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Cavs backcourt was wildly misplaced, among others, in Sixer Sense rank

By Justin Brownlow

Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images /
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Caris LeVert, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images /

Had an injury not forced Collin Sexton to miss the majority of the 2021-2022 NBA season, I think there would be a lot more hype around the Cleveland Cavaliers right now. But, because of the injury, we still don’t know what will happen with Sexton and the Cavs, and he is currently a restricted free agent.

In a recent article on a fellow FanSided site, The Sixer Sense, writer Christopher Kline ranked all 30 of the NBA starting backcourts.

In a bit of a shocker to me, the Phoenix Suns’ Chris Paul and Devin Booker came in at number one on this list, followed by the Golden State Warriors in the second spot. In the last top-3 spot, Kline penciled in the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie. However, Luka could be playing with any backcourt player and still be ranked inside the top-5.

The Philadelphia 76ers were the 6th-rated backcourt, which I think is especially too high considering the stats James Harden has put up over the last two seasons, and the fact that he constantly misses game time.

The Cavaliers came in ranked 17th in Kline’s list which is pretty low in my eyes, considering Darius Garland nearly averaged 20 and 10 down the stretch last year, and Caris LeVert still needs some time to get comfortable in Cleveland. With this being said, it’s entirely possible Collin Sexton is the starting shooting guard again eventually, but for the sake of this article, we’ll stick to Caris LeVert.

In my opinion, Garland is already a top-10 point guard in the NBA. He had a real breakout season last year, and made his first All-Star team. On top of that, in this situation I think the point guard carries most of the weight of the backcourt.

The offense runs through them, and they have to be a general on the floor. In that sense, all top-10 point guards, should be a part of at least a top-12 backcourt, no matter who the shooting guard is. But, even if you take a closer look to what LeVert is projected to produce this season, a 17th ranking is very low.

With that being said, the Cavaliers backcourt is not the only one out of place, which I will point out during the article.