What would a successful third season look like for Cavs’ Lamar Stevens?

Last season, I thought Lamar Stevens had an encouraging second year with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now, he is not a player that is going to be a huge usage-type guy, and his traditional numbers last season of 6.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per outing aren’t going to jump out at you. Stevens is a player that still will have some rough moments in games, and that was still evident during last season, objectively.

But, he’s a player that when given the opportunities, has demonstrated that he can be multi-positional defensively, and ahead of this third season with Cleveland, he could be a guy the team looks to you for stretches again to handle big wings/forwards. I thought his team defense did get better last season with more experience as well, and he can make some plays as a rotator with his timing.

On the offensive end, it is clear, though, that Stevens has to show progress from three-point range.

He did display some catch-and-shoot growth last year, but he still hit only 27.7 percent from three, and there are some plays where he does overextend a bit on-ball, leading to some ill-advised sequences.

That said, Stevens’ on-ball flashes and mid-range play from last year was something to build on, and on drives, he did make some things happen at the rim with his body control and strength.

So, looking at next season then, what would a successful third year look like for Stevens with the Cavs?

Stevens is probably a fringe guy at first glance, and he’s going to be a player with some minutes variance. However, he’s a player that can play at the 3 and 4 in lineups throughout games, and last season, filled in pretty well at the 2.

In some spot starts last season, there were positive signs from him, and next season, if needed, he could do so again with more experience with other guys, too.

With Stevens, it’s apparent that for him to be getting more regular minutes, there likely has to be more off-ball viability, though, and at least currently, if Dean Wade is healthy, he’d seemingly be favored over Stevens and Cedi Osman.

Wade being out near the closing stretch of last season due to a partial meniscus tear had to have factored in some with Stevens getting more chances, and Wade is since now recovered. We could still see Stevens and Wade together in lineups for stretches, I’d think still, but not with an Evan Mobley-Jarrett Allen frontcourt much.

But I still do believe that for Stevens, he could be a player that could be a better alternative than Isaac Okoro for defense in some stretches if it were to come down to it at times.

And while did illustrate some catch-and-shoot growth last season, his three-point shooting was still at low volume, and if given some more opportunities next season, maybe Stevens could take further strides from three. If that were to play out, with Stevens having some on-ball abilities for stretches, perhaps that could cause him to cut into Isaac Okoro’s minutes.

There’s others involved, such as Caris LeVert and Collin Sexton, if Sexton is back, seemingly, and Lauri Markkanen/Wade for the 3, and Mobley/Kevin Love at the 4, for potential Stevens minutes, in fairness.

Generally, however, a successful third year for Stevens in 2022-23 could feasibly see him increase his scoring output in bench opportunities and/or starts at times, and Stevens improving his perimeter shooting would go a long way, obviously.

With the offensive flashes from last season in mind, and with him being a multi-positional defensive piece, if there’s more regular time for him, he could be an under-the-radar breakout candidate, as KJG’s Mack Perry suggested.

The 25-year-old Stevens did have a quality four-year career at Penn State prior to being originally a two-way signing by Cleveland following the 2020 NBA Draft, and he had an encouraging Year 2. Based on that, I’d definitely expect him to be around this coming season, and despite him being non-guaranteed again for then, he could seemingly stick around, especially if the offensive development continues after this offseason into next year.