Tag Archives: Lamar Stevens

Lamar Stevens’ option picked up by Cavs

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are picking up the nearly $2 million team option on 25-year old forward Lamar Stevens for the 2023-24 season according to reports.

Stevens appeared in 62 games last year for the Cavs, averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 18.1 minutes.

The Cavaliers do have some issues at the small forward position and keeping the 6’6″ Lamar Stevens in the fold could be part of a multi-player solution. Barring any sort of major trade, there really are not many avenues for the Cavs to go down to plug the most glaring hole on their roster. Going with a small forward by committee approach gives them a few options to try on a game-by-game basis, but this not necessarily an ideal path to go down.

Perhaps Lamar Stevens can take on a bigger role next season and run with it. Cleveland has a few underwhelming options in Isaac Okoro and Cedi Osman who do not appear to be going anywhere any time soon. One of these three need to do something notable or the Cavs may look for external options to solidify their current roster.

Cavs intend to bring back Osman and Stevens

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The Cavs have no intention of letting Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens go elsewhere as the team wants to bring both players back according to a report from Sam Amico of Hoops Wire. Amico originally wrote columns about Osman and Stevens and their future in Cleveland, with this report about the Cavaliers intentions coming after.

“Since writing each column, I’ve heard that the Cavs intend to bring both players back, if for no other reason than their team-friendly contracts. If the Cavs can’t shore up the small forward spot, expect them to look at some cheap options to add to the backcourt or bigs. Perhaps Timberwolves center Naz Reid, an unrestricted free agent, would be a fit.”

The key phrase is team-friendly contracts. Besides that aspect, there really is not really a whole to be excited about here. Osman is a very frustrating player as his cold and hot streaks seemingly run at a five-to-one ratio who often has been a detriment to the Cavs coming off the bench. While the times he is actually beneficial are exciting, they do not happen nearly enough. Stevens is another bench player who has seen playing time increase since coming to Cleveland. It just seems like the overall better path forward overall is to pick one or the other, not both.

Perhaps being lost in the shuffle here is the future of Isaac Okoro. Ideally Okoro as a bench defensive specialist option would be his best role. The harsh reality about Okoro is that his shooting is simply not there, and while only 22, a meaningful step forward would have been nice to see at some point and it just has not happened. The Cavs exercised their option on Okoro for next season before he becomes a restricted free agent.

What it all comes down to is that the Cavs need to find a real solution to their starting small forward position to go along with the rest of their starters. The Cavs can get away with Okoro in that role due to the likes of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley, but just because they can does not mean they should. Cleveland needs to clear out the logjam one way or the other if they want to have a deeper run in the postseason run next season.

Cavaliers banged up in win over Magic

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The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Orlando Magic 107-101 Monday, but had to fight through what has become a common theme this season, injuries. Evan Mobley, Lauri Markkanen, and Lamar Stevens all dealt with injuries in the contest. Markkanen would return after his injury with Stevens playing through his. The big news was Mobley not returning after suffering an ankle sprain.

Even though this seems to be another doom and gloom injury scenario there is some good news. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the x-rays on Mobley’s ankle came back negative.

The Cavaliers being able to have Mobley back as the season winds down and the postseason begins makes a huge difference for just how far they can go.

Cavaliers silence Jazz in 111-91 win

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The Cleveland Cavaliers traveled to Utah and took down the shorthanded Jazz with a dominant 111-91 win.

Wednesday’s win over the Utah Jazz can be described with one word, dominance. The Cleveland Cavaliers made a visit to Utah and took advantage of a Jazz team that did not have a single big man of relevance. Utah was forced to go small against a Cavs team that resulted in the basketball version of Dwight and Angela agreeing that “Jazz is stupid”. While not their first choice, Utah’s roster construction was no match for the vaunted Tower City lineup.

Leading the Cavaliers in scoring was Lamar Stevens. Stevens scored what appeared to be an easy 23 points on 10-15 from the field while also accumulating seven rebounds, two steals, and one assist. When perusing the lineup of players that could have led the Cavs in scoring, Stevens would most likely be one of the last names picked if not the last.

Stevens was not alone as Darius Garland registered just the second non-LeBron James triple-double since 2003. Garland’s 11 points, 15 assists (career-high), and 10 rebounds joins Kyrie Irving’s performance which was also in a 20-point win over the Jazz. Luckily for Garland his shooting prowess was not needed as his teammates were able to pick up his 3-11 (1-8 3PT) shooting night.

The Cavaliers are currently 3-1 on their west coast road trip with just two games left to play. Visits to San Antonio and Oklahoma City are still on the docket before returning home to take on Brooklyn January 17th.

