Cavs’ Brandon Goodwin is establishing himself as playmaking insurance

Goodwin’s getting others involved, and he’s far more of a scoring presence than Rajon Rondo at this point

Overall, Goodwin has racked up assists at a solid pace, and had a career-best nine in that Charlotte win. Now, there are still times when some entry passes to guys such as Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen at the elbow, or to cutters, need to be more crisp, as he had five turnovers at Charlotte and three versus the New Orleans Pelicans in a win on Monday to one assist.

But by and large, Goodwin’s playmaking has helped the Cavs, and particularly when Garland is able to go, that’s been notable.

And realistically, with Goodwin being more viable as a scoring presence at this point than Rajon Rondo, one would imagine he could get more playing time over him fairly regularly. They could play some together still, anyway, and in some matchups, I’d probably rather Rondo’s veteran presence be in, and to keep him still very engaged, which he currently is.

Goodwin has objectively shown legit burst, though, has some floater touch, and has knocked down some timely threes as well, when the confidence has been there, and that’s been great to see.

Moreover, even if a move is made for a backcourt player, while I get at times the 6-foot Goodwin could still register some DNPs here and there, based on what he’s shown, he should still be a rotational contributor on most occasions for stretches.

He’s establishing himself as, at minimum, more than respectable playmaking insurance for Cleveland, and could seemingly receive some postseason PT if his chemistry with others continues to get better and he still plays with confidence. That’s if a roster spot were to open up, and then his deal were to be converted to a standard one.