Cavs need Lamar Stevens to attack sans Isaac Okoro

The Cleveland Cavaliers got a much-needed win on Sunday against the Indiana Pacers, admittedly with both teams missing some crucial players.

After the Cavs had lost three straight games, no matter the circumstances/COVID-19 absences, it’s not as if opponents didn’t have those, and either way, Cleveland got it done. It wasn’t easy, thanks some to free throws down the stretch again, but the Cavaliers got it done.

What was tough to see from that one, though, was how Isaac Okoro injured his elbow trying to get around a screen set by Domantas Sabonis. Okoro was grimacing shortly thereafter that, and went straight to the locker room; it was apparent he’d likely be out for some time.

Okoro sprained his left elbow and is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks. That’s a blow for Cleveland’s defense, and Okoro is a guy that’s looked more confident in getting to the rim, also in transition.

With Okoro out for a chunk of games to come here, while I could foresee Cedi Osman starting at the 2 some, for defense and rim pressure, I’d prefer Lamar Stevens starts there. Osman, when he clears COVID-19 health and safety protocols, will still get his share of time off the bench as a shooting threat, too, anyway.

When it comes to Stevens, he’s one of Cleveland’s most versatile defenders, and while he’s not the deep shooter of some others, his defense is impactful, and with Okoro out, I’d hope we’ll see him used as that slashing presence.

Sans Okoro, the Cavs need an attacking Stevens.

I’ll first preface this by saying, with Okoro’s injury, also without Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio (as of last week involving the latter) one would imagine the Cavaliers could be pursuing trades to help the guard/wing situation out.

But at least with Okoro sidelined for some stretch here, and being a defensive-minded player anyway, I’d expect Stevens to get his share of looks at the 2 in meaningful minutes, and could foresee him filling in as a starter in coming weeks.

And while it was not against the Pacers nearly at full capacity, of which they’ve hardly been at throughout the season so far, Stevens did show some good things as a guy that can attack the rim and finish well through contact.

In that one, he was getting to the basket in both set offense, some initially coming off cuts, and his transition rim pressure was big in that game, and largely played into him tying a career-best with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting in 31 minutes off the bench.

Stevens, who’s had 4.0 points in 12.3 minutes per game in 23 appearances, is not a guy that’s going to be a high-usage player, in fairness. However, in feasibly more of a considerable minutes-share in games to come, mixed in with Cedi Osman and others, I’d like to see Stevens be utilized as an attacking player going toward the basket a decent amount.

He did show some of those abilities last season as a sturdy 230-pound wing/forward, and also did throughout his four-year collegiate career at Penn State. There’s been flashes this season as well, and Stevens did show some of that prior to entering COVID-19 health and safety protocols, in which he was out for three recent games.

Stevens might not have the body control or straight-line burst of Okoro, but he’s also a really strong wing, and in rotational play last season, hit 69.8 percent of his restricted area shot attempts, per NBA.com’s shooting data. Granted, Stevens had some visible struggles early on this season as a finisher, and that likely is why he’s converted on only 54.5 percent of his attempts there for the season.

That said, when given meaningful opportunities over the course of this first season-plus, Stevens, who started off last season as a rookie two-way contributor, has demonstrated how he’s more than capable of rim pressure on-ball. And without Okoro in there, I’d like to see the Cavs use him for stretches as an attacking player in coming weeks.

Now, I’m not saying the dude should be taking 13 shots a game, as he did against Indy on Sunday. Even still, with Okoro out of the mix for some upcoming weeks it seems, in lineups with Garland or a bit with the newly-acquired Rajon Rondo, it’d behoove Cleveland to utilize him as more of that slashing presence.

Even with some makes in the corner on threes, that’s not Steven’s game; they need him going toward the rim, and some mid-range pull-ups here and there can help in spurts.