Another year, another Cleveland Cavaliers season with early-year ups and downs. The team has made some noise in the NBA, starting the season off 9-5 through their first 14 games with their grit and grind style of play. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff seems to have everyone bought in and it seems as if competitive Cavs basketball is back.
With the good news out of the way, let’s look at the bad of the season. What many believe to be the heart and soul of this team, Collin Sexton suffered a torn meniscus injury against the New York Knicks and as of Friday, it was reported that he underwent season-ending surgery.
This in turn of all other injuries to key players has led to the team dropping their last 3 games, with games against the Brooklyn Nets and Pheonix Suns coming up.
Sexton’s injury is a devastating one with him set to become a restricted free agent this offseason. All we can do right now is wish the Young Bull a speedy recovery.
With Sexton out, there becomes a glaring need for an added scoring punch as well as other things on the offensive end. Not only was Sexton our best downhill attacker, but also had success in dribble drives that helped to free up shooters as well as leading to dump-offs. We also lost our go-to scorer in the clutch and a secondary playmaker.
It’s now up to the team to try and make up what is lost with Sexton’s injury.
With that in mind, here, we will look at three Cavs players who must step up offensively with the Young Bull out for the rest of the season.
We’ll get into that now with the first guy that comes into the forefront in that realm.
Cavs that must step up with Sexton out for the year: #1 – Lauri Markkanen
One of the handful of moves that the Cavaliers made this offseason, the trade for Lauri Markkanen, was one that would help improve the cohesion of the team. Trading away a fan favorite in Larry Nance Jr. made this move questionable but improving the shooting on the team as well as adding a player who fits the young core’s timeline made sense.
Markkanen’s Cavalier career has been underwhelming to start but his inefficiencies haven’t been highlighted due to the club’s hot start. Through his first eight games, he is averaging career-lows in points, field goal percentage and three-point percentage. His failure to hit shots early on is confusing as while playing a new position, he’s still tasked to shoot mainly catch-and-shoot shots.
The play hasn’t been all bad however and in the three games before heading into COVID-19 health and safety protocols, Markkanen was averaging 16.3 points, shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 35 percent from three on nearly seven attempts per game.
The biggest thing to grasp about Markkanen is that it seems a familiar foe has struck again. Seeming to hit his stride, COVID-19 has taken away any rhythm that he has seemed to gain which is something he’s had problems with in the past. These reasons can be the cause for his consistency issues and now he’ll have to find his momentum again.
With Sexton out, this is the time for Markkanen to do the most with increased opportunities. It should be some leeway for him however as he improves his conditioning. Currently, once everyone aside from Sexton returns from injury, Markkanen projects to be the second-third scoring option on the team, and time will tell if he will be up for that task.
Cavs that must step up with Sexton out for the year: #2 – Isaac Okoro
Last year’s fifth overall pick, Isaac Okoro had a ton of offensive hype surrounding him entering the season. Last season, Okoro averaged 16.2 points per game over the team’s final 12 games, showing improved ability as a slasher, on-ball, and was aggressive in his three-point frequency. The pinnacle of this late-season run was a 32-point, 6-assist outing against the Suns as a Darius Garland injury increased his offensive role.
The Jimmy Butler comparisons grew stronger and stronger after these games. Then the Cavaliers lucked into the third overall pick and used it on Evan Mobley, changing the entire trajectory of the franchise, just as the team reportedly believed was the case. The goal became surrounding Mobley with as much playmaking and shooting as possible, which resorted Okoro to a bench role and his sophomore start has not been good on the offensive end.
Okoro is averaging just seven points per game on the season with a putrid 42.1 true shooting percentage. With injuries to key players, Okoro has played a lot of minutes as a shooting guard with minimal offensive success. Since Sexton’s injury, the scoring output has been the same while the efficiency has surprisingly been worse.
So what can the Cavaliers do to improve Okoro’s offensive success, then?
Looking back to what worked for him in his career-game against the Suns, he had solid success in the pick-and-roll, using his speed to blow by guys like Frank Kaminsky and Dario Saric on his way to the rim.
Even out of the PnR, he would still use that speed and combine it with his strength to throw opposing players in the game off their balance and had some nifty finishes, one that included a Euro-step. Against smaller guards, he used his strength to overpower them as he attacked the rim. His ability to get to the rim shined bright in this game as he ended with a career-high nine free throw attempts.
For Okoro to find continued success as a slasher, he’ll need to have maximum spacing and playmaking surrounding him.
Another obvious improvement Okoro must make is his three-point shot. This is key in keeping the defense honest as right now, opponents are leaving him open with no repercussions. Makes will help to increase confidence and aggression, the shots just have to start falling.
It should be said that Okoro hasn’t even played a full NBA season’s worth of games yet so we should be hesitant on any offensive criticism. In a new role as well, let’s give Okoro some time to adjust and hopefully, take that next step.
Cavs that must step up with Sexton out for the year: #3 – Dylan Windler
With how drastic the need for shooting is and being a former first-round pick, many thought this would be the year the Cavs unleash Dylan Windler. With opportunities arising and Windler healthy to capitalize on those opportunities, it seemed like his time. So far, this hasn’t been the case.
The case of Dylan Windler is a very strange one. Somehow, he’s averaging fewer minutes than last year and hasn’t been given too many opportunities despite the team picking up his team option. Over his last four games, in a combined 53 minutes of action over those games, Windler has attempted just two three-pointers. It’s reasons like that why the Cavs have looked to Denzel Valentine over him in certain situations.
It’s obvious the lack of dribble penetration with Sexton’s absence seems to be affecting Windler so how can the team get him more looks?
An obvious answer would be to have him shoot more off movement. The team has set plays where multiple people touch the ball during possessions and should look to set some plays up that free Windler. Whether it be flare screens, down screens, or anything of that matter, the team has to find ways to get Windler open looks.
In an interview from last season that has been talked about many times, Windler discussed his desire to get more looks off movement rather than being a stationary shooter. It’s beneficial for not only him but as he continues to take and hit those off movement shots, it improves the gravity he pulls as a shooter which opens up the offense even more.
Windler’s lack of opportunities is still quite confusing and one can only hope that this changes as the season goes on.