Cavs: Damyean Dotson’s PnR game will be a nice weapon to have

Damyean Dotson’s shooting should only help his case for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

At this juncture, it’s not exactly certain as to what the potential minutes-share could be free agent acquisition Damyean Dotson for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He’s a player that could feasibly fill in in spurts/perhaps stretches when Darius Garland/Collin Sexton are being staggered, but could play alongside a variety of pieces, such as Kevin Porter Jr., Dante Exum and Cedi Osman/Dylan Windler at the 3, anyhow.

I could foresee Dotson at times manning the 3 position, too, depending on matchups. Albeit we’ll again, still have to see what happens involving the minutes-share for him.

But no matter what that eventually ends up being/if Dotson is able to get on the floor in varying lineups in a rotational/depth role, it’s evident that he should aid Cleveland’s floor spacing/catch-and-shoot efforts.

In the past two seasons, in particular, Dotson proved to be a quality shooter for the New York Knicks off-the-catch, both via spot-ups and off movement. In 2018-19, Dotson hit 36.8 percent of his 4.7 three-point attempts per outing and last season, he hit 36.2 percent of his 3.4 attempts from downtown per game.

He hit 38.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot triple attempts, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data, which was solid. Dotson, who cuts/moves really well in settled offense, can get some cutting looks at times, too, thanks to his constant activity.

And on the defensive end, Dotson does commendable work against 2’s and often against 3’s, is sound in pick-and-roll coverage and off the ball, his feel has improved over the course of the past two seasons. When Dotson gets his opportunities, frankly, he should be a good 3-and-D option for the Cavs for spurts, and should fit in with a number of Cavs players.

That said, one area of his game shouldn’t be glossed over.

Dotson’s pick-and-roll game will be a nice weapon to have for the Cavs offense in spurts.

Dotson is not going to be a go-to on-ball player I wouldn’t imagine, necessarily, when he’s on the floor for Cleveland, but he can generate his own offense at times. He has a pretty nice handle, and while the pull-ups weren’t the most efficient, Dotson did hit an impressive 58.1 percent of his step back attempts last season, per NBA.com’s shooting data.

Moreover, the pick-and-roll game for Dotson, although he won’t have near the volume of Garland or Sexton, should help the Cavs offense in spurts and will be a nice weapon to have. Dotson, even with him not having the finishing/driving ability of Porter or Isaac Okoro, for instance, does generate separation in pick-and-roll fairly consistently.

And if he gets favorable switchout situations, Dotson could definitely aid Cleveland’s offense as a PnR shot creator at times by knocking in step backs/pull backs in settled offense.

Even in instances when the matchup integrity is there for opposing defenses, though, with Dotson having a tight handle, he could get to some looks via side steps and/or use hang dribbles at times to get to his spot in the mid-range area.

In 2019-20, Dotson, even while not playing on a Knicks squad with the greatest spacing, placed in the 71st percentile in pick-and-roll ball handling scoring situations, per Synergy Sports.

On a frequency of 16.9 percent, that wasn’t too shabby, and when he’s given opportunities by the Cleveland Cavaliers, his shake/handle to get into step backs/pull backs/some side steps will be a nice weapon to have.

But to be clear, the PnR ball handling volume for Dotson won’t be among the highest on the Cavaliers next season.

Albeit it will be a nice weapon to have for the Cavs in spurts throughout games and could help make Cleveland’s offense for versatile.