The Cleveland Cavaliers have a deep roster. Some teams have roster spots taken up by developmental projects, by aging veterans who are basically just assistant coaches, by non-rotation second-rounders signed just to keep costs down. The Cavs have had such players in recent years, but they don’t this time around.
Dylan Windler is the closest thing, and he will almost certainly be traded or waived to make room for Collin Sexton to by re-signed, or to take in whoever the Cavs get back in a trade. Otherwise this roster goes 14-deep with players who will reasonably be expected to play minutes this season, and could be a part of the Cavs’ final rotation at the end of the year.
The Cavs have a whopping 5 options to sort through for a starting role. Which of the five below players has the best chance of changing their fate?
The deepest position on the roster might be power forward, but it’s evident that Evan Mobley will be starting at the 4. The question mark on the roster is at shooting guard, where the Cavs have as many as five options to start without even mentioning Windler or Cedi Osman, both of whom are likely on the outside of the rotation looking in.
Who are the 5 candidates to start at the 2? Can the Cavs possibly find time in the rotation for all of them? We’ll assume the other four starters stay the same: Darius Garland, Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Let’s go one by one and evaluate each shooting guard’s chances of starting and impact on that group if they do.
Cavs options to start at shooting guard: Caris LeVert
Caris LeVert was acquired at last season’s Trade Deadline for some substantial draft capital and Ricky Rubio, who came back to the Cavs this summer. He battled some injuries once he arrived, which limited his games and his minutes when he did play, but he started 10 of his 19 games with Cleveland to close out the year.
That level of investment in LeVert from this front office speaks to his value in their eyes, and even more so if an extension is agreed to before the season begins. That would likely indicate he has the fast-track on starting at shooting guard coming into the season.
More so, LeVert’s on-ball ability and decent passing skills make him the secondary creator this lineup will need, especially if Evan Mobley doesn’t take an immediate leap. Starting Lauri Markkanen and Jarrett Allen shrink the starting lineup’s ball movement abilities, so starting LeVert over lower usage wings might make sense.
The other side of the coin is that he was a defensive sieve last season, is a mediocre shooter at best and isn’t a good enough playmaker for it to be worth taking the ball out of Darius Garland’s hands. If Collin Sexton isn’t back, it might be enough to push LeVert into a Super-Sub role as the team’s Sixth Man, where the spacing on the bench from lineups with Kevin Love at the 5 let him stretch his wings a bit more.
Cavs options to start at shooting guard: Collin Sexton
Last season Collin Sexton was the team’s starter at shooting guard to start the season, a run that ended with his meniscus injury after just 11 games. Those lineups didn’t exactly fare well; per Cleaning the Glass, the Cavs were -4.2 points per 100 possessions when Sexton played overall, and only +2.1 when Sexton played with the other four starters. When those four players took the court without Sexton they were +13.1.
Sexton brings a relentless presence to any lineup he is in, and his ability to penetrate a defense and force rotations could help open up cracks for the rest of the starters to take advantage of. That being the case, Sexton hasn’t found a way to leverage that ability to find teammates consistently, and while his individual scoring is solid his impact on the Cavs’ offense generally isn’t.
Starting Sexton alongside Garland also brings defensive issues, as both are small and overall poor defensively. Sexton will ramp up the intensity level at times but it both doesn’t last and isn’t always the most disciplined approach to defense. Add in Markkanen at the 3, and the Cavs would be in a tough place even with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on the back line.
At least someone like Cedi Osman or LeVert has size; Sexton and Garland together would be somewhat helpless, and their offensive fit isn’t perfect enough to make up the difference. Sexton has organizational standing and is a logical choice to start if he returns, but the team will almost certainly be better if he doesn’t.
Cavs options to start at shooting guard: Isaac Okoro
Over the past two seasons, no player has started more games for the Cleveland Cavaliers than Isaac Okoro. 128 times he has heard his name called during player introductions and taken the court for the opening tip. That includes all 67 games he played in as a rookie, and 61 of the 67 he played in last season.
Okoro effectively took over as the starter when Collin Sexton went down. He provided a very, very different look for opposing teams than Sexton. Okoro is a strong, capable defender who hasn’t quite been the All-Defense type of defender many expected when he was drafted fifth overall two years ago. Even so, he is the team’s best defensive option among the possible starters.
Offense is where things get dicey for Okoro. He shot a career-best 35 percent from deep last season, a marked improvement on his 29 percent stroke from the year before. Even so, teams aren’t respecting him, and they certainly aren’t afraid of any on-ball creation Okoro dabbles in.
The starting lineup needs someone who can defend other guards, but they also probably need some offensive pop. Okoro has time to put things together, but right now he looks like he will be a journeyman for a while. The Cavs could give him another shot as a starter, but most likely he lands in a bench role.
Cavs options to start at shooting guard: Ochai Agbaji
With possibly the last lottery pick they will see for awhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Kansas swingman Ocha Agbaji, an All-American and reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Agbaji is certainly decorated, but he will also be a rookie on a team hoping to secure a full playoff spot and avoid the play-in game altogether.
The theory of Agbaji is simple; he’s the only true 3-and-D wing on the roster, and at 6’5″ he might struggle to defend small forwards. He has great length, which helps mitigate that, but his most natural position is at the 2 in the NBA.
Agbaji’s shot looked great in Las Vegas Summer League, and there’s certainly a way to see him as the best-shooting wing on the team, right now. Playing Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen together all but screams “shooter” at the perimeter spots, and the Cavs have that in a 1 and a 3, but their options at shooting guard are not long-range snipers — except for Agbaji.
The projection for Agabi includes not only shooting but defense as well. If the young guy can make himself invaluable early on, on both ends of the court, he could earn his way to the starting lineup sometime during the season.
Cavs options to start at shooting guard: Ricky Rubio
This final option is a bit out of left field, but hear me out first. Who was the constant in all of the Cavs’ best lineups early last season? Ricky Rubio. The Cavs especially took off when Rubio and Darius Garland shared the court together. Lineups with both Rubio and Garland were +16.2 points per 100 possessions overall, in the 99th percentile for lineups, over a solid 1,027 possession sample size. The Cavs thrived with Rubio.
When he returns to the lineup after rehabbing his knee injury, he will boost the Cavs’ play. That will almost certainly include some minutes with Rubio sharing the backcourt with Garland. What if the Cavs lean into it and just start Rubio altogether?
The fit is excellent, as Rubio has enough size to take on either guard position and his passing set Garland up for remarkable shots. Could the Cavs comfortably start Ricky Rubio and Garland together, even if it meant ostracizing another younger member of the family:?
The final answer is probably no, as head coach JB Bickerstaff liked bringing Rubio off of the bench last season. Yet whether it’s Rubio, a vet or the rookie, the Cavs are flush with options at the 2. Who will start at shooting guard for the Cavaliers?