With the 2019 NBA Draft over and Summer League coming up, it appears that the Cleveland Cavaliers have plans for a East coast version of Portland Trail Blazers backcourt duo, Damian Lilliard and CJ McCollum in Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.
Garland, taken with the fifth overall pick by the Cavs, will not participate in the Cavs Summer League due to team reasons, will be paired with Sexton, the Cavs’ second-year point guard out of Alabama.
While it is not confirmed as to who he will be point guard and shooting guard in rookie head coach John Beilein’s system, one thing is for sure, is that Cleveland needs more punch for its backcourt in 2019.
With the selections of Dylan Windler at No. 26 and highly touted Kevin Porter Jr. via trade with the Pistons at No.30, it appears that Cleveland is looking to rely on its starting backcourt a lot more for scoring and taking the load off of Kevin Love, Larry Nance Jr. and Cedi Osman, while also addressing the lack of attacking wings.
While Jordan Clarkson provided a spark off the bench, and J.R. Smith being persona non grata, Cleveland could deploy three-guard lineups using a combination of Garland, Sexton, Windler and Clarkson in the same vein of how Golden State revolutionized modern-day hoops in going with their “small ball” lineup.
The key will be how well Garland and Sexton play off of each other, ball movement, distribution and scoring.
More than likely, Sexton will run the point and Garland will be more of an off-shooting guard, it’ll be interesting to see how their chemistry develops during the regular season.
Who will score? Who will assist? Who will close games? Who will be counted in to lead?
These will be questions and legitimate concerns that will be asked of a very young duo that’ll be counted on to lead a 19-win team out of a lengthy rebuild.
Hopefully for both, they will develop quickly in expediting both the rebuild and being the Cavs back to relevance in the second post-LBJ era.