Cavaliers need shooters to capitalize on their dynamic duo

Shooters already on the Cavaliers’ roster

Of all the guys on the Cavs roster who fit the profile of a shooter, Caris LeVert stands out the most. Back on Apr 4 against the Magic, LeVert was 5-for-6 on three-pointers as he scored 19 points. On Mar 31 against the Knicks, LeVert was 4-for-7 on three-pointers and scored 15 points. Against his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, on Mar 21, LeVert was 3-for-6 on three-pointers.  He had some clunky performances mixed in there, but he still averaged 13 points per game this past season.

LeVert alone doesn’t provide enough of a shooting punch for the Cavaliers, and they need more than him in order to provide the spacing for Garland and Mitchell. At one point, the Cavs had Kevin Love on the roster, who is more than capable of spacing the floor. But Love eventually fell out of the rotation in favor of Dean Wade when Love wasn’t producing, although they still could’ve used someone like him in the playoffs.

Eventually, the Cavs and Love came to a post-deadline buyout agreement. Love has since signed with Miami and is now playing in the Eastern Conference Finals after eliminating the Knicks. Dean Wade didn’t help the Cavs down the stretch in Love’s place. In the final five regular season games, Wade didn’t reach double-digits once. In the two playoff games he partook in, Games 1 and 3, he played less than 10 minutes and only scored two points.

Cedi Osman was supposed to be another guy who made shots and opened up the floor for Mitchell and Garland. He proved to be unreliable and extremely inconsistent. Against the Miami Heat on Mar. 10, he had seven points, then on Mar. 12 against the Charlotte Hornets he had three points, and then on Mar. 14 against the Hornets, he had 24 points. This three-game stretch represents his play over the course of the season. He wasn’t able to provide the scoring punch off the bench that was necessary to support Garland and Mitchell.