Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers knew they needed more guard play after Ricky Rubio suffered a season-ending ACL tear last year and tried to fill that void by trading for Caris LeVert. So far, the new marriage has been a little rocky, and Caris’s scoring prowess has failed to provide the offensive creation that the Cavs need.
Darius Garland was already shouldering a significant playmaking burden last season, and unless Cleveland plans on holding onto Collin Sexton, they’ll need to identify another ballhandler this offseason. With the 14th-overall pick, they’ll probably miss out on the chance to acquire Dyson Daniels in the draft, but if the opportunity falls into their laps, they shouldn’t hesitate to select the Australian orchestrator.
Aside from playmaking, another hole in Cleveland’s roster last season was wing depth. There’s a reason they were so adamant about starting Lauri Markkanen as an oversized small forward: they had no other choice!
Daniels would be a brilliant connector in the Cavs’ starting lineup or would be an admirable backup floor general on their reserve unit. Dyson’s ability to run an offense would take pressure off of Garland and would allow him to get more off-ball reps.
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Daniels projects to be a versatile stopper on the wings from day one and should only improve a devastating defense from last season. The lack of spacing would be a concern between him, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, but if Dyson’s jumper from the end of his 2021-2022 regular season and draft workouts holds up, he should be enough of a shooting threat to keep defenses honest at the least.