Preseason will give Cavs fans glimpse of what new backcourt duo can be

It’s been a minute since we’ve seen the Cleveland Cavaliers in game action. The 2022-23 season for the Cavaliers and other NBA clubs is set to be underway later this month, though, and it’s going to be a fun season for fans of the Wine and Gold.

The Cavs had a promising year in 2021-22, as they had 44 wins in doubling their total from the year prior, and Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had outstanding years.

There were others that aided the group in other ways, too, and looking onward, Cleveland should be a force to be reckoned with after the trade acquisition of Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz, also. This upcoming year, this group seems primed for a postseason run, and could surely make some noise.

The Cavaliers did give up a haul to land Mitchell, and losing the likes of Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen, along with Ochai Agbaji and future draft capital, was a fair amount there. But, I do get the rationale for Cleveland doing so, as Mitchell is a three-time All-Star in five career seasons, and he and Garland have the makings of a big-time backcourt duo.

With that in mind, it’ll be fun for fans to see the first taste of what the Garland-Mitchell pairing could be in preseason, set to begin this week.

Preseason will give Wine and Gold fans a first glimpse of what the Cavs’ new star backcourt duo could become.

Preseason action for the Cavaliers begins on Wednesday at the Philadelphia 76ers, and those two clubs will play one another once again on Oct. 10, then in Cleveland, with both meetings at 7 PM EST. Cleveland will face the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 12 at home in the third preseason outing, and then will close out exhibition play at the Orlando Magic on Oct. 14 at the Orlando Magic; both of those matchups are at 7 PM EST as well.

So, circling back, one key thing to watch for in these games, at least two or possibly three, is that we should see a bit of what the Garland-Mitchell duo could look like.

It’s difficult to project how much time the two will have together in these preseason contests, as there’s others involved that’ll need to get playing time in these games, but to help establish some chemistry, the starting backcourt still should receive some. Mitchell’s in a new situation with a new set of teammates, so he’ll have some solid run still, I would think.

Regardless, it should be meaningful for Garland and Mitchell to have some PT together in these exhibition games, with Mitchell perhaps handling some more playmaking duties even with Garland functioning some off-ball in stretches with him.

Either way, we should be able to see a first glimpse of what the dynamic backcourt duo could be this year and moving forward for Cleveland, and how Mitchell’s three-level scoring presence could aid Garland himself, along with Mobley, and others.

It will take some time for Mitchell and Garland to be comfortable in playing off one another in-game, and generally, I could foresee the Cavaliers having some kinks to work out in the earlier portion of the season. That’s going to occur typically following a blockbuster trade, and with Garland and Mobley in the fold, for example.

However, it was encouraging that Mitchell and Garland had already gotten some work in together even prior to training camp, which is currently underway, and they reportedly had worked out some together before the trade went down, too. So there was at least some familiarity for the two prior to camp, to clarify.

So, as we’ve alluded to here, it’ll be fun to see a bit of what the DG-Spida backcourt could become for Cleveland, with this first taste of that in preseason. The 2022-23 campaign is almost here, Cavs fans.