The Cleveland Cavaliers almost had a disastrous start to their season on Opening Night Wednesday. Playing the Raptors in Toronto, the Cavs saw their floor general go down with an injury during the second quarter. It wasn’t just any injury; it was a nasty-looking eye injury.
Blink and you might have missed it. Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr. was going for a steal in the backcourt and poked Darius Garland right in the eye. It wasn’t malicious, and not truly reckless. But in that period of unknown, it seemed like the season for Garland and the Cavs might be pushed off course before it even truly began.
Darius Garland may miss some time with an eye injury. What changes to the Cavs’ rotation could occur and what players will need to step up?
Thankfully, the injury was on the minor side. Garland suffered a cut on the inside of his eyelid, which sounds horrifying, but the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that there was no structural damage and that surgery would not be required.
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) October 20, 2022
There has been no official announcement, but it seems very likely that Garland will miss at least Saturday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, and Sunday’s home opener as well. If that happens, what changes will occur in the Cavs’ rotation? Let’s look at three specific things that will change.
Changes for Cavs if Garland misses games: More Donovan Mitchell
Donovan Mitchell is ostensibly listed as a shooting guard, and throughout his career he has tended to play alongside another point guard, be that George Hill, Ricky Rubio, Mike Conley or now Darius Garland. Yet his passing ability has grown significantly since entering the league, and it’s not a stretch to call Mitchell a point guard.
In Wednesday’s loss to the Raptors, Mitchell’s passing was on full display. He totaled nine assists, a number he only reached five times all of last season, running the offense and diming up players around him. He already has some nice chemistry with Jarrett Allen, and he was looking to the perimeter often for shooters like Cedi Osman.
Whoever starts for the Cavs in Garland’s absence, Mitchell will almost certainly run “point” while on the court. Putting the ball in his hands makes sense as the team’s best offensive weapon, and he has proven himself able to punish defenses with his scoring and his playmaking.
Mitchell won’t necessarily play more minutes with Garland out; it’s early in the season and the team has other guards to provide depth. His role will change slightly, and more so the player pairings with him will adjust to better set up the offense for when he is on the bench. Two All-Star guards have become just one, if only for a game or two.
Changes for Cavs if Garland misses games: Raul Neto, Caris LeVert more involved
With Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell healthy the Cavs didn’t need to lean on any one other ball-handler / point guard; when Ricky Rubio is ready to return he will certainly have a spot in the rotation, but until then staggering the two guards would mean the team always had a primary creator on the court.
If and when Garland misses time, that will no longer be the case. If Mitchell plays 34 minutes per game, that leaves 14 where this team needs another play creator. A few players can help on the margins, like Evan Mobley or Kevin Love handling the ball at the elbow, but the Cavs have to come up with a different plan for the minutes when Mitchell sits.
Raul Neto is the easy plug-and-play option, the true point guard on the roster signed to back up Garland before the Mitchell trade; now he can back up Mitchell. He saw six second-half minutes on Wednesday after Garland left the game, and he’ll most likely see a smattering of minutes this weekend as well.
If Wednesday was any indicator, however, it is Caris LeVert in line to get more involved. He was handed the keys to the offense a lot more in the second half and he ran with it. That included a whole lot of dribbling, a dangerous proposition with the long arms of the Raptors deployed, but it also meant some passes that showed some of why this front office traded for him. LeVert finished with seven assists and just one turnover.
For however many games that Garland misses, LeVert is probably best seen as the “top playmaker” on bench units, and will play off of Mitchell in the starting lineup.
Changes for Cavs if Garland misses games: Cedi Osman
Now we reach the wild card of the rotation. Cedi Osman was hardly a rotation lock heading into Opening Night. After falling to the fringes of J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation last season, he faced a lot of competition to get minutes on the wing. Yet Wednesday night it was Osman who got minutes and opportunities ahead of Isaac Okoro, Raul Neto and Lamar Stevens.
Osman made the most of it, shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep en route to 17 points, second-highest on the team. His shot-making certainly helped the Cavs stay in the game, but his overall impact was not astounding. He pulled in three rebounds and just one assists, with nary a “stock” (steals + blocks) in sight. He did little more than shooting, and while this team needs a little bit of that, he has to bring more to truly earn himself a role.
This may be his chance to do just that, as Garland’s injury combined with his hot-shooting night almost certainly earned him more minutes this weekend. He started the second half at the 3 for Cleveland on Wednesday; could he start again? Or at the least, be the first player off of the bench?
It doesn’t sound like Garland will miss an extended period of time, but his absence will allow a few other players to flex their muscles in an increased opportunity. If the Cavs can weather the storm and win without Garland, the rest of the roster might be a little bit better off for it.