Who are the Cavs’ 3 best passers entering the 2022-23 season?

The 2022-23 Cleveland Cavaliers season is almost upon us, with the squad set to begin their campaign on Oct. 19 at the Toronto Raptors. Cleveland has three preseason games left on this upcoming Monday, Wednesday and Friday versus the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks, and then they’ll wrap up that slate at the Orlando Magic.

The Cavaliers didn’t get the W in Philly on Wednesday in a 113-112 loss, but it was a promising performance, and a number of guys got in on the act, and it was a contest the group can assuredly build on.

This season, the Wine and Gold will look to keep improving after a 2021-22 campaign where the team amassed 44 wins, their most in a season without LeBron James on the roster since 1998.

The Cavs eventually lost in the Play-In Tournament, which was a bit disappointing, although with the injuries Cleveland dealt with last season, the year overall was an encouraging one for Darius Garland and company. This arrow for this still largely young Cleveland team is definitely pointing up, too, and trade acquisition Donovan Mitchell, a three-time All-Star in five seasons with the Utah Jazz, is one of the reasons for that.

Now, here, with the 2022-23 campaign nearly underway for the Cavs, who were often at their best last season when the ball was hopping around, mixed in with quality shot creation, coupled with that, I figured I’d highlight Cleveland’s top passers.

Along those lines, let’s take a closer look at the Cavs’ three best passers ahead of the upcoming season.

To begin, I figured I’d give two guys honorable mentions, which we’ll consider tied for the fourth on this list.

The Cavs’ honorable mention: Kevin Love

Before getting into the top three passers, I had to shoutout Kevin Love first, and while I didn’t ultimately select him here, Evan Mobley nearly made the cut for that.

Love had 2.2 assists per contest last season, which didn’t equate to gaudy playmaking splits, but he’s a high-level passing big, and should once again make a positive impact for Cleveland’s ball movement throughout games this year.

Throughout Love’s tenure with the Cavaliers, he’s been a very productive secondary playmaking presence, and does a quality job of hitting touchdown passes to guys down the floor for early offense after defensive rebounds. He’s not the hub he used to be, however, he’s still a really effective passer.

His signature outlet feeds always ignites the crowd, and with him this season set to be further acclimated to a key bench role, I’d still expect him to help initiate good ball-swings to counter his shooting presence, and he does a quality job of hitting cutters. His mid-post feel can still lead to great looks for other shooters on the weak side when double teams come as well.

Furthemore, regarding the playmaking feel of Love, he placed in the 82nd percentile in assist rate among bigs last season, per Cleaning The Glass.