5 rumored moves for Cavs this offseason that would be mistakes

5 rumored moves for Cavs: Drafting another small guard

Darius Garland. Isaac Okoro. Collin Sexton. Three of the Cavs’ last four lottery picks have been guards, and the Cavs have found themselves unable to fit them all together in a lineup that works. They started the three together during Okoro’s rookie season in 2020-21, and the result was a 22-win season.

Okoro is too small to play at the 3, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff wisely moved him to the 2 last season. Yet that’s also Collin Sexton’s position, as the four-year player doesn’t have the passing chops to be a point guard. Add in Caris LeVert, who is 6’6″ but plays small, and the Cavs are flush with players best suited for the 2 and the 2 alone.

The Cavs need players who can fill minutes at the 3. That doesn’t mean they can’t or shouldn’t draft a player who projects as a 2-guard, if they are sure he is the best player available, but he has to have enough size and/or length to play at the 3. If they do, they’ve sunk another lottery pick into the backcourt and failed again to address the small forward position.

Players such as Malaki Branham, Jaden Hardy and Ocahi Agbaji would be tough sells for this reason, and a pure guard such as TyTy Washington even more so. On the other hand, players with size like AJ Griffin, Jalen Williams and E.J. Liddell can step in and play at the 3 from the jump. That’s not meant to be a ranking, but simply an acknowledgment that the Cavs are moving from  the “assemble talent no matter what” phase to the “build a team that works” phase of their team’s life cycle.