The Cavaliers are overreliant on Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell

After the success they experienced last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers wanted to move the needle forward this season. In an effort to do so, the Cavs went out and traded for superstar guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz to pair with the young and dynamic Darius Garland in the backcourt.

Mitchell and Garland have produced when they’ve been on the court together, however, the Cavaliers are overreliant on their dynamic duo.

The Cavs can’t continually be so reliant on the Garland-Mitchell duo.

A major reason the Cavaliers struggled at times and missed out on the playoffs last season is because they were so reliant on Garland to do everything in key games down the stretch. As a result, they went out and traded for Mitchell in order to take the pressure off of Garland.

In a 114-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 20, Garland put up 23 points and Mitchell scored 36 points. However, they each had to play 37 minutes. In a 114-113 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics, Mitchell contributed 25 points and Garland scored 29 points, but the two guards had to play 44 and 42 minutes, respectively. Garland and Mitchell rank in the Top-15 in terms of MPG (minutes per game), with Garland at 36 and Mitchell at 36.3 minutes.

The calendar is about to flip to 2023, which means there are approximately 3.5 months remaining in the regular season. While certain games in these first few months have been important and consequential, the stretch run of the season (late February to mid-April) is where division titles are won, playoff spots are clinched, and first-round matchups are solidified.

It’s likely that the Cavaliers are going to end up between the third seed and the sixth seed as the Celtics and Bucks duel for the No.1 seed. Finishing in that range means the Cavs’ first-round matchup would fall against Kyrie, KD and the Brooklyn Nets (who defeated the Cavs 125-117 on Monday), James Harden, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers (their biggest rival), Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors, who could sweep the Cavs this season, or Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and the Atlanta Hawks.

The Cavs need to pile up the wins in order to secure home court advantage in case there’s a Game 7 in the first round. The Cavs are going to need Mitchell and Garland to make clutch plays and hit big shots.

One of the biggest reasons for Darius and Donovan playing heavy minutes early in the season is that the small forward position isn’t solidified. At the beginning of the season, Caris LeVert was the starting small forward. He’s since moved to the bench and Lamar Stevens has moved into the starting small forward position. Stevens is similar to when Iman Shumpert was on the team. Both guys are defensive-minded players, but they can occasionally give the team a 10-point performance. As a result, Mitchell and Garland have to fill that void left by an unreliable small forward position.

The Cavs should go and trade for someone like Cam Reddish of the New York Knicks, Kelly Oubre Jr. of the Charlotte Hornets, or Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards. Having some depth on the wing could sure up the Cavaliers defense and take pressure off their lead guards on offense. Of those three possible trade candidates, the best fit would be Kyle Kuzma.

In a majority of the Cavaliers’ 22 wins this season, Garland and Mitchell have each had to score 25+points in order to secure the victory. Should the Cavs swing a trade with the Wizards and bring in a proven scorer like Kuzma, they wouldn’t have to do as much of the heavy lifting.

Kuzma is averaging 21.8 points this season, including a 32-point performance in a 125-111 WIzards victory on Dec. 23 against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento. He also posted 29 points in a 113-110 Washington victory on Dec. 20 against the Phoenix Suns in Phoenix. The Cavs don’t currently have a reliable third scoring option behind the two All-Star guards. Kuzma is also averaging 7.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists, all of which would be beneficial to the Cavs this season.

While playing out in Salt Lake City with the Jazz, Mitchell was essentially a one-man show on a number of occasions, in the on-ball sense. The Jazz also had Rudy Gobert, but there were too many situations where Gobert would get exposed and prove unreliable. As such, Mitchell had to score 30+ points to carry the Jazz on a nightly basis.

Since coming to Cleveland, Mitchell has been paired with Garland in the backcourt alongside Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt. Mobley and Allen are more than capable of putting up double digits. In their 118-107 loss to the Raptors, Allen provided 11 points and Mobley gave 10 points. In their 114-106 win over the Bucks, Allen had 19 points and Mobley had seven points. The Cavaliers don’t need Mobley and Allen to score 20+ points every game, but they do need the two of them to score double digits in order to take the pressure off Garland and Mitchell.

Whether the Cavaliers are title contenders or just playoff contenders is certainly worth a discussion, but the Cavaliers are clearly contenders of some kind. They should be able to at least win a first-round playoff series depending on who the opponent is and whether or not the Cavs have home court advantage should the series go to a winner takes all Game 7. When the season is on the line, the Cavs need Mitchell and Garland to play at their best.

Perhaps the Cavs could take the route of the LA Clippers and load manage Garland and Mitchell. But the better option would be to trade for someone like Kuzma who can take some of the playmaking burden off Garland and Mitchell. That way, they’re not burned out when the Cavaliers need them the most.

Early on this season, the Cavaliers have been over-reliant on the dynamic duo of Garland and Mitchell. If the Cavs continue to ride the backs of DG and “Spida” like this, they’ll be worn down by the time the Cavs need them to come through.