Cavs: 3 2021 draft prospects who would complement CLE’s young core

Miles McBride could be a guard stopper for the Cavs off the bench

Most, if not all, of the top teams in the NBA have a defensive-minded guard to defend against their opponents’ top players.

For the Milwaukee Bucks, it was Eric Bledsoe last year and Jrue Holiday this year. For the Boston Celtics, it is Marcus Smart. For the LA Clippers, it is Patrick Beverley, and for the Los Angeles Lakers, it was Avery Bradley previously.

Despite how the league may look, it is still essential to have strong defenders to win games and the Cavaliers are looking to follow suit. In this past year’s draft, the Cavaliers took Isaac Okoro who is already looking like their best perimeter defender and they could look to add a defensive-minded guard to the team in this year’s draft.

That guard is Miles McBride out of West Virginia. McBride is a strong defender who has quick hands that can be used to overwhelm opposing NBA guards. His 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame gives him good combo-guard potential and his services would be great for the Cavaliers.

Offensively, McBride has on-ball/off-ball potential that has been showcased throughout his time at West Virginia. This paired with his athleticism and playmaking abilities make him a good candidate for the Cavaliers to use a late first/early second round pick on, in the case that they look to acquire one in the 2021 NBA Draft, of which they seemingly very well could.

Potentially they could look to do so via trade/perhaps via second-round pick purchase/swap in exchange for a Cleveland future 2.

Moreover, looking at the current roster, McBride would project to be a solid backup point guard considering that Dante Exum is set to be an unrestricted free agent, Matthew Dellavedova seems to be a locker room guy for the team, and Damyean Dotson is a natural shooting guard.

Also, with how Darius Garland is playing, it looks as if he has that starting point guard role to lose.

A combination of McBride and Porter Jr. off the bench would give the Cavaliers offense and defense more speed and slashing to that bench backcourt.