Cavs training-camp primer: How Donovan Mitchell elevates the Cavs at shooting guard

Publish date: 2024-06-07

J.B. Bickerstaff and the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching staff had a plan.

At their annual coaches’ retreat at the Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania, the team developed a strategy for the upcoming season and worked through potential lineups and rotations. But those plans shifted on the first day of September when the Cavaliers acquired three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz.

Cleveland now boasts one of the league’s best young backcourt duos in Mitchell and fellow All-Star Darius Garland. Mitchell’s caliber as a scorer raises the Cavs’ ceiling.

“The high level that he can do it every single night,” Bickerstaff told The Athletic. “Like you don’t put up the numbers that he’s put up and not be there every single night and then how that translates to winning. I mean, he’s been in the playoffs every single year that he’s played; his numbers increase in the playoffs. Like that’s not an easy thing to do. And I think that’s what you need to be consistent in this league, and especially one of the elite players.”

Mitchell brings experience to the Cavs’ backcourt and young core. In his five seasons in Utah, Mitchell honed in on developing his leadership skills and learned how to be vocal. Now in Cleveland, 26-year-old Mitchell is one of the older guys in a projected starting unit that consists of guys like Garland (22), Evan Mobley (21) and Jarrett Allen (24).

Mitchell previously shared the ball in Utah’s backcourt with Mike Conley. In 148 career games with Conley, Mitchell averaged 25.2 points, 4.7 assists and 4.4 rebounds, per Statmuse. Mitchell will look to provide that same scoring punch, create offense off the dribble and play off-ball in his new role in Cleveland.

“For me, being able to use my scoring and find my ways to create plays and get guys open shots and then let Darius do what he does, Caris (LeVert) do what he does, and be able to be a decoy as well over there in the corner and let them get open lanes, and Ev and JA finding the roll man,” Mitchell said Wednesday.

While Mitchell was welcomed to Cleveland with open arms, Bickerstaff admitted the news caught him somewhat by surprise.

“It was kind of a curveball when it happened … but we’ll make it work,” he said with a smile on his face.

The move not only uprooted the three-big lineup and raised questions at small forward, but it also altered the shooting guard position.

Now the Cavs’ main options at shooting guard are Mitchell, LeVert and Isaac Okoro. Mitchell will start next to Garland in the backcourt, while LeVert and Okoro serve as backup options. Because Bickerstaff doesn’t stick to position numbers, Okoro and LeVert may also be used at small forward as a wing.

“As a coaching staff, we sit back, and we have all these grand ideas, and it just goes to another level when you think about the dynamic offense that we can put on the floor and the threats that we have,” Bickerstaff said.

Bickerstaff also explained how the Cavs can use different combinations in their backcourt. Their goal is to put the best five-man units out on the floor on a nightly basis.

“You can go out every single night and you can find the weak link on the defensive end of the floor and defenses, most of them, don’t have enough strong defenders that they can just put one guy on each of these guys,” Bickerstaff said. “We can go out and manipulate the game.”

Before the trade for Mitchell, LeVert would have been in the conversation to start at the two, using the lineup that Cleveland started against the Atlanta Hawks in the Play-In Tournament. Now, that’s changed.

After the trials and tribulations LeVert faced once he was traded to Cleveland – dealing with a foot injury and trying to grow comfortable in changing lineups as the Cavs attempted to make a late-season playoff push– this season is an important one for LeVert, who is in the final year of his contract.

LeVert will have a different role on this team, and training camp will be an opportunity to define it. He could come off the bench as a backup option at the two, either playing alongside Garland or backup point guard Ricky Rubio or Raul Neto. Bickerstaff also believes Mitchell and LeVert could take the floor alongside one another.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Bickerstaff told The Athletic. “They’re both two dynamic players. Both of them not only can create for themselves, but they can create for other people. Both of them will put a ton of pressure on defenses. They can play as a secondary option, so there’s no doubt about it they can play together.”

One of the biggest concerns about Mitchell is his defense. Last season, the Jazz gave up 105.2 points per 100 possessions with Mitchell on the bench and 111.7 points with him on the floor, per NBA Stats. The Cavs prided themselves on their defensive approach and built an overall team identity on that end of the floor. After finishing 25th in defense during the 2020-21 season, the Cavs improved last season with the fifth-best defensive rating in the league.

Mitchell recognizes that he has room to grow on defense, and he believes he can use his length and athletic ability to keep guys in front of him.

“We worked on a little bit of it today, and you got two 7-footers rotating and scrambling with you, it’s kind of like pick your poison,” Mitchell said Wednesday. “But being able to guard and being on the ball and I definitely have to improve on that, but I think we’ve got a talented group that wants to work out and we’re only going to get better at it. And J.B. is going to hold us accountable for that. But when you have a group that’s fit for defense, that’s what’s first, and everything else comes after that. And for us, we have talented ground, and I’ll just look to add to that.”

The Cavs will use team practices and training camp to sort through the details. After a one-year experiment with three 7-footers, Bickerstaff and his coaching staff will look to gain insight into how Mitchell fits and how he can help elevate this franchise and others around him.

“When the opportunity presented itself, absolutely Donovan takes us to another level,” president of basketball operations Koby Altman said on Wednesday. “It makes Caris more dangerous, it makes Darius more dangerous. It helps Evan. I can’t wait to see what that looks like. It gives us an entirely different dynamic.”

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Cavs training-camp primer: How Donovan Mitchell elevates the Cavs at shooting guard

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