The Cleveland Cavaliers are inching back to action, as training camp for the squad is set to begin on Sept. 28, and the group starts preseason action on Oct. 5 at the Chicago Bulls. The regular season will tip off for the Cavaliers on Oct. 20 at the Memphis Grizzlies.
This offseason, the Wine and Gold made two somewhat notable moves, as far as external players brought in, in trading for Ricky Rubio a few hours before the 2021 NBA Draft in a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and they brought in Lauri Markkanen. That was via sign-and-trade deal with the Chicago Bulls, and in that move, the other key part of it was Cleveland trading Larry Nance Jr. to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Last week, the Cavs signed fellow former Bull Denzel Valentine via two-year deal, of which the first year is partially-guaranteed with the second year non-guaranteed.
As a more minor move, aside from training camp signings, Cleveland signed Kevin Pangos via two-year deal, with the first year fully guaranteed for $1.7 million, who played in Europe since his collegiate career at Gonzaga concluded in 2015.
So, with the upcoming 2021-22 campaign approaching, one thing is apparent, in particular, in relation to their training camp time together and that’s conjoined with preseason action, to some degree.
Cavs: Chemistry-building is crucial in camp, especially regarding the new guys.
It’s imperative for the Cavs to get their new pieces, and with Markkanen and Rubio especially, to be acclimated with the group in camp in scrimmaging, to at least get some chemistry down heading into the season.
Of course, with the group in general, hopefully guys can re-establish their rhythm, and vets need their reps in, too. I get that.
But it was encouraging that Markkanen was shown in there getting work in, and it while it was brief, it seemed that Dylan Windler should be squared away, based on him in there (shown as a rotator) in this team clip. Windler had knee surgery to address “ongoing patella tendinopathy concerns” back in late April and has been gradually progressing, and hopefully, we’ll see him get ample playing time in preseason.
https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1438565910625898497?s=20
In Markkanen’s case though, one would assume the Cavs need him plenty of work alongside Darius Garland, from a catch-and-shoot/off-ball standpoint, as it’s clear that even for a bench piece, Markkanen will be a key offensive weapon. He’ll get a ton of playing time, anyway, given his shooting abilities, and I’d expect him to an impactful transition player as well.
Along with Markkanen, I’d hope that Rubio can get his share of playmaking opportunities down, too, and going against him could help Garland/Sexton, as Rubio is still a great defensive player. So that I’d imagine would be meaningful for the growth of both of those two young guards.
Along with those guys, and hopefully Valentine being able to get some chemistry down with the Cavaliers, it was nice to see #3 overall pick Evan Mobley learning to get on the same page with other young Cavs in the clip above, also. It’s a quick clip, so one shouldn’t too much into that, but it did show how Mobley can help out Cleveland’s offense, and that he should be a heck of a target for Garland and company.
I’d hope that Cleveland gets ample work for him with those other guys, and can hopefully has him matchup against Markkanen, Kevin Love some and Jarrett Allen conversely on the other end, with those players having varying offensive skill sets.
Anyway, the point is, it’s evident that in training camp, the Cavs need to have the squad get on the same page with those new guys, or at least try to ensure those players are pretty comfortable in how they can mesh with others.
Some scrimmaging competition, as a side note to that, would be beneficial too, and building some camaraderie within the group shouldn’t be discounted either. That’s even more so with how Rubio should definitely aid Cleveland as a leader and be a mentor for the young guards this year.