After a “surprise” season, completed with a positive record (44-38) for the first time since the departure of LeBron James in the summer of 2018, the Cavaliers want to capitalize on this momentum positive during the off-season. Despite a slow end to the campaign and a failure against the Hawks in the “play-in”, the club regained its colors and established itself as an important player in the Eastern Conference for the years to come, under the impetus of the exciting duo Darius Garland – Evan Mobley.
The first stage of this offseason will be the Draft, on June 23. After three consecutive seasons to be selected in the Top 5, the Cavaliers, who finished the regular season in 8th place in the East, will this year be at the end of the “lottery” (97.6% chance of inheriting the 14th choice). The hard core is now formed, around Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, but also Isaac Okoro and Jarrett Allen, and the logical continuation of the construction of the workforce is therefore to bring complementary parts around this quartet.
It is therefore no surprise that the first returns on this subject report an interest from the Cavaliers for two profiles in this Draft 2022: defenders and creators.
Regarding the first profile, two names stand out: EJ Liddell and Ochai Agbaji. The first, who comes out of a huge “junior” season at Ohio State (19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists), is a very complete 4 position, brilliant everywhere without being excellent in a particular area, in a mold Paul Millsapp. As Kevin Love approaches 34 and Dean Wade is quite limited, he could be an interesting long-term solution, as an understudy for Evan Mobley, or even Jarrett Allen in a “small ball” configuration.
The second, champion with Kansas and MOP of the “Final Four”, embodies this profile of “3&D” which the franchise lacks to pass a course (18.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 40.9% at 3-points). With Isaac Okoro, the Cavaliers already have this defensive stopper on the wings. But the former Auburn player is far from having the offensive talent of Agbaji. ” The Cavaliers believe that in their system, Agbaji can be productive at a high level on offense. But it is above all the player’s defensive abilities that attract the club. […] Ideally, the Cavaliers imagine him alongside Darius Garland. It would allow the point guard to have less defensive pressure on him summarizes Evan Dammarell.
About the second profile, the search for the Cavs makes sense: JB Bickerstaff found himself orphaned by a creator off the bench for a large part of the season, after the serious injury of Ricky Rubio (and despite some good passages from Rajon Rondo). The Draft could then be a solution to this problem, and Chris Fedor mentions two other names, “freshmen”.
Malaki Branham (13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2 assists), also out of Ohio State, and Tyty Washington Jr, from Kentucky (12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists).
« The Cavaliers also like Kentucky point guard Tyty Washington, who would fit that need for a backup point guard, bigger than Darius Garland. notes Chris Fedor, before discussing the Branham case, more of a second scoring back than a true leader. ” The bottom line is that the Cavs like a lot of players who might be available at the end of the lottery. Notably Malaki Branham, although he is primarily a second back, and there is an overabundance of players in that position in the squad. »
Very close to the playoffs this season, the Cavaliers are therefore targeting potential luxury “role players” in this Draft 2022 to settle in the Top 6 next year.
