaVale McGee and/or Larry Nance Jr., and at times, could hit some step backs.

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On the other end of the floor, Dotson is able to hold his own on-ball. In potential spurts or perhaps stretches where Dotson could fill at the 2 alongside either Garland or Sexton with them staggered, that could aid Cleveland’s defense.

Similarly, the same could go in instances where Matthew Dellavedova or Kevin Porter Jr., or maybe a bit with Dante Exum, running at the 1 some as well. I could foresee that more so in Porter’s case, anyhow.

I could feasibly foresee Dotson at times filling in at the 3 for the Cavs, too, as at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, in some lineups, he could do more than fine there.

Dotson is not a lockdown guy, but he moves laterally pretty well, mirrors 2’s/3’s competently to contain drives and has nice anticipation to contest the pull-up game.

Furthermore, Dotson feels on-ball screeners and can get skinny consistently to hold up in pick-and-roll coverage, which could help Cleveland’s team defense. He placed in the 74th percentile on a frequency of 28.6 percent in 2019-20 in primary ball handling coverage in PnR situations, per Synergy Sports.

And though it of course is not something you’d want in an ideal sense, Dotson, who is fairly put together, does at least hold his own if cross-matched in post-up situations against bigger players.

Lastly, albeit he’s not somebody that you’d label a team defensive playmaker, such as Nance or Okoro, for example, but Dotson has improved his feel/recognition as a rotator/team defender over the course of the past two seasons.

So when the opportunities do come for the 26-year-old Dotson, of which we’ll have to see about, he could definitely fill in as a good 3-and-D player for spurts for Cleveland.