Cleveland Cavaliers Roster 2021 Cleveland Cavaliers Roster
22-50, 4th in East Central
While there is no clear direction in Cleveland at the moment, they do have some nice young pieces they could potentially build around for the future. Collin Sexton and Darius Garland are recent draft picks in the backcourt and have shown flashes of their potential since coming into the league. Drafting Isaac Okoro was an excellent pick for the Cavs, and the small forward role has not been filled since James left town again. While the Andre Drummond deal was an odd one, this might be his last year in Cleveland, and the same goes for Kevin Love, who is a constant trade target.
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG |   | 2 | 80 | #59 PG | 1 | 6' 1" | 190 | 21 | 1/4/99 | 4th season | Alabama |
| PG |  | 10 | 73 | #74 PG | 1 | 6' 1" | 192 | 20 | 1/26/00 | 3rd season | Vanderbilt |
| PG |  | 18 | 68 | #105 PG | 3 | 6' 3" | 200 | 30 | 9/8/90 | 9th season | Saint Mary's |
| SG |  | 21 | 72 | #58 SG | 2 | 6' 5" | 210 | 26 | 5/6/94 | 5th season | Houston |
| SG |  | 33 | 0 | 3 | 6' 5" | 185 | 23 | 1/28/97 | Rookie | Truman State | |
| SF |  | 35 | 67 | 1 | 6' 6" | 225 | 19 | 1/26/01 | Rookie | Auburn | |
| SF |  | 16 | 77 | #25 SF | 2 | 6' 7" | 230 | 25 | 4/8/95 | 5th season | |
| SF |  | 12 | 75 | #61 SF | 2 | 6' 7" | 218 | 26 | 3/22/94 | 6th season | Baylor |
| SF |  | 9 | 74 | 3 | 6' 6" | 196 | 24 | 9/22/96 | Rookie | Belmont | |
| PF |  | 0 | 85 | #38 PF | 1 | 6' 8" | 251 | 32 | 9/7/88 | 14th season | UCLA |
| PF |  | 22 | 81 | #32 PF | 2 | 6' 7" | 245 | 27 | 1/1/93 | 7th season | Wyoming |
| PF |  | 25 | 74 | #88 PF | 2 | 7' 0" | 250 | 22 | 5/5/98 | 3rd season | |
| PF |  | 27 | 72 | #93 PF | 3 | 6' 9" | 250 | 23 | 8/14/97 | 2nd season | Florida State |
| PF |  | 32 | 65 | #81 PF | 3 | 6' 9" | 228 | 24 | 11/20/96 | 3rd season | Kansas State |
| PF |  | 8 | 67 | 4 | 6' 7" | 230 | 23 | 7/9/97 | Rookie | Penn State | |
| C |  | 31 | 80 | #46 C | 1 | 6' 11" | 243 | 22 | 4/21/98 | 5th season | Texas |
2021 Top Cleveland Cavaliers Roster Questions
Can Sexton and Garland Play Together?
In a surprising move, the Cavaliers decided to take Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland with the 5th overall pick in the draft despite already having Collin Sexton (who Cleveland took with the 8th pick in last year’s draft) on the roster. Garland’s 3-point shooting potential should allow him to still be a threat off the ball when Sexton is running the offense, but the reason that Garland was so highly regarded heading into the draft is that he can be the perfect modern-day point guard. Additionally, the defense projects to be horrid when these two are on the court at the same time. Maybe there’s a potential trade here, but in the meantime it will be interesting to see how the young guards play off of each other.
Will they (can they) trade Kevin Love?
Kevin Love is currently by far the most accomplished and talented player on the roster, but how much longer will he be in Cleveland? Love’s championship experience and 3-point shooting ability is certainly attractive to teams in the title hunt, but he’s also 31 years old and is set to make $30 million per year over the next 4 years. It is very possible that a team will get desperate and pull the trigger on a Love trade, but for now Love can serve as a mentor for the rest of the young Cleveland roster.
Time to Pick Up the Pace?
Last season, the Cavs had the slowest pace in the entire NBA, but don’t expect this to last much longer. With a guard heavy roster, it would make sense for this team to take advantage of their quickness by getting out in transition more often. However, it will be interesting if new head coach Jon Beilein will actually implement this style, as his University of Michigan team last year ran the 341st slowest offense in all of college basketball. However, the NBA is much less dependent on half-court sets than at the college level, so we’ll see if Beilein can make the adjustment.
