Cavs: Lamar Stevens helped himself with Summer League play

It wasn’t a particularly notable Las Vegas Summer League for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland went 2-3 in their games, with wins over the Orlando Magic in their second contest and in one where they held on against the Phoenix Suns in their last exhibition outing.

Coming into play, seeing how Isaac Okoro was going to do in feasibly a couple of games as a key scoring option and playmaking presence was one of the storylines, along with Evan Mobley getting his first action with the Cavs. Well technically in that sense.

Okoro’s play was encouraging, and even with shooting struggles and him needing to fill out in coming years, overall, I thought Mobley did fine. As our own Matthew Fagan pointed out, his playmaking and defensive abilities were as advertised, too. Let’s not gloss over that the Cavs didn’t really have much in the point guard department on the Summer League roster, either.

Brodric Thomas, who could still possibly be set to land one of the two-way spots again heading into next season, of which he ended up last season with, was often in that type of role in Vegas, which is not something he’s suited to do normally.

Jaylen Hands, who averaged on the plus side, was a bright spot as a shot creator for Cleveland, and his quickness was on display. Matt Ryan and Trevon Bluiett also knocked down 48.1 percent and 43.8 percent from three-point range for the Cavs Summer League squad, but with their limitations aside from catch-and-shoot viability otherwise, I took that with a grain of salt.

That said, in a general sense, the Summer Cav that was the clear standout, excluding Okoro since he played in two games, was Lamar Stevens.

Stevens, who started out last season as a two-way player and was later signed to a multi-year (albeit mostly non-guaranteed from there) deal mid-season, aided himself thanks mostly to his defense, finishing and transition play.

Stevens clearly helped himself with his Summer League play for the Cavs.

It was Summer League, but Stevens did have 14.6 points per contest in his five games, on 45.3 percent shooting, and he had 3.6 free throw attempts per game. That included a game-winner in the Cavs’ Summer League finale over Phoenix on a tough finish with him muscling his way there.

He was attacking the rim, utilizing his 230-pound frame in getting downhill on drives, and as was shown at times last season when given opportunities, he demonstrated some mid-range shooting, too.

One would’ve expected Stevens, who was a four-year college player at Penn State, to made a nice showing for himself, admittedly, but I don’t discount what he showed.

The rim pressure for Stevens, which can strengthen his case for sticking around and/or being a rotational contributor, was continually fruitful for him. And even with it only having been Summer League, he was able to find gaps as a slasher and as a cutter, and he finished well with decisiveness.

Additionally, Stevens’ defense for Cleveland proved to be impactful.

He was often shutting off drivers, walling up when needed against bigger wings/forwards with his frame, as he did pretty well last season, and his activity as a rotator helped in altering looks on the interior and/or forcing bailout looks at times with his presence.

He timed up some blocks as a rotator well too, leading to a block per game, and that sort of thing was seen last season when he was getting meaningful time in spurts off the bench, as evidenced by a block rate of 2.3 percent.

Along with his defensive activity, Lamar was particularly active on the glass, with 6.4 boards per contest in his 28.1 minutes, and that enabled him to get out in transition, where he was very difficult for opponents to account for.

That was good to see, as it’s apparent that Stevens is at his best when he can pick up steam in the open floor, either after rebounds or runouts. And last season, he shot 65.2 percent in transition, (per Synergy Sports), where 18.7 percent of his shot attempts came from, for further context.

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In any case, while it was again only Vegas Summer League, Stevens’ play in those five games didn’t hurt his case for potential regular rotational minutes as a situational defender/slasher.

Of course, regarding rotational 3/4s, Cedi Osman, at least for now, could factor into into things still, and if he’s healthy and can establish a rhythm early, Dylan Windler should get chances at the 2/3. Both of those two, at least in theory, could be meaningful shooters for Cleveland, even with me not trusting Osman at this point.

The Cavaliers have also been reportedly looking into adding wing depth, via bargain wings in free agency, such as Denzel Valentine, who they’re rumored to have “some interest” in, and/or perhaps they could consider Garrison Mathews or Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.

You can view more here on that, along with possible wing trade targets rumored to be available, at this link, anyhow.

From there, whether or not Kevin Love and the Cavs potentially agree to a buyout at some point before or during next season, Larry Nance Jr. and I’d imagine Dean Wade will get their share of run at the 4 and at times 5.

But even with others in the mix, with what Stevens provided as a combo forward that Cleveland can match up against a number of different positions for stretches defensively, and with what he showed as a finisher, he could very well have a game-to-game role.

Now, I get that he hit only 16.0 percent of his 25 three-point attempts last season, and 22.2 percent from deep in Summer League.

Even with that being the case, and Cleveland needing more three-point shooting involved next season, the 24-year-old Stevens is still a solid situational piece to have, thanks to the aforementioned strengths and for how he could help ease Okoro’s defensive burden.

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Moreover, his Summer League play confirmed those things.