This Cavs PnR duo will take their play to yet another level in 2022-23

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a successful season in 2021-22, all things considered. There weren’t exactly lofty expectations for the Cavaliers leading into the now-recently past season.

Fortunately, the Wine and Gold showed notable growth, and the end result had the team improving its win total by 22 games, en route to a 44-38 record.

That was better than any Cavs fan could’ve realistically predicted coming into the year, and while some of it had to do with injury, the team didn’t end up reaching the postseason. Still, the Cavaliers really turned a corner, and plenty of that had to do with the likes of Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

The club had encouraging progression from young players such as Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade, too, and I’m not glossing over that, for what it’s worth. Mobley, meanwhile, looks to be a potential superstar in the making, too, with his two-way abilities, IQ and impact on winning.

Circling back to Garland and Allen, though, both of those players had career seasons, and were selected to their first All-Star squads, with Allen eventually receiving the nod as an injury replacement. He was more than deserving either way.

Looking at next season, I also would anticipate we’ll see the Garland-Allen duo definitely take their two-man game to new heights, and in the pick-and-roll, in particular.

The Cavs’ Garland-Allen PnR duo will take their play there to new heights in 2022-23.

As we expressed, both Garland and Allen made their first All-Star squads this season, as Garland had 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per outing in his third year, and Allen had 16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. Garland’s shot creation took another step forward, too, and he still connected on 38.3 percent from three, a nice clip.

Allen, especially in tandem with Evan Mobley when healthy, was invaluable for the Cavaliers on the defensive end, and both of those guys were the crucial reason for the Cavaliers conceding the lowest opponent field goal percentage at the rim. That was 60.5 percent, per NBA.com’s tracking data, for reference.

In any case, as we hit touched on, with them entering near their third full season together as teammates with the Cavs, I’d expect the Garland-Allen pick-and-roll duo to be even better than they’ve proven to be thus far. When healthy, Allen was one of Garland’s go-to passing targets this season, and their timing on lobs hit a new stride in 2021-22, where Garland really came into his own as both a scorer and playmaker.

Allen didn’t play much post-All-Star break because of a fractured finger suffered on March 6 in a win over the Toronto Raptors, and was sidelined until Cleveland’s play-in loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 15. But pre-All-Star, Allen received the second-highest percentage of Garland’s passes, per NBA.com’s tracking data, and shot 59.3 percent on those plays.

His chemistry and timing as a roller improved in tandem with Garland, and with more experience next season and going forward, that should continue to play out. Next season, I’d only imagine that duo hits another gear, regarding lobs.

Garland also demonstrated better timing in hitting Allen on some pocket passes, too, where he Allen showed progression as a face-up presence operating in the middle of the floor, when he made plays at times as a driver, and had better touch on push shots.

Next year, I do think we could see Allen made further strides as a passing presence for hitting kickouts if defenses collapse after rolling entries from Garland to him as well. He displayed some growth in that realm in 2021-22, and next season, perhaps he could carry that forward, which I’d think could help out Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Isaac Okoro, among others.

Anyway, to drive it home, next season, we should see Garland and Allen keep making their share of plays for the Wine and Gold, and entering nearly third season as teammates and team pillars, their PnR play should hit another level. It’s great to think about that, and with how Garland and Allen are only currently 22 and 24.

And that should help open up other guys from there, as we touched on.