3 Cavs players who took a step forward this season

Growth in the NBA is occasionally driven by outside factors, by a new head coach coming in or team chemistry finally clicking. Almost always, however, in a player-driven league like the NBA, a team taking a step forward is driven by the growth of its players. That was absolutely the case for the Cleveland Cavaliers this past season.

Expected to win fewer than 30 games, the Cavs instead won 44, twice their total from last season. After finishing 25th in Defensive Rating last year, and 28th in overall Net Rating, they rose to seventh in defense and 13th in Net Rating. Before the waves of injuries finally did them in late in the season, they were trending much higher even than that.

The Cavs had a breakout year as a team this season, driven by a number of players who took a step forward in 2021-22. Which 3 stand out?

Given the fast rise of this team, you can expect there was significant growth from a number of players. While some of their advancement was the addition of rookie phenom Evan Mobley, the Cavs leaned heavily on the improved play of three key players, all who played much better in 2021-22 than they did the season before.

Let’s look at each player in turn to evaluate where they grew as a player and how that contributed to the strong play of the Cavs. Everything about the Cavs’ offensive season revolves around their first-time All-Star point guard Darius Garland.