Will Cavaliers Offense Change When Darius Garland, Evan Mobley Are Healthy?

The Cleveland Cavaliers' three-point identity will continue when Darius Garland and Evan Mobley return.

The evolution that the Cleveland Cavaliers' offense has gone through since Darius Garland and Evan Mobley were sidelined with injury has been talked about a lot over the last few weeks. They're taking more threes than ever and it's led to a seven-game winning streak. 

DG and Mobley are inching closer to their return which has sparked a valid question, will the Cavs change their offense again? Will they still be a heavy three-point shooting team?

Nov 30, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) and guard Darius Garland (10) wait to enter the game in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / © David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

J.B. Bickerstaff admitted that he doesn't expect this new playstyle to change when the two come back. He said that, "Obviously when Evan and Darius come back, it's going to be a little bit of an adjustment period, minutes, rotations, all of those things we expect, but we don't expect this to have to change."

Bickerstaff was also asked if this new identity could carry over to when Garland and Mobley come back after the Cavs defeated the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night and this is what he had to say. 

"Yeah, I believe so. But again, it's all about sharing the game and we find the proper spacing and we want to take the best shots that we possibly can. We obviously understand that you want to get as many layups as you possibly can, but with our personnel that's there now, like, they can stretch the floor and have quick triggers and no conscience. So, we want to do a good job of taking advantage of that."

The key takeaway here is that the Cavs have a brand of basketball that they want to play and they have the players to do so. A team should always adapt and evolve as the year goes on so it's always possible that the Cavs could slightly change their approach as the season progresses, but the style Cleveland is playing now is the type of team they want to be.