You asked, you got.
Darius Garland was urged to transform his body. Finally healthy and oozing with confidence, Garland worked on tightening his handle and hoisted thousands of shots -- off the dribble and catch.
Sexton bulked up for the second straight offseason. Kevin Porter Jr. slightly tweaked his shooting motion, working on a higher follow through while keeping his elbow raised. Larry Nance Jr. tuned different aspects of his game in preparation for logging more minutes at small forward in a supersized grouping.
“I’m very accustomed to rolling to the basket. Very accustomed to, in a sense, moving like a big,” Nance said. "There’s an entirely different skill set that is required at the three, not even with the ball. It’s footwork, coming off a screen, footwork going to set a screen, learning how to really slip instead of actually setting a screen. Chasing guys off screens.
"I’m going to have to do a whole lot of chasing -- the Duncan Robinsons, even the Jayson Tatums, Jaylen Browns, I gotta be ready for all that. It’s just a lot of footwork stuff, a lot of change in my body.
“Hopefully I’m not playing the five anymore. And, whether I do all that stuff, make my feet quicker or do the footwork ladder, that can only help me as the four as well. So, I feel like instead of being a four-five, being a four-three would be, I think, more beneficial to us as a team and me as an individual. I lost a little bit of weight, changed the way I move, changed the way I eat and stuff like that. I feel confident at the four obviously. Coming into this year, hopefully I’ll feel confident at the three. And look, if we need me to finish a game at five, I’ll do it.”
One source singled out a healthy Dante Exum as a surprise. Dean Wade, sources say, shot the ball great. Camp invite Marques Bolden was labeled “intriguing.” Bell showed traits -- athleticism, switchability, shot-blocking -- the Cavs lacked. He should slot into one of the likely-vacated backup big roles.
Still, the bubble was mostly about the youngsters. Garland. Sexton. Porter. Dylan Windler. After all, they’ve got the most room for tangible growth. When asked to pinpoint a standout, Bickerstaff balked. He said it was “unfair” to pick just one.
Even though Bickerstaff wouldn’t go there, Garland was the name that popped up most frequently.
“DG is looking like a very dynamic point guard,” a Cavs assistant told cleveland.com. “He seems to have a lot of confidence right now. His future looks great.”
On Tuesday, during the team’s penultimate practice, Garland crossed over his defender and finished at the rim, over Bolden, through contact, for an and-1. It was the kind of play Garland didn’t often make last season.
“It’s practice and it’s against us. He has to evolve into the season. But what we saw in his time at Vanderbilt and flashes during his rookie year is a talent and skill level that gets you really excited,” a source said. “The consistency of his week was remarkable. For him, he just felt good. He got his mojo back....
“The speed is there, the shiftiness is there, the ability to finish in traffic, make shots, make the right plays, there’s a different Darius Garland in the building right now,” Bickerstaff said.
Sexton flew past defenders and often talked with coaches about wanting to make the proper reads. Nothing about his performance was a surprise. He buried outside shots with efficiency, showing the elite scoring punch that had him looking like one of the East’s top players prior to the pandemic.
“Collin’s our cultural leader. He’s our leader on the floor and our hardest worker,” Altman said. “It’s really hard to compare him with other guards as that physique, that just speaks to his work ethic. It’s all him.
"That’s why I really wanted to see him in the bubble down in Orlando because we like to joke: He’s the human bubble. He’s going home, watching basketball and he’s coming to the court and playing basketball. That’s what he does. That’s what he lives. And he’s about it. Some people say they’re all about basketball, but he’s all about basketball.”
Sexton added at least 10 pounds of muscle by altering his diet and watching portion sizes. The combo guard believes it will make him faster and more explosive at both ends of the floor. With eyes on the playoffs, it could also help him hold up against bigger guards while sharing the non-traditional backcourt with Garland.
“It’s not something where it’s going to slow him down or anything like that,” Bickerstaff said of Sexton. “He was 19 years old when he first got here, so you’re going to put on some size naturally. And I think he’s figured out a way to put it on in a productive way where he can still beat you off the bounce. Now, he can put a shoulder on you and create a little bit of space and finish.
"Defensively he can get into you, be a little more physical, and take a little bit more than contact because of the added size and muscle. I think it’s been beneficial for him.”
The Cavs have big plans for Porter, the prized piece of their young core, the one who can change the trajectory of this rebuild.
During various points in the scrimmages, the Cavs had Porter handling the ball and initiating offense, something that’s going to be a bigger part of his game in Year 2. They want him attacking the paint, finishing with athleticism or spraying out to shooters. Porter is going to run off more screens -- pindowns, Iverson cuts, step-up ball screens, top-of-the-floor ball screens, flat ball screens. The Cavs may even try him in the post. [I'll believe Porter at the 5 when I see it].
It’s a brief sample size, but Bickerstaff specifically pointed to Porter’s evolution on defense, showing a propensity for being in the right spot and stepping up as a reliable team defender.
“I mean, he has so much to his game that we can explore,” Altman said. “We’re just excited to bring that growth to light. He’s our youngest player, too -- he just turned 20. The sky’s the limit for him, but we have to keep him on a good routine and continue that growth.”
Windler, who missed his entire rookie season following surgery on his lower left leg, made it through each scrimmage. After the final day, he wasn’t talking about any pain in his leg or needing time off to recover. He wanted to keep working.
“He sort of was sort of like, ‘Man, I needed to be better.’ And we were all like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, you were really good and you haven’t played in a very long time,’” a source said. “He just has high expectations of himself and he’s still knocking off the rust. You see the way he moves, the way he plays with other players, the way he makes the game easier for everybody, the shooting, the passing, size, he’s exciting. It’s been good to be able to say, ‘OK, this kid really has a chance.’”
There were intense scrimmages and countless feel-good moments -- Love full-court outlets, snappy ball movement that led to open 3-pointers, Sexton ripping Exum on the defensive end before the play finished with a Garland-Porter breakaway lob off the backboard, Garland’s many smooth finishes at the rim, Nance dunks, team dinners, group outings and plenty of laughter.
“I felt like a kid in summer camp when you have to go home on Friday," a source said. “After a great week you’re like, ‘I don’t want to go. I want to stay here longer.’ That’s how it was.”
That's how it was. I left out all the team bonding content but it was pretty funny. After Sexton demonstrated his drive on the golf course there was this comment...
“Of all the sports Collin could easily play, golf is not one of them,” one player texted the next morning with a laughing emoji.
www.cleveland.com
