With a new year around the corner, the Cleveland Cavaliers will need to look to their supporting cast to maintain their standing in the Eastern Conference with brutal injuries to their star duo.
As Cleveland fans hope for a safe and full recovery for Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, the Cavaliers will rely more heavily on remaining starters Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus and Jarrett Allen to carry the heaviest burden in the meantime. However, the Cavs have plenty of options for short-term personnel, starting with in-house talent. In stark contrast to last season, Cleveland's bench has plenty of production to help outlast their injury woes.
In their first match since the news, the Cavaliers defended their homecourt in a sound 127-119 victory against the Atlanta Hawks in a game with a career-high 13 assists from Mitchell. Their win came on the heels of a 3-game skid that pushed the Cavs back down to the eighth seed in the East. Cleveland followed that up with a 135-130 overtime win over the Houston Rockets, and their next two games will take place at home, giving them a chance to find their footing and adjust to the current situation.
The Hawks win came on the backs of a well-balanced, concerted effort from the entire Cavaliers roster. Six players reached 10 or more points, and four Cavs started had at least 15 points. As a team, the Cavaliers shot 38.1 (16/42) percent from deep and won the rebounding battle 49 to Atlanta's 34. Cleveland's 31 offensive rebounds led the way to 33 second-chance points.
If the Cavaliers are going to steady the ship without Garland and Mobley, these three players need to continue their rising value. Conversely, two Cavs have to find their way back.
Stock up: Isaac Okoro is earning a new contract with Cavaliers
Throughout the season, Isaac Okoro has occasionally fallen out of the Cavaliers rotation due to injury and fit. When he has touched the floor, though, he has displayed an improved level of confidence on offense and has become an efficient corner 3-point shooter, shooting 38.7 percent on corner threes this year.
Okoro has entered the starting lineup 7 times this year, including in his 18-point performance against the Hawks. The young wing is also averaging a career-high in rebounds (3.4) this season in roughly 25 minutes per contest. While Okoro still finds himself in foul trouble a bit more than the Cavaliers would like to see, he has had an impressive 2023-24 campaign thus far.
Although Okoro is not going to oust Max Strus from the starting five, Okoro has outperformed his role as a second unit contributor. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers currently have a surplus of shorter wing players, making his long-term fit and role still in question. Whether he is in Cleveland or elsewhere by the trade deadline, Isaac Okoro's stock has leaped significantly this season. The effort has always been there, but the results are starting to show now, too.
Stock down(?): Can Georges Niang stay consistent from deep for Cleveland?
Possibly the most confusing Cavalier this season, Georges Niang, is either scorching opponents from deep or performing a Broadway-level disappearing act.
While Okoro's 3-point shot is getting better with time, Niang is fluctuating game-to-game. On corner threes last season, Niang shot above 50 percent; yet, this season his accuracy is down to 25 from the same spot. Throughout November, Niang's catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage rose to 40.1, but it has fallen down to 32.1 so far in December.
Saying that Niang's stock is ultimately down is hard to do. While his 3-point shot eludes him at times, he is still forcing defenses to watch him on the perimeter and can punish poor rotations on enough nights.
After a horrific start to the year, the veteran forward found a rhythm with the Cavaliers from deep. With a career 3-point percentage above 40 percent when he signed with Cleveland, the Cavs likely expect his shot to return to a consistent number before the playoffs. With Mobley out, the Cavs' frontcourt rotation will be even smaller than before, meaning Niang will be a crucial piece off the bench until his return.
Stock up: Sam Merrill is playing for a contract with Cavaliers
Before the season began, the expected primary bench contributors for the Cavaliers were Caris LeVert, Okoro, Niang and Dean Wade. While they have all served well enough in their respective roles, the Cavs have found surprise success in two players on unconventional contracts - Sam Merrill and Craig Porter Jr.
Merrill is currently on a non-guaranteed $1.9 million salary this season with one more season after this. Last year, Merrill spent the majority of his time with the G-League Cleveland Charge, only appearing in five games with the Cavs. He has already nearly tripled that number with 14 games played this season.
The reason for his increased role is obvious, and it is not just injuries. Merrill is Cleveland's best shooter, hitting 44.7 percent of his threes on 3.4 attempts per game. The veteran wing is only playing for 9.6 minutes per game but is making his impact on the court with every chance he gets. He stepped up big-time on Monday against Houston as well, with a career-best 19 points, and went five-for-10 from three.
If Merrill keeps up his hot shooting, it will be hard for the Cavaliers to leave him waiting for a full deal. The only hurdle in the way for the 6-foot-4 Merrill is the same as Okoro. The Cavs lack size off the bench and only have so many minutes to distribute among their undersized wings.
Stock down: Caris LeVert's inefficient woes could spell trouble for Cavaliers
The Cavaliers' sixth man Caris LeVert began the season with eyes set on the Sixth Man of the Year award. Unfortunately, while his points per game is up to 15.1 this season, LeVert's efficiency has dropped from both within and outside of the arc. With 5.4 attempts from deep per game, LeVert is only knocking down 30.8 percent.
LeVert's stock with Cleveland is not down dramatically. He is still a well-rounded leader for the second unit, but his unreliable shot could create bigger problems down the road. The Cavaliers re-signed Caris LeVert to a 2-year, $36 million contract this summer after a season as a go-to guy for Cleveland. While it is not a massive contract, the Cavs made a significant investment in continued production out of the Columbus native.
With the trade deadline nearing, LeVert's $18 million salary may serve best as a trade piece in order to bring in a player with a better fit. Plenty of NBA teams would value LeVert's skillset, and his mid-sized contract is easy to match.
Again, LeVert is far from a bad player or bad contract right now. His underwhelming efficiency might force the Cavaliers to look in another direction, though, especially if a good frontcourt talent emerges on the trade market.
Stock up: Dean Wade is back to form with the Cavaliers
After the Cavaliers agreed to a buy out with long-time big man and 2016 NBA Champion Kevin Love, his assumed successor Dean Wade ended the 2022-23 season with shockingly poor 3-point shooting.
The former G-League prospect suffered a shoulder injury pretty early into last season, and it seemed to linger throughout the rest of the year. His shot was not nearly as fluid as it had been beforehand, and it appeared that the Cavs made the wrong choice in the young forward.
This led to low expectations for Wade this year. Between him and Niang, Wade was probable to fall out of the rotation if he did not show signs of improvement early on. In 20 games played, Wade has shot 36.6 percent from deep and grabbed a career-high 4.3 rebounds (including 1.3 offensive rebounds) per game. While his overall role on the team is nothing massive, Wade is giving Cleveland a solid 3-and-D option at either forward spot.
Wade has started 13 games for the Cavaliers whenever Allen or Mobley are out with injury. With Mobley's prolonged absence ahead, Wade will likely continue as Cleveland's starting power forward next to Jarrett Allen for the foreseeable future. With Wade in the starting lineup, the Cavaliers are surrounding Allen with four reliable 3-point shooters, giving him plenty of space in the paint to operate.
The impact that Wade makes over the next several weeks could help the Cavs determine their long-term goals with their frontcourt as a stretch big.
Going forward, Cleveland is going to see exactly what each of these players is made of. No win is going to come easy for the Cavaliers right now, meaning every lineup decision and every poor performance can drastically shift any player's stock.