3 reasons Lamar Stevens should be back in Cavaliers rotation

Reason No. 2: Offensive flashes last season

Again, Stevens’ splits offensively last season didn’t necessarily jump out. But, when the opportunities presented themselves, he demonstrated cutting growth and his transition play off-ball and at times as a driver were areas he made an impact as the season wore on.

Now, to reiterate, Stevens is not a player that is a player teams are going to be glued to off-ball from three as a catch-and-shoot threat. He still has to improve there, clearly, and last season, had times where he was hesitant to pull the trigger.

Although on the plus side, Stevens got better when he was given more meaningful chances last season as a cutter, and as a finisher inside, his athleticism, strength and body control enabled him to be efficient there. Stevens connected on 66.9 percent of his shot attempts from five feet and in last season, per NBA.com’s shooting data; those looks equated to 45.5 percent of his shots attempts.

So, while he’s not a guy who Cleveland should be expecting to be lighting it up from deep, he can be a player that can find ways to get to the basket from catch-and-go situations and at times make plays in gaps.

Plus, Stevens is a player that can create some looks on-ball in the mid-range area and convert on short pull-ups after a few dribbles from wing catches.

He showed some of these offensive abilities near the closing stretch of last regular season, when he had 9.2 points per outing, in his last 18 appearances in that span, upon averaging 21.5 minutes. Maybe if he were to re-inserted into Cleveland’s rotation, he could build on that sort of play from last season and give the team a lift there if the chances present themselves.