Cavaliers lose to Warriors 96-82

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The Cleveland Cavaliers were outplayed in the second half during their 96-82 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

This was a game that the Cleveland Cavaliers never had a chance of winning. The fact that Klay Thompson was playing his first game in two seasons already had the cosmos lined up for a Cavs loss, it was just how much Golden State would win by. While the final score only shows a differential of just 14 points, the Warriors absolutely dominated the Cavaliers in the second half. Cleveland trailed by 24 points late in the 3rd quarter and trailed by double-digits for the entirety of the 4th. The Cavs did cut into the margin, but the points were not impactful in grand scheme of things as the game was never really close over the final two quarters.

Cosmos aside, this game was certainly a case that showed a true contender (Warriors) and a team that still has a long ways to go (Cavaliers). Darius Garland’s nine points on 3-12 shooting is certainly not going to get it done in matchups like this, neither is Kevin Love’s 1-7 effort restyling in just two points. Evan Mobley was 5-12 with 11 points, but that is part of the ups and downs that comes with rookies.

The two most surprising performances Sunday night came from Lamar Stevens and Rajon Rondo. Stevens led the Cavaliers in points with 17 points on 8-11 from the field while Rondo scored 15 off the bench in 29 minutes. Rondo made all three attempts from deep and six of 10 overall.

The final result in this game is nothing to dwell on considering how much better Golden State is than Cleveland. It is key for the Cavs to put this loss behind them and regroup for their next game in Sacramento Monday night.

 

Cavaliers guarantee contracts of Wade, Stevens

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have guaranteed the contracts for the rest of the season for the two forwards.

The contracts of Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens have been guaranteed by the Cleveland Cavaliers for the rest of the season. Both players will remain with the team.

Cleveland keeping both Wade and Stevens is hardly surprising as they combine to average 31.3 minutes per game between the two of them. Additionally, the Cavaliers have been hit with the injury bug and have dealt with COVID realted issues throughout the season, keeping these two on the roster at least preserves some consistency across the roster.

Wade is averaging 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 28 games (16 starts) while Stevens has 3.8 points and 2 rebounds in 24.

The Cavaliers begin a six-game road trip in Portland Friday night.

Cavaliers now have seven in COVID protocols

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have five more players who have entered COVID-19 protocols, making seven total players with that designation.

In addition to having Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley enter COVID-19 protocols, five more Cleveland Cavaliers have been added to the list. Jarrett Allen, Lamar Stevens, Dylan Windler, Denzel Valentine, and RJ Nembhard are the latest Cavs to be placed on the list.

This recent development was a factor which resulted in their game against the Atlanta Hawks was canceled. Multiple other games were canceled on Sunday after COVID outbreaks that have occurred across the league, Two recent opponents of the Cavaliers have dealt with growing COVID situations (Chicago, Sacramento), resulting in players being placed in protocols.

 

Cavaliers to be shorthanded again vs Warriors

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without some key players when they take on the Golden State Warriors at home Thursday.

Wednesday night saw a shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers squad fall to the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Now the Cavs return home to face the Golden State Warriors and again they will be down a few players.

Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley, and Collin Sexton will again not be in the starting lineup for Cleveland. Lamar Stevens will also miss Thursday’s contest against Golden State.

Even at full strength the Cavaliers would have a tough time against a resurgent Warriors squad. Now that they are missing several important players it will only make things that much more difficult to be competitive, much less win.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 P.M. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Injuries piling up for the Cavaliers

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Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers are exceeding expectations early on in the year, a growing injury list could derail their success.

At 9-6 the Cleveland Cavaliers have far exceed anyone’s realistic expectations for this team. A team that has struggled to find an identity over the past few seasons combined with a roster that does not appear to be constructed properly has outperformed the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic fan thus far. Unfortunately the Cavs are seeing more players end up on the injury report and that could result in a change in fortune.

The Cavaliers will be without Evan Mobley, Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Lamar Stevens, and Jarrett Allen Wednesday night in Brooklyn. Kevin Love is provable to return, but that is not guaranteed.

The biggest loss for the Cavs is obviously Mobley. Mobley is the clear Rookie of the Year frontrunner and losing such a dynamic unique player is huge, even without missing everyone else.

Cleveland has mostly won this season due to a sum of their parts and not necessarily one player in particular. As more players are removed from the equation in addition to a schedule which has them facing Brooklyn twice, Golden State, and Phoenix in the next seven days, things could change really quick for the Cavaliers if players do not start returning sooner rather than later.

Cavs sign Lamar Stevens to multi-year deal

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The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to a multi-year deal with the rookie forward.

Apparently the Cleveland Cavaliers have seen enough from rookie Lamar Stