Who The Cavs Think Their Fastest Player Is
Having a little bit of fun after the last practice before the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to be getting up and down the floor quite a bit this year. We saw glimpses of that in the team's season-opening win in Brooklyn, and we're likely to see more of it this weekend.
It begs the question: Who is the speediest player on the squad?
“I know there are some guys who'll have some pushback, but [Caris LeVert] might be the fastest guy we have from stop to start," Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said at Tuesday's practice.
"I think he gets to his highest speed more quickly than anybody on our team, so that translates [in] converting from defense to offense. But also offensively when he's making cuts and those types of things, he's able to get to full speed quick as well.”
Darius Garland sat there and rubbed his chin as he pondered his response when asked if LeVert is indeed the answer.
“Him or Isaac [Okoro],” Garland said with uncertainty. “Ah, I’mma give it to Vert though... yeah, I’mma go Vert.”
There are definitely different types of quickness. There’s end-to-end sprinting, which Okoro could have a leg up on LeVert with. And then, there’s that type of speed that Bickerstaff was referring to where you can go from 0-to-100 in the snap of a finger.
Apr 12, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) reacts with forward Isaac Okoro (35) after making a a basket against the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter at Barclays Center.
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Looking at last season’s tracking numbers via NBA.com, it looks like it may be a toss-up.
LeVert edges Okoro in average speed on offense (4.32), while Okoro has a slight advantage on average speed overall (4.11) and average speed on defense (4.22).
And when looking at the ground covered between these two, LeVert put a lot of miles on his feet too, so it seems like it's a thin gap.
It should be noted, however, that Ricky Rubio technically was the fastest player of the bunch overall (4.24) even with his smaller sample size. Garland and Dean Wade (both 4.14) were also ahead of both LeVert and Okoro in average speed.
