When thinking of the starters for next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, one could feasibly slot in Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, and Jarrett Allen, to start.
And even with him being a rookie, it does appear that Evan Mobley, who was the #3 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, will likely start at the 4. Comments by Cleveland.com Cavs reporter Chris Fedor in a recent report/mailbag set of responses drove that possibility home, too.
Fedor touched on how with general manager Koby Altman and Cleveland acquiring Lauri Markkanen from the Chicago Bulls via sign-and-trade of late, that Kevin Love could seemingly have a role that could be reduced even more, too.
Even prior to that, it was reported that Love could be in a reduced role to aid him health-wise and optimize his effectiveness as well, so it’s unlikely he’s a regular start next season. He only appeared in 25 games last year because of a right calf injury, along with that.
That said, he could still have a role for Cleveland, and at this juncture he/his representation is reportedly not considering a potential buyout. He’ll get in there some though, one would think, with how Love, if/when healthy, can space the floor and knock it down from deep at a high clip.
So in regards to the Cavs bench, excluding Love in this sense, who will likely be Cleveland’s most crucial players?
In that realm, we’ll predict the three most impactful bench players for the Cavs for next season.
First, we’ll touch on Markkanen, who looks to be a crucial part of the Wine and Gold’s offense for years to come.
Predicting the Cavs’ three most impactful bench players – #1: Lauri Markkanen
This one was not that difficult to come up with. Markkanen did have some struggles in the past two seasons with the Bulls, plenty to injuries, coaching flux and some role inconsistencies, but he is a gifted offensive player.
In that way, the catch-and-shoot prowess and spacing element with Markkanen had to have been the draw for him for Cleveland, and was.
Even with the attempts coming a fair amount from way downtown, Markkanen has still had a respectable 36.6 percent clip from three through four seasons, of which he’s had 6.4 deep attempts per contest. Last season, even with some changes with role and finishing out as a bench player, he did knock in 40.2 percent of his 5.8 deep attempts; so that jumps out in this sense.
Markkanen, even with Mobley/Allen, should get a bunch of minutes in games, and even as a bench guy, could reportedly get 26-30 minutes per game regularly.
In that time, if he can stay healthy, I’d firmly expect Markkanen to be a go-to sniper target for Cleveland. And with him being able to create his own some off-the-bounce, as a sixth man-type guy, Markkanen looks to be Cleveland’s obvious choice to be the squad’s most impactful bench player in 2021-22.
We’ll have to see how Markkanen meshes with guys such as Sexton, Garland and others, but with Markkanen being a polished off-ball player, I’d think offensively, if he’s available, he’ll be just fine.
Predicting the Cavs’ three most impactful bench players – #2: Ricky Rubio
Secondly, I’d expect Ricky Rubio to have a consistent role for the Cavaliers bench.
Rubio has bounced around in recent seasons via trade, and Cleveland acquired him in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves shortly before the 2021 draft got under way. That was in exchange for Taurean Prince, a 2022 second-round pick via the Washington Wizards and cash considerations.
So, although Rubio is not a player that is not going to be a floor spacing presence for the Cavs in bench minutes, he still is a really gifted playmaker, and I’d think that he should lessen the playmaking burden on Darius Garland.
That’s at least to an extent, and Rubio could feasibly get some playing time in spurts with Garland too, where he could enable Garland to be a movement/off-ball shooter some more, also.
Rubio, even with him not being a key scoring presence that frequently I wouldn’t think, is likely Cleveland’s best pure passer, and he’s had a career 9.1 assists per-36 minutes, with only 3.1 turnovers per-36. He should get some legitimate primary playmaking minutes game-to-game, and Rubio, even with him getting up there in turning 31 next month, he’s still a player that can push pace and generate great looks for others in transition.
Plus, on the defensive end, with Rubio being multi-positional, and a player that gets his share of deflections/steals, I’d imagine that he could be a player that the Cavs can rely on to apply ball pressure, which could give them a spark when he’s in there.
Now, Rubio is set to be expiring after next season though, so could he potentially be a deadline trade piece, depending on how the season shakes out?
Possibly, but I do believe with the Cavaliers wanting to make a push/compete, that he could still stick around and maybe, the two sides could agree on a reasonable new deal next offseason; we’ll see on that.
I’d think that being around him could truly be invaluable to guys such as Garland and Sexton, in any case.
Predicting the Cavs’ three most impactful bench players – #3: Lamar Stevens
From there, though it might be one that’s a bit of a surprise, I could foresee Lamar Stevens, even with him set to be on a non-guaranteed deal from here, being a key defender in bench stretches for Cleveland.
Stevens showed last season how at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, that he has the fluidity needed to contain opposing wing scorers, and at times demonstrated that he can get into and bother primary playmakers.
And as KJG’s Josh Cornelissen noted, with Cleveland sending out Larry Nance Jr. to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the Markkanen deal, that Stevens, to some degree, can help make up for what Nance brought defensively when healthy and has more of a rotational case.
Stevens could end up having a very meaningful role for stretches for the Cavs, based on how what he provided defensively when he was a rotational regular when Nance/Kevin Love were dealing with injuries last season, in particular, too.
I could foresee the 24-year-old showing that once again in 2021-22, and while I wouldn’t expect him to be an every-game contributor necessarily, with his three-point shooting limitations, but as more so a defensive presence, he could function at the 3/4 for Cleveland in stretches.
That could help ease the defensive burden, regarding against 3s, for Isaac Okoro, for example, and furthermore, Stevens can at least help Cleveland offensively to some extent, given his finishing/rim pressure.
Stevens had only 4.1 points in 12.5 minutes per game last season, in fairness; however, with Markkanen, Sexton, Garland and others in mind, Stevens could have a much more carved-out role than say, Cedi Osman.
Osman struggled mightily last season, no matter how you slice it, and despite moving to mostly a bench role, was underwhelming in hitting only 30.6 percent of his three-point attempts. Even after hitting 38.3 percent from deep in 2019-20, he has historically had his ups and downs and is not a factor defensively. And Dylan Windler, though he could be an impact shooter, has been hampered by injury in his two seasons, and didn’t appear in his true rookie year.
We’ll have to see if Cleveland adds a wing before next season, and per Fedor, Denzel Valentine or Garrison Mathews could be in-play there, and both Valentine and the Cavs seem to reportedly have mutual interest.
But as a big wing rotational defender that could help lessen the defensive workload for Okoro somewhat, I could see Stevens being one of Cleveland’s most impactful bench players. That’s when forecasting the season as a whole.