Cavs: 3 things I liked from preseason Game 4 against the Bulls

Cavs: 3 things I liked – 48 solid minutes at point guard

Darius Garland was inactive for the Cavaliers last night, and last season that would have meant disaster at the point guard position. Cedi Osman was sometimes used as a backup ball-handler, and Matthew Dellavedova helped when he was healthy. A handful of players on 10-day contracts rolled through town to play legitimate rotation minutes.

This season the Cavs don’t have to look to the scrap heap or veterans of Christmases Past to fill the void; they have legitimately good point guards on the roster behind Garland. Ricky Rubio started against the Bulls and was solid, scoring just nine points but dishing out nine assists in one half of action. The offense hummed with him at the controls.

Cleveland doesn’t have just one backup point guard, they now have two. Kevin Pangos was one of the best guards in Europe last season, and he comes in to give the Cavs another steady hand if either Garland or Rubio is out or gets into foul trouble. He played over 25 minutes against the Bulls and had six points and six assists of his own.

While Mobley might be something of an exception, generally teams with multiple bigs will be best served by a place-setter who can get them the ball in positions to succeed. The Cavs will be able to mix-and-match rotations at will knowing that between Garland, Rubio and Pangos there will always be a competent point guard on the court to help maximize the offense. That will help the development of Mobley and maximize two-big lineups, not to mention the new Triple Towers look.

The Cavs are 1-3 in the preseason, but their record is not important. The most important question is whether Evan Mobley looks deserving of the No. 3 overall pick, and so far that answer is a resounding yes.