Cavs: Preserving Darius Garland is seller for FA target T.J. McConnell

Last season, Darius Garland had quite the rebound campaign for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest, and he knocked in 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts.

After Garland had a fairly underwhelming rookie season, in part because of a number of factors, including him reportedly having his prior meniscus injury from college in his back of his mind still, Garland looked like a different guy in Year 2.

We saw the shiftiness on display from him much more often game-to-game, and that aided him in the on-ball scoring realm, but also as a playmaker for others. To that last bit, his vision popped last season, too, and with and the deep shooting in mind, I’m pumped to see how he continues to grow in Year 3.

That said, while Collin Sexton made further strides as a playmaker, and in the secondary sense in particular, last season, it would be sensible for Cleveland to target a veteran backup lead guard in free agency this offseason. That’s regardless of if the Cavaliers were to eventually end up trading Sexton, factoring in trade rumors, some in relation to him being extension-eligible and more so if Cleveland were to potentially draft either Jalen Green or Jalen Suggs.

I do believe if the Cavs were to draft either of those two that’d it still be smart to see if either could coexist in some spurts/stretches with Garland and Sexton though, and if the Cavs were to possibly trade Sexton down the road, then okay.

In any case, circling back though, with it not seeming likely that Matthew Dellavedova is back next season, nor should he be, I could get the Cavs targeting a backup point guard this offseason. As far as logical targets, T.J. McConnell has previously been mentioned as a reported potential target, as was Alex Caruso, and I’d think Patty Mills, for instance, could be, too. Those are via the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is set to be roughly $10 million.

I would think that say in McConnell or Caruso’s case that they could potentially be had for say, $6-7 million per year for a multi-year deal though, with Dean Wade and/or Lamar Stevens in the fold with some of the MLE as well. Both Wade and Stevens are set to be non-guaranteed for coming seasons, for context, and at least with Wade, I’d imagine he’ll likely be back and stick around for next season, also.

Anyhow, among those few veteran lead guards mentioned, I do believe McConnell would probably be the best of that potential crop. And part of that is due to how he could help preserve Garland and take a legitimate portion off his playmaking plate, and that’s again, whether or not Sexton is potentially dealt at some point.

McConnell could help preserve Garland for the Cavs.

McConnell has had 5.0 assists per game in his six seasons, of which the first four were with the Philadelphia 76ers and the last two have been with the Indiana Pacers. Last season, he tied with career-high with 6.6 helpers per outing too, and had a career-high with 8.6 points per game for Indiana.

McConnell is an adept ball-mover, and although he might not have quite the vision of Dellavedova, T.J.’s is still good, and he could mesh well in spurts with Sexton, if he sticks around, Green/Suggs, Jarrett Allen and others.

The veteran McConnell has great timing when it comes to hitting both rollers/lob threats and cutters but also counters that well by initiating productive ball-swings to perimeter shooters and/or delivering kickouts after drives on-time and precisely to the shooting pocket.

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Point being, in non-Garland minutes, that could give the Cavaliers a real lift, and could help preserve Darius throughout the season.

Garland missed not a ton of games in his first season, but he did end up missing the last six of Cleveland’s season pre-COVID-19 induced-hiatus and eventual shutdown for the Cavs, and would’ve missed more due to a groin strain if not for the hiatus.

And last season, while the condensed season schedule didn’t aid players from a timing standpoint for absences, Garland either way missed an eight-game stretch early on due to a shoulder sprain, and he missed eight of the last nine games for Cleveland due to an ankle sprain.

More so generally in this sense, Garland is on the slender side too, and just with the workload he has, having a steady veteran that is sturdier and has been very durable in McConnell could be relied upon game-to-game could reduce the burden on Garland. That’s from a playmaking perspective, to reiterate.

Plus, although he’s not a three-point shooting presence really, McConnell is a highly capable mid-range pull-up shooter, and has great touch on push shots. He’d provide a solid pick-and-roll passer, but also scoring option for spurts/stretches for Cleveland, which shouldn’t be discounted.

Lastly, while he is 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, McConnell is a good point-of-attack defender that can hound opposing point guards, and in the team defensive sense, he’d be an impact player for stretches for the Cavaliers.

He had 1.9 steals per outing last season, which was second in the league only behind Jimmy Butler, and the veteran point guard was third in deflections per game, per NBA.com’s hustle data.

So, we’ll have to see if McConnell will look to return to Indiana next season/perhaps onward, but it’d at least be sensible for the Cavs to pursue him this offseason. That’s given how he could provide some of a leadership presence for them and help preserve Garland as well.

If the Cavaliers ended up signing a wing/shooting target such as Doug McDermott, McConnell’s Pacers’ teammate, however, I’d understand that, or the likes of Reggie Bullock or potentially restricted free agent Josh Hart, as an alternative.

The Wine and Gold couldn’t go wrong with the 29-year-old McConnell, though, and I do believe he could definitely have interest with Cleveland’s promising young pieces, but also need for a reliable backup lead guard.