Heading into the 2022-23 season, Lamar Stevens is reportedly in the mix to possibly begin the season as the starting 3 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
There’s apparently not a frontrunner at this time, and it is still at the beginning of training camp. Others in the running for that spot are Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert, the favorites, it seems at least, and Dean Wade, Dylan Windler and Cedi Osman are the others in the conversation.
Now, I’d personally lean Wade in this instance, and as an aside, Jae Crowder is a player that the Cavaliers are reportedly showing interest in via trade. It’s rumored to be unclear if the Phoenix Suns would want something the Cavs could be offering in that instance, though.
But looking internally here, while I’d more so think he’d be a guy who will be more so a rotational contributor as opposed to a starter, the aforementioned Stevens could again be a useful player for Cleveland for stretches. With more opportunities last season, Year 2 was an encouraging one for Stevens defensively, I thought, and despite the catch-and-shoot concerns from three, he did show promising signs on offense.
Stevens only converted on 27.7 percent from three-point range last season, on 1.0 attempts per outing, and that’s the glaring issue with him. There are times when he’ll force it too much in other ways, too. For originally an undrafted, two-way signing, however, he, like the recently-extended Dean Wade, has made his presence felt when given chances.
The perimeter shooting is the key with his outlook, as we touched on, anyhow.
Even still, it is a plus that throughout this offseason, he’s seemingly worked extensively on progression there, as he emphasized recently, via Spencer Davies of BasketballNews.com. Here was more on the offseason focus for Stevens in that realm when asked about what he’s been working on, via Davies.
"“I’ve been working a lot on becoming a better shooter from three, just being more consistent. [I’ve been] watching a lot of film and just seeing different ways offensively where I can impact the game and just learning how to play off guys like Darius [Garland] and Evan [Mobley] and stuff like that. But mainly, the three-point shot for me.'”"
It’s uncertain if the chances will be there enough to show it, but some meaningful minutes should be there for Stevens, either way.
At least to me, and I’d imagine plenty of Cavaliers fans, it seems unlikely that we’ll see Stevens regularly starting at the 3 from the jump this coming season. I could be wrong ultimately, but that seems unrealistic.
Despite that, with his ability to defend bigger wings for stretches and forwards at 6-foot-6 and a sturdy 230 pounds, he should warrant meaningful minutes early. His ball pressure and contests can be impactful, also.
He’ll need to show continual improvement off-ball in the team sense defensively, to keep building on his play from last season, as an aside, to aid his case. And I do believe we should see that from him, as he’s heading into Year 3, and he flashed playmaking on that end as a rotator last season.
Taking it all into account, though, the catch-and-shoot growth, especially, has to be there for Stevens at times if he does want to firmly cement his place as a rotational contributor, if the chances do arise early on.
Granted, I don’t discount how Stevens can make some plays on-ball in stretches out there. His 6.0 points in 16.1 minutes per outing didn’t necessarily highlight that, but when he had more opportunities in the second half of the season, he made things happen in stretches. That was whether he was at the 2, 3 or 4.
The mid-range game is something Stevens has in his arsenal, too, and his cutting seemingly improved last year; not to mention, his driving game got better in his second season it appeared.
It’s again crucial for Stevens’ outlook moving forward, however, for the three ball to be there with more legitimacy. Now, again, it is difficult to project whether or not his offseason work on threes will translate in-game, in fairness.
There were flashes here and there in that area, but long-term, that’s apparent with Stevens. If so, it would feasibly be more of a selling point for him to potentially at some point regularly play 20-25 minutes in contests, regardless of injury fill-in extended time.
But, even if the three-point work isn’t there early for Stevens, for his defense, great finishing and for how his efforts can ignite runs for the team, I do believe some minutes should be there for the 25-year-old pretty regularly.
It remains to be seen if those will come for Stevens, who is again entering his third season out of Penn State.