With 42 down and 40 to go, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a record of 26-16 through just past the halfway point of the 2022-23 NBA season. The team currently has the seventh-best record in the NBA, sitting fifth overall in the Eastern Conference, and second in the Central Division right behind the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks.
After the Wine and Gold started the season off with a loss to the Toronto Raptors, nobody expected the Cavaliers to turn around and put the league on notice with eight straight wins. I’d say acquiring a guy from the Utah Jazz this past offseason might have had something to do with the Cavaliers’ exceptional first half performance.
Early in September, the Cavaliers collected Donovan Mitchell via trade with the Jazz for a chunk of draft picks, multiple pick swaps, Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and last year’s first-round draft pick, Ochai Agbaji. Recently spoiled with one of the greatest performances of all time, Spida put on a show for Cavalier fans in attendance at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse two days into the New Year. He had a career-high 71 points in an overtime thriller against the Chicago Bulls.
It’s been far from a one-man show, though.
We’ve seen it firsthand in Cleveland. One man putting a city on his back, wrecking the team’s way to the playoffs year after year. But, this team is far from a one-man show and the play speaks for itself.
So, who’s been the second-best player on this 2022-23 Cavs team, then?
It’s a young core with their fair share of veterans full of talented offensive playmakers, hard-nosed defenders, and as one would say, absolute dogs. With that in mind, we’ll start examining the possibilities.
So who is the Cavs’ second-best?
In the most positive way, I hesitated when I first asked myself this question. Besides Donovan, who really holds this team together? The Cleveland roster is filled with young guys who are producing yet still finding their way, along with vets who bring experience. I mean, the Cavaliers don’t have the seventh-best record in the NBA because of Mitchell alone. He’s the focal point, yes, but this team has its key components that contribute on a nightly basis. So who exactly is the Cavaliers’ 2nd-best player?
Evan Mobley? Not quite yet. The 21-year-old hasn’t had a terrible first half of the year by any means, but the team will need more from him down the stretch if they want to even think about contending for an NBA title. He does average 14.2 points per game on 55.1% shooting from the field this year. Mobley also averages the second-most (8.8) rebounds per game on the team.
Darius Garland? One could make a case for Garland, most definitely. He averages 21.4 points per game, ranking second-most on the team, while also leading the Cavs in assists, averaging 7.8 per game. While the once-Vanderbilt point guard will be one of the centerpieces for this franchise for years to come, he’s missed nine games this season.
He can’t help how shifty he is, slicing through the hardwood getting absolutely mauled in what is almost becoming a scheduled event every game. When Darius Garland has watched from the side, though, this Cavs’ team has a perfect record of 9-0 and it’s ultimately the reason I went with the former 22nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, then by the Brooklyn Nets.
Jarrett Allen has been the Cavs’ second-best player
It’s Jarrett Allen, hands down, the answer is Jarrett Allen. The former Texas Longhorn is averaging the fourth-most (32.8) minutes and (13.2) points per game this season on Cleveland. For players averaging 20 minutes or more per game on this team, No. 31 has the highest field goal percentage of any player, while also leading the team with (9.8) rebounds per game, which means he sits on the cusp of averaging a double-double halfway through the season.
By the end of Sunday night’s game at the Phoenix Suns, the big fella had finished recording his 15th double-double on the year. He’s basically bound and determined to get you double-digit points nightly. In home games this season Jarrett is recording 10 or more points in 63.2% of home games that he’s played in, while on the road he’s done it in 80% of games when playing 10 minutes or more.
Jarrett Allen is one of the Cavaliers’ most consistent players night in and night out. Out of 42 possible games so far this season, Allen has laced up for 35 of them, and when the big is out, the Cavs have a record of 3-5. That’s also if you’re counting Tuesday night’s game, where he finished with only 7 minutes of play. The Cavs’ 2022 All-Star center exited the game in the first quarter in Utah due to sickness and did not return; he is probable for Thursday night’s game at the Portland Trail Blazers.
During his first two absences (Nov. 13 with an ankle injury and Nov. 16, due to Non-COVID illness) of this year, the team dropped two straight, which was the end of a five-game losing streak. He also missed five straight games from (Nov. 27-Dec. 5), where the team positively went 3-2, but ranked dead-last in points per game (98.2) during that span.
The halfcourt offense is largely initiated through Allen’s frame, where the 6-foot-9 big is always active with screens at the top of the key. He’s always ready for a quick dime in the paint or a lob at the rim. In the last 15 seconds of regulation in Mitchell’s stunner, with Donovan attacking the basket, Allen’s man stepped up with the “help” defense, while number No. 45 dished an off the mark pass to the big man. He snagged it with one hand, got control, turned and sunk a floater over the defender, closing the lead to one with 8.9 seconds to go.
You take small things like that for granted when in fact, it could have led to a turnover and we were left talking about what could have been and not the classic that was. Defensively he has the third-best defensive-rating (107.7) out of 17 centers who average thirty or more minutes per game this season. Allen has the second-best defensive field goal percentage (44.3) on this roster as well, and is fourth in the league in shot contests per game, per NBA.com’s hustle data.
I’m not saying that this will be the answer at the end of the 82-game season. But as far as the player who brings the most value and production behind the one and only Donovan Mitchell, it’s Jarrett Allen. The Cavaliers can still score and win games without the means of Garland, the record proves it. They already do it without a solid everyday starter at the 3, too, although I believe they find a way to add one.
If you were to take Allen off this roster, it just wouldn’t be the same team. He’s more than valuable to this team, irreplaceable even, and it’s why he’s the Cavs’ second-best player so far this season.