Rookie Report
Cavaliers Youngbloods Come Out Strong After the Break
by Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG)
3/3/20 | Cavs.com
Cavaliers fans had to wait patiently through two Summer League stints. Dylan Windler was very impressive, but his two fellow first rounders were forced to take in the action from the sidelines.
It’s unfortunately been just the opposite during the regular season. Windler still does limited work with the squad, but his real rookie season on the hardwood will begin in October due to a left leg injury. Still, he’s been there to support his young classmates every step of the way.
Those youngsters have each posted stellar first seasons with Cleveland. Darius Garland has exhibited the shooting stroke that wowed the Cavs Brass during his stories pre-Draft workout. Kevin Porter Jr. has shown exactly why his fellow freshman voted him to be the steal from this past June’s Draft.
As the season hits the homestretch, let’s look at how the Wine & Gold’s youngbloods are progressing in this week’s Rookie Report …
Both Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. -- the respective No. 5 and No. 30 overall picks this past June -- are averaging double-figure scoring.
Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images
1. With a backcourt that’s collectively barely out of its teens, you’d think the Cavaliers were one of the youngest teams in the NBA. But they actually came into the season as just the 13th youngest squad (and the midseason trade didn’t offset the number that much).
But just to show how young the NBA has gone, the Cavs average was/is 25.53 years of age, just between Oklahoma City and Atlanta. The youngest team in the league is Phoenix (24.49) and the league average is 26.18.
Kevin Porter Jr. (May 4, 2000) is the 9th-youngest player in the league and Darius Garland (January 26, 2000) is the 12th-youngest. Overall, the youngest player in the league is Detroit’s Sekou Doumbouya, born on December 23, 2000. The oldest is the legendary Vince Carter – born 23 years to the day before Garland.
2. Both Cavalier rooks went 5-of-13 from the floor in Saturday’s tough defeat to the veteran Pacers. Garland finished with 10 points and five assists; Porter, with 14 points, three assists and a pair of blocks. But they still got the attention of Pacers coach Nate McMillan.
They’re very aggressive,” said McMillan. “Those guards are in attack mode every second they’re on the floor, play with a lot of energy. They’ve been good all year, but even more aggressively lately. They are attacking when they’re out there.”
3. Neither Cavaliers rookie has dramatically hit the dreaded wall, but Darius Garland was forced to sit out Monday’s matchup vs. Utah with a groin issue.
Still, for the kid who played just five collegiate ballgames, it was just his second miss of the season. And he still ranks second among his incoming Draft class in minutes – at 30.9 minutes per – second only to Atlanta’s DeAndre Hunter at 31.8. (Kevin Porter Jr. ranks 11th at 31.8).
Here’s where the Cavaliers freshman rank among their 2019 classmates 61 games into their freshman season – with the leader in parentheses.
Scoring – Garland, 7th, 12.3ppg | Porter, 10th, 10.1ppg (Williamson, NOP, 24.1)
Rebounding – Porter, 14th, 3.3rpg (Clarke, MEM, 5.8)
Assists – Garland, 2nd, 3.9apg (Morant, MEM, 7.0)
3pt FG Percentage – Garland, 5th, .355 (Johnson, PHX, .398)
Field Goal Percentage – Garland, 6th, .401 (Clarke, MEM, .623)
Steals – Porter, 4th, 0.94spg | Garland, 11th, 0.71 (Thybulle, PHI, 1.42)
Minutes – Garland, 2nd, 30.9mpg | Porter, 11th, 23.5 (Hunter, ATL, 31.8)
4. Darius Garland has been the model of consistency this year.
He’s the only rookie this year to accumulate at least 700 points, 225 assists and 100 three-pointers. He’s hit at least one triple in 49 games this year – good for 2nd best mark among rookies – and has 36 games with at least two trifectas – tied for tops in his class.
He needs 15 threes over the last 21 games to break the Cavaliers rookie record of 119 – set by Collin Sexton one season ago.
”The game is starting to slow down for me and I’m just trying to make the right reads off pick-and-rolls and get my teammates involved,” said the 20-year-old from Vandy. “My teammates and coaches believed in me. They just kept encouraging me to keep going and I stayed in the gym and kept at it.”
5. Garland has had some solid performances this year, but Kevin Porter Jr. has been the highlight maker – going off for a career-high 30 points just eight days ago against Miami and a six three-pointer outing in December, not to mention his high-flying dunks.
Against the Heat, the lefty from Seattle went 9-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep and 8-of-10 from the stripe to go with eight boards, three assists and a career-high-tying three steals in 41 minutes off the bench.
He became just the third Cavaliers rookie – along with LeBron James (twice) and Ron Harper – to put up those numbers and the first rookie since Jordan McCrae exploded for 36 points in the 2016 season finale to top the 30-point plateau.
After the game, Porter described his big effort – scoring 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
”Keep going, don’t stop and just find energy, because (my teammates) knew I was getting a little tired out there,” said Porter. “They knew my body was getting a little crampy. But I just fed off their energy. They gave me motivation to keep going and that’s all they were saying the whole fourth, the whole OT – just keep your foot on the gas, keep going, keep going.”