The Cleveland Cavaliers are dealing with key perimeter injuries at the moment, as Darius Garland (lower back soreness/bone bruise in back), Caris LeVert (foot sprain) and Rajon Rondo (big toe sprain) are sidelined. Despite a valiant comeback effort against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, the Cavaliers have lost two of their first three games coming out of the All-Star break.
Garland has missed Cleveland’s first three games of post-All-Star break play, and his back soreness has been a lingering issue that he and the team will have to manage from here, and LeVert has missed these first three games since the break also. He could be back sometime this week, or seemingly early next week. In Rondo’s case, he could return by next weekend it appears; his injury reportedly occurred during Cleveland’s loss at the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
With Cleveland dealing with backcourt injuries to those aforementioned contributors, they signed journeyman Tim Frazier to a 10-day contract last week for insurance, but it’s tough to say if we’ll see him in there. The same goes for a possible second 10-day contract for him when this one concludes.
Two-way contributor Brandon Goodwin has done a respectable job in his meaningful minutes a number of times for Cleveland over roughly the past two months, and when Garland is back, he could still receive some minutes. When Rondo returns, based on how things were trending pre-Rondo injury, it’s somewhat uncertain if Goodwin getting consistent play from there, though, and/or during hopefully a postseason run.
In regards to other perimeter contributors at the moment with the team banged up, Isaac Okoro, Lauri Markkanen, Cedi Osman and Dean Wade are regularly getting action, but to me, it has been frustrating that Lamar Stevens has fallen out of the rotation of late.
Now, before LeVert suffered his foot injury, that played into it, with Osman/Wade involved with that. Still, with what Stevens has shown pretty regularly this season, when the opportunities have presented themselves, he’s a viable contributor for rotational stretches that are versatile defensively, and on offense, he has shown tangible growth.
With that in mind, with the Cavs’ injuries issues right now, I personally believe Stevens should receive some playing time in upcoming games, for this reason.
Stevens has shown he can help the Cavs offense from an on-ball scoring standpoint, so he should be in there for stretches in upcoming games. Coupled with that, his off-ball growth has been on display, too.
I get it; Stevens is not what hardcore fans or casuals consider a crucial offensive focal point in his minutes. The overall counting stats just don’t paint the whole picture.
The counting stats don’t paint the whole picture with Stevens, and he’s found ways to make a difference off-ball
Stevens has had 4.9 points in 13.9 minutes per contest this season, and on the year, has hit 29.5 percent from three. Last season, the initial two-way signing back following the 2020 NBA Draft was only 4-of-25 from three in Year 1 (a 16.0 percent clip).
Stevens has shown throughout this season when given the opportunities in meaningful stretches that he’s a much improved cutter though, and while the catch-and-shoot play is still a question mark, his driving abilities can help Cleveland. His mid-range game is legitimate, too, paired with the drives.
But for context, Stevens has not been getting much rotational playing time in recent games, so we haven’t seen that from him of late. He’s had two DNPs in the last nine games, and in the other contests, has received just 6.6 minutes of run in that stretch, in which he’s had 2.3 points per outing on 41.7 percent shooting.
That said, in his eight prior appearances leading into that point, he did show some of his driving and mid-range abilities, and had 6.3 points in 18.2 minutes per game in that span. In spot starts this season filling in, Stevens had 9.3 points in 23.4 minutes per contest, and shot 56.1 percent.
Granted, I know, that’s not blowing the roof off as a rotational scorer (he did have two starts in that aforementioned stretch from Jan. 14-Feb. 2).
However, while I understand he’s not going to be getting near the PT Isaac Okoro gets, and is not quite as capable against primary initiators or some 2s, it’s not as if there’s a huge disparity defensively in that realm, and Stevens can handle big wings.
And from there, with Cleveland’s injuries recently, that’s more of a reason for Stevens minutes.
With the Cavs perimeter injuries, the Stevens’ case is clearer
The Cavs are so thin on guards right now, and with Stevens playing as a de facto 2 a decent amount this season in his appearances, he can give this team a lift on both ends.
He’s just as capable as a finisher, if not more polished right now than Okoro, and could at least give Okoro a breather some in games in spurts. Or Stevens could fill in some at the 3 or 4, as his athleticism and strength with his 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame can help the Cavs.
Now, most of Stevens’ buckets this season have been assisted, and I get that Stevens seems like a longshot to be a potential postseason contributor, if the Cavaliers can get there. He could have a case for minutes later on at that point as a situational defender still, though.
Regardless, with the Cavaliers at the moment being thin on shot creators/slashers, Stevens can help Cleveland in that area in some PT off the bench in the mean time, and is very good in transition, similarly to Okoro. Stevens has placed in the 70th percentile in transition scoring this season, per Synergy Sports.
Will the minutes come for him? That’s an entirely different question; he had five minutes of PT against Minnesota on Monday, leading to four points. But like many on Cleveland, his plus-minus wasn’t great, at minus-7. Five minutes won’t lead to much of a rhythm, in fairness.
In upcoming games, it’d behoove the Cavs coaching staff and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to toss Stevens some opportunities.