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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Cavaliers’ small front spot has been a position without much competition or certainty since LeBron James left two years ago.
Not anymore.
The Cavs have three guys – Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler – who will be fighting for the first gig. This competition began on Friday, with the team’s first group practice at training camp.
“You have to save minutes,” said head coach JB Bickerstaff. “You have to win it all here. You earn it by your performance in practice every day. You earn it by being reliable, by being reliable. So obviously your performance in the game.
“We are expecting a high level of competition through training camp and pre-season at this location. I’m not going to sit here and say or guarantee this or promise that, I’m going to give the guys a chance to fight and see who wins this place.
Bickerstaff takes this winning approach with the entire list. On Friday, he said he was more comfortable with a 10-man rotation, seeing No.11 as an X-factor, which will be used depending on the style of play, clashes or the specific time. Maybe Bickerstaff needs to change momentum or maybe possession requires a defensive save. This might dictate how deep it goes and who gets that last call.
Either way, with so many returning players from last year’s squad, decisions have to be made.
As for the starters, it seems there is an opening. Hard to see Bickerstaff walk away from twice All-Star Andre Drummond in the middle or Kevin Love next to him. They are the most talented – and the most accomplished players. Collin Sexton has just had a terrific season, capped off by a furious finish where he became one of the Eastern Conference’s most prolific scorers in recent months. There is no justification for changing its role. There is no better option at 2. The organization expects a jump to second year from youngster Darius Garland, who has been the minibubble’s top performer and has little competition for custody. head.
It leaves a place. Small before.
Osman is the incumbent. He has started all but seven games in the past two seasons. The 24-year-old swingman, entering the fourth year, averaged 11.0 points on 43.7% of the field and a career-high 38.3% over a 3-point range to go with 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists last season.
“I’m going to keep doing my thing,” Osman said. “I was talking to JB and I know he believes in me, I believe in me, so I’m going to go out there and do my best like I do every year. I’m pretty excited for this season. I have a feeling this season we’re going to do a lot of special things. We are a young team. A lot of potential, a lot of talent, and now Isaac is with us too.
Experience is Osman’s biggest advantage. Okoro, the fifth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, is a rookie. Unlike many rookies in the past, Okoro hasn’t even had the opportunity to cancel a summer league due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Windler is yet to make his official debut, deprived of the chance due to end-of-season surgery to repair a stress fracture in his lower leg – a problem that erupted ahead of training camp at the ‘last year.
“I was checking the lineup, we have a lot of young guys,” Osman said. “Especially when I heard that Isaac was 19, I was like, ‘I think I’m getting old.’ I really feel like that right now.
“We have great potential. We can do a lot of great things. As a fourth grade guy, I’ll try to bring all of my experience to the young guys. I will try to talk to them and I will help them for as long as they want me to help them. I will always be there for them.
Osman spent about five months at his home in Turkey. Typically he worked with the Turkish national team, but the restrictions meant he couldn’t play 5v5, only 1v0. Most of his drilling work centered on handling the ball and shooting. long distance. Osman also kept in touch with coaches and teammates, paying attention to every off-season move, with Tristan Thompson leaving to Okoro as his potential long-term replacement. Some of those conversations with Bickerstaff were about his role. Osman knows this is open competition.
“I really have nothing against it because I believe in myself,” Osman said. “As long as there is competition (within) a team, it will only make us better. We are going to have to keep working hard. Everyone, of course, wants to represent the Cavs in the best way. Of course me too. We’ll go there and we’ll play the best we can, and then we’ll see what happens.
Okoro’s skills are needed. The Cavs don’t have anyone else like him. He’s a tough, rugged defender with an underrated offensive toolkit.
“You just have to go out and compete every day,” Okoro said. “I mean, just because I’m No.5 doesn’t mean I should just go in and start. I know it. You have to go there and earn your place. There are people in this team who are veterans, so I’m not going to go and everything will be given to me. I’ll come here, compete and work for a place.
That’s what Okoro did in college, becoming the biggest piece on a veteran roster. He forced the coaches to play against him, becoming one of the best players in the conference.
“I feel like it’s just because of my defensive presence, aggressiveness and intensity that I brought to every practice and practice,” Okoro said. “I just felt like I was the hardest worker on this team, I was in the gym early in the morning, late at night. I just did what the coach wanted me to do, that was the main thing. Regardless of my role on the team, I went there and showed them that I can do it.
There is certainly an argument for Okoro. It starts with defense – a point of emphasis throughout the team. With Osman on the field last season, the Cavs allowed 117.2 points per 100 possessions. Okoro could help mask the gaps in Garland-Sexton’s backcourt, keeping them from exposing themselves to elite offensive guards. The rookie is also able to impact possessions without the ball. This could be useful, given the number of heavy-use starters – Drummond, Love, and Sexton.
“It’s a coach’s dream – guys who can be efficient and you don’t have to play for them,” Bickerstaff said. “Where you look up and somehow they have 12-13 points, four or five rebounds, three or four assists, and you haven’t called a game for them yet. . These are the types of guys who make their teammates better. Sometimes they go unrecognized, but they are the glue that holds the team together. And you need guys like that to be successful.
Yet young people don’t know what they don’t know. Okoro attended his first training camp training on Friday. The pre-season starts next Saturday. The opening is in less than three weeks. It’s a quick turnaround for a guy who just encountered his first snowstorm and had to run to the store for an emergency winter coat.
He didn’t have the usual three or four months after the draft to acclimatize to his new teammates and his environment. It is loaded with advice. He didn’t participate in an NBA scrum as the Cavs chose to focus more on the setup rather than the climbs and descents on Friday. He might even need instructions for Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Bickerstaff said Okoro looked good on Friday. One gamer joked on cleveland.com that Okoro is built like an ox, much bigger in person than he looked in the movie. Okoro’s maturity and basketball IQ have been impressive, with Bickerstaff crediting the youngster for his retention talent, only needing things explained once.
As Bickerstaff went through all of his options for a small forward, he pointed out how each would be a fit. He discussed the importance of putting players in a position to be successful. Would starting Okoro immediately go against that? Would it be too soon?
Windler is the other option. He’s a bullet engine, solid rebounder, and a sniper on the outside. Some in the organization felt he was intended for starting training around mid-season last season, if not for the leg injury. Windler’s shot would make opponents pay for focusing too much on Drummond, Love, or Sexton. There is a level of excitement around Windler after his appearance a few months ago.
Even though Windler has the advantage on offense, Okoro and Osman are not responsibilities. They are just effective in other ways. For Okoro, with concerns about his outside shot, it’s all about attacking downhill, finishing on the edge or facilitating, which Bickerstaff thinks is too often overlooked by the rookie. Osman is moving well without the ball and can be a transition threat. He also greatly improved his shot.
So who gets the call? Bickerstaff said the preseason will be used to experiment, but he would like to have a decision before the third or fourth exhibition game.
The simple – and equally complicated – answer is what Bickerstaff appreciates most.
“We tell the guys to make the tough decisions for us,” Bickerstaff said. “If this decision is difficult, it means that we have several players who are playing well.
“There will be guys some nights where their minutes aren’t what some would like. What do they do tomorrow when they show up for training? It will dictate. This season is going to be a funky season. I feel like everyone, at some point, is going to have their chance and just have to take advantage.
“But what we always have to keep in mind is that it’s always bigger than us as individuals. It’s about the team more than anything. We have some really good guys here so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem, but you have to be on your guard because there’s always someone out there who wants those minutes as bad as you do.
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