The time for the Cleveland Cavaliers to distinguish themselves beyond being just a good team is now as the season winds down and playoffs approach.
In seven games since the All-Star break, the Cavaliers sit 3-4 and have fallen back down to the third seed in the Eastern Conference. While not in a dire sink-or-swim situation, the Cavs are losing their momentum after a history stretch throughout December to February. The offense has grown cold, often only inconsistently reclaiming the fluidity and versatility it displayed for most of the season. Darius Garland and Evan Mobley helped Cleveland win in stretches before the All-Star weekend upon their return, so the problem does not lie in the two young stars' fit on the team.
The postseason will be a brutal test for the Cavaliers, but adjusting in this final stretch will give them a chance to be true contenders and defeat the looming narrative that arose after last year's decimation at the hands of the New York Knicks. Currently, though, Cleveland struggles to show the same edge they need to make that jump. In their three most recent wins, they have all come in dramatic fashion, including a game in which the Cavs nearly squandered a 26-point lead to the historically-bad Detroit Pistons.
With Donovan Mitchell's recent injury, the superstar guard will be absent for at least three more games for the Cavs. His earliest return would come with fewer than 20 games left in the regular season, meaning the Cavaliers will need to rely upon Garland to steer the offense back to greatness. In the 2021-22 season, Garland guided the Cavs to the franchise's first ever Play-In Tournament appearance, though they fell short in two consecutive games and missed the playoffs. With one-and-a-half more years and a playoff stint under his belt, Garland should have the capacity to will the Cavs to a few more wins before the end of game 82.
If Cleveland hopes to regain their strength before the postseason, it will be up to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to show the ingenuity and creativity that helped the Cavs climb from the Play-In to the second seed in the East in December and January. As a veteran NBA coach, he is undoubtedly aware of the problems the Cavaliers have. Nothing stated here is a shock to Bickerstaff, but one obvious change and one subtle change may be the key to reigniting the Cavs into true contenders this postseason.
Obvious: Give Sam Merrill actual rotational minutes again
While Mitchell led the way for the Cavs without Garland or Mobley and earned Eastern Conference Player of the Month in January, Cleveland found hidden gems and spark plugs deep into their bench throughout that time. Perhaps the biggest bench contributor in that time was flamethrower wing Sam Merrill.
Merrill has averaged 5.4 three-point attempts in just 15.8 minutes per game, knocking down 44.1 percent of them. The Utah-born wing is not just making an impact; he has been historically great from downtown but has been put back to the end of the bench lately, Merrill does not provide elite defense that Isaac Okoro does, but he is necessary to the Cavaliers' success on offense. He has single-handedly disrupted defenses with his constant off-ball movement and quick trigger.
Getting Merrill back into the lineup every night is not as simple as it is to say it should happen. Merrill is 6-foot 4-inches and would take away minutes from somebody else if he came back. Okoro is also emerging as one of Cleveland's best perimeter shooters, and his defense is second to none.
If Merrill replaces anybody in the lineup, it needs to be Dean Wade. Wade's defense is stellar, but he is quickly fading into a non-factor on offense. Cleveland has size and defense in their frontcourt already, and Okoro, Mitchell, Caris LeVert and Max Strus have handled themselves well on the perimeter. The Cavaliers have also already seen success in playing a true small ball lineup.
When Strus sank four triples in 67 seconds before a 59-foot game winner against the Mavericks, he was playing the power forward spot with Garland, Mitchell, LeVert and Allen filling out the other four spots. The Cavs have the ability to be fast, versatile and disruptive on offense, spreading the floor and forcing defenders to chase them everywhere. Sam Merrill deserves a chance to bring that lethality back to the Cavaliers, and he recent has said he believes it, too. Bickerstaff should bring Money Merrill back into the lineup. There is no excuse when there is proof it can work.
Subtle: Play Darius Garland at shooting guard in the starting lineup
In episode 214 of J.J. Redick's Old Man and the Three, Jarrett Allen joined the team and discussed a plethora of topics revolving himself and the Cleveland Cavaliers. One statement, though, holds more weight than it first appears. Redick's co-host Tommy Alter asked what Allen has seen in Donovan Mitchell since becoming teammates he did not see beforehand. What surprised Allen most was Mitchell's terrific passing.
"That dude can pass. The way he finds people in the short roll, finds me in the short roll, finds people in the corner. We all know he's a scorer... He can find anybody on the passes."Jarrett Allen
Allen also took the opportunity to take a jab at Mitchell's defense in between complimenting him, but Allen's point should spark a change for the Cavaliers going forward. The Cavs have built their new-look offense around sharing the ball with everybody, allowing the bigs to facilitate from the elbow and running off-ball sets to open up a shooter. Mitchell became the captain of this offense and shined in that role.
Darius Garland, on the other hand, is an equally phenomenal passer; yet, he has shown a bit of discomfort still as the primary ball handler in this offensive scheme through no fault of his own. Garland's playstyle on-ball has led to numerous jaw-dropping moments, but he may be best off the ball more often when Cleveland's best five players are on the floor together.
The NBA has continually grown positionless. The best player is typically the one who initiates and coordinates the offense. While Garland is tremendous, he does not carry the offensive magnitude that Mitchell naturally creates. Bickerstaff has staggered Mitchell's and Garland's minutes when both are healthy, allowing each one to run the offense individually throughout most of the game. When together, though, subtly allowing Garland to feed off of Mitchell's gravity and find an open shot when defenses over-commit to Spida would unlock another element to Cleveland.
Garland has the talent to knock down a shot from seemingly anywhere on the court just like Mitchell, and allowing a more dynamic relationship between the two guards would greatly benefit the Cavs going forward. This would not take away Garland's time to facilitate and score when Mitchell rests. Garland has recently drained plenty of step back threes after creating the shot for himself, but in the starting minutes of a game, getting the defense to chase and get caught on off-ball screens is how the Cavaliers became dominant. They need to return to this, and it starts with giving Mitchell the ball.
Once again, Bickerstaff is a professional NBA coach and has been a finalist for Coach of the Year before. Regardless of criticisms he has earned over the years, he is pouring hours into film study and theory crafting. The Cavaliers are not in No Man's Land, but they are in a rut. These two changes can help them establish themselves before the playoffs once everybody is healthy.