These 3 Cavs should hit the ground running next season

#3: Lamar Stevens

This might be my own perspective, and I acknowledge that some of it was feasibly due to a partial meniscus tear for Dean Wade, but I personally could foresee Lamar Stevens having more minutes in the earlier portion of next season. He was given more at the end of this season, and had 9.2 points in 21.5 minutes per game in his last 18 regular season appearances.

Stevens didn’t play much in the Cavaliers’ two play-in losses, however, he received more minutes gradually as the year wore on, as we noted, and in his second year, he made further strides defensively as a multi-positional player. And on the offensive end, Stevens demonstrated growth as a driver in set offense, showed ability to hit some pull-ups in the mid-range, and his cutting feel improved.

As we mentioned, Stevens made his presence felt throughout his second season on both ends of the floor, and with his defensive versatility, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him regularly be involved in the rotation for 20-24 minutes per outing early on. If that leads to a reduced role for the likes of Cedi Osman (if he’s around) and/or Isaac Okoro, whether or not Okoro starts, oh well.

In any case, while it’s fair to question if Stevens has a notable minutes-share, him having 6.1 points and 16.1 minutes per outing last season, in 63 appearances, 13 of which were starts, leads me to believe he could have more opportunities. It’s not certain what will transpire in that regard for him, but Stevens is one of Cleveland’s best defenders currently, and he can legitimately play for stretches 2-4.

Based on his strong close to the 2021-22 campaign, I think we could see him build on that as an energy player for this Wine and Gold team, and in varying lineups, he could be another Cavs player that hits the ground running next season.

I could’ve went with Evan Mobley in this sense, I just figured I’d go with one guy a bit under-the-radar, and Lamar is a player that made a strong case this season for more minutes in his upcoming third season.

We’ll have to see what plays out, of course.