On today's show, hosts Chris Manning and Evan Dammerall discuss Darius Garland getting nominated for player of the week honors, the upcoming back-to-back slate with Charlotte and Golden State, and then talk about the viability of the team getting a better draft pick versus making the playoffs.Here are the bullet points:
Darius Garland has averaged 22.3 points on 53.2% shooting to go with 7.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game over Cleveland's last five games. It makes total sense why the young point received Player of the Week consideration from NBA teams.
Garland has finally started building upon the momentum he had slowly been building from last season and is looking like the heir-apparent to Kyrie Irving at the point guard position. All that remains is whether or not Garland is able to stay healthy long term.
With Jarrett Allen expected to return this week and Larry Nance Jr. expected soon after, the Cavaliers have a big problem - both figuratively and literally. During Allen and Nance's absence, Dean Wade and Isaiah Hartenstein have played very well. But, when Allen and Nance return, it seems like both Wade and Hartenstein will lose minutes or eliminated from the rotation entirely.
With Charlotte and Golden State on deck for Cleveland, it makes more sense for the team to go with Wade due to his three-point shooting over Hartenstein. The German big man can still earn minutes, though. It mostly depends on the matchups on a night-to-night basis.
With both the Hornets and Warriors, the Cavaliers lost the opportunity to have some fun matchups with Charlotte's LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward sidelined and Golden State's James Wiseman out. But, Cleveland still cannot underestimate either team with the Hornets still having a scrappy, young squad and the Warriors having Stephen Curry - arguably the greatest shooter of all time.
Cleveland is sitting 3.5 games back of Chicago for a spot in the play-in tournament but also are 3.5 games ahead of Detroit for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. This leaves the Cavaliers in a bit of a tight spot - do they try and make a playoff push or should they try to compete for a better draft pick?
Given how they looked against a hapless Raptors team, and how the rest of their schedule is lining up, the Cavaliers will likely be a tough, scrappy, young team that tries to remain competitive on a night-to-night basis but is unable to catch up to the Bulls in the standings.
But, if Cleveland is hellbent and determined to make a push, they do play Chicago twice within the next week. Those two games will be vital for the Cavaliers to catch up with the Bulls in order to make the final spot in the play-in tournament.
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