The Cleveland Cavaliers have a problem at the guard position, and we aren’t criticizing the 2018 first round draft pick Collin Sexton, who has been a whipping post for many both locally and nationally.
Sexton’s play over the last month or so, have given us optimism for the 6’1″ second year guard who, by the way, still hasn’t reached his 22nd birthday.
In the 11 games played after the All Star Game, Sexton is averaging 25.5 points and 4.2 assists a night, on 53% shooting from the floor, including 43.1% from three point range.
Even better, the Cavaliers have gone 4-6 in that period. Of course, the wine and gold also changed their head coach, replacing John Beilein with J.B. Bickerstaff.
No, the problem is there seems to be too many guards on the current roster, and with the Cavs perhaps having one of the top picks in the NBA Draft, whenever it occurs, several of the highest ranked players also play guard.
In the past two seasons, GM Koby Altman has adopted the draft the best player available mentality, so what happens if that is all that’s left when Cleveland’s turn comes up in the selection process.
It would seem to trigger some sort of move or at least a change in philosophy.
One reason for the overload at the position is Altman’s gamble at the end of last year’s first round, trading for Kevin Porter Jr.
Porter has improved as the season as gone on, and has earned more playing time as a result. He started the season playing about 18 minutes, and in each month has earned more court time, going from 21 minutes in November, to 23 in January, and then to a little less than 27 in February/March.
The Cavaliers need some size in the backcourt after using top ten picks on two guards under 6’2″ the past two drafts, and Porter at 6’4″ gives them just that. Beilein used him at small forward, where he was undersized, to get him on the floor, but in reality, he’s a #2 guard, where he can be paired with Sexton or Darius Garland, last year’s first pick.
Can Bickerstaff juggle playing time for three young guards, because they all need playing time to develop, and what happens if when the Cavs turn comes up in the draft, the best players remaining are Anthony Edwards of Georgia, LaMelo Ball, and Cole Anthony of North Carolina.
The “best player available” theory has to go out the window.
If the NBA does not resume the regular season and goes right to the playoffs (which we believe will be the plan), Cleveland misses 17 games to see if or how the three young guards can coexist together, especially with the changes Sexton has made in his game.
So, what does Altman do? Does he move either Sexton or Garland prior to the draft in an effort to get either a young player with some size or another first round pick?
Or does he trade down in the draft and pick either a small forward to compete with Cedi Osman or another big man because Tristan Thompson is a free agent at the end of the year, Andre Drummond can be a free agent next summer, and you never know when Kevin Love could be traded.
The point is the Cavs have plenty of holes, but maybe the backcourt isn’t one of them. It will be interesting to see what Altman and his crew does this summer.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 