It’s safe to say that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a club that’s turned a corner this season, as they’re currently fifth in the Eastern Conference shortly after the All-Star break festivities.
The Cavaliers will have plenty of work to do still to ensure they’re in the postseason outright, with the East being so tightly-contested. I do believe with what they’ve shown, Cleveland can do so still.
With what they’ve demonstrated throughout this season, this is a resilient bunch that’s kept on churning out wins, despite a brutal schedule in the first third of the season, injuries and other ailments. I’m not going to overreact to an up-and-down February thus far, either.
Caris LeVert getting more time with Cleveland should help; him recently spraining his foot is unfortunate though; he’s expected to be out for 1-2 weeks, and was not in action at the Detroit Pistons on Thursday in a rough loss down the stretch. On a positive note, Lauri Markkanen was back against the Pistons, and despite an off night, he did help get Cleveland within striking distance at the end, and didn’t seem limited.
Now, the Cavs defense can often still be their calling card, and the club had two All-Stars this go-round in Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen (as James Harden’s injury replacement), with them as the host, and with other impactful bench pieces, this team is on the rise. Garland was out against Detroit; however, and per recently-promoted GM Mike Gansey and via Tom Withers of the Associated Press, Garland is dealing with “a bone bruise” in his back. He’ll continue to receive treatment and rest; it’s a situation that we’ll continue to keep a watchful eye on.
But even with Cleveland on the way up overall this season, I do still believe it’d be sensible for the team to be looking to add depth via the 2022 NBA Draft this coming summer.
The Cavaliers could very well not have a first-round pick, at least for now, because of them dealing their 2022 first to the Indiana Pacers as part of the package for LeVert. That pick is lottery-protected, though, so Cleveland could still end up having that pick. If they do make the postseason, they will still have two second-rounders via the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat (from Indy).
So who might be some targets for Cleveland in the second round? Playmakers such as Alondes Williams, Trevor Keels and Kennedy Chandler could work, and wings such as Wendell Moore Jr., Julian Strawther and Christian Braun come to mind.
One wing, in particular, I’d be all for the Cavaliers going with, feasibly with their Spurs pick (currently projected to be in the 35-40 range); that’s Bryce McGowens of Nebraska. Our own Justin Brownlow previously suggested him as a potential draft target for the Wine and Gold too, but I still thought it’d be reasonable to highlight McGowens here.
McGowens is a talented wing prospect that would make for a sensible target for the Cavs in the 2022 NBA Draft, and Cleveland could bring him along in coming years.
In my opinion, McGowens, if he’s there, would be a promising wing prospect for the Cavaliers to bring along gradually in coming years, but even early on, he could potentially be an additional shot creator and driver for Cleveland in stretches off the bench.
Taking a look at McGowens’ skill set
The true freshman, and first five-star recruit in Nebraska Men’s Basketball history (as Huskers.com mentioned) in McGowens, has had 16.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest for them this season, albeit on a bad team that’s last in the Big Ten.
Granted, McGowens is a player that he needs to improve his deep shooting/catch-and-shoot viability, as evidenced by him hitting just 26.6 percent of his three-point attempts thus far this season with the Cornhuskers. I’m not suggesting that that’s not the case with McGowens at this point, and looking onward, improving his perimeter shooting to a respectable rate would go a long way.
That being said, even with some inconsistencies from him and the lack of team success, and McGowens needing to improve his defense, he’s a terrific athlete that can generate space/separation off the bounce, and that from a rotational wing would make a difference for the Cavaliers. Plus, McGowens’ motion is more than workable, and he did shoot, as Huskers.com touched on, over 40 percent in high school from three, and he’s shot 83.3 percent at the foul line.
Make no mistake, McGowens’ driving abilities are what stand out, and he can get to the rim and finish well from drives coming off the wing from ball-swings and dribble handoffs, which could work in stretches with Jarrett Allen/Evan Mobley. And with self-creation, McGowens can get to interior looks from crossovers, hesitations and initial jabs or pumps getting a half step on defenders to finish, and he projects to generate his share of free throws.
It’s apparent that the Nebraska product needs to improve his shot selection and especially his defense, which could be part of why McGowens ends up available in the early second round in the 2022 NBA Draft, objectively.
The dude is only 19, though, and with how the Cavaliers player developmental staff has helped the likes of Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman, and former Cav Larry Nance Jr. in recent years with perimeter shooting, they could do the same with McGowens. One shouldn’t necessarily take too much from his deep shooting clip with this iteration of the Huskers, either, and he has shown promising mid-range flashes.
The potential Cavs role for McGowens
As far as the potential role for McGowens then with Cleveland, while he does need to fill out, as he’s currently listed at 179 pounds, the 6-foot-7 wing can be a very viable bench scorer for stretches with his driving prowess, finishing with body control, athleticism and quickness. I’d think he’d potentially receive minutes at both the 2 and 3.
The minutes-share would be uncertain projecting currently, with others involved, such as Cedi Osman, Dean Wade, Lamar Stevens and Caris LeVert, and we’ll have to see if Collin Sexton ends up being back; recent reports do suggest Sexton could very well be, however. That’d be great to see as well, with him being one of Cleveland’s best offensive players when healthy, and he’s still very young.
Regardless, with McGowens’ on-ball scoring abilities, the Cavaliers should strongly consider drafting him this summer, if he’s there.
And going forward, with the Cavs seemingly ascending, it’d still give the team a lift for them to be able to have rotational contributors via the draft, even without high picks, that can fill legit roles on both ends.
With that sort of thing in mind, while Cleveland has gotten really all they could’ve asked for from prior undrafted, two-way guys in Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens, if they were able to add an additional on-ball/shot creating and halfcourt rim pressure presence with a second-round pick, such as McGowens, especially, that could be an added element.
Needless to say, the Nebraska product is one target Cavs fans should definitely become familiar with as a potential steal come the 2022 NBA Draft set to commence on June 23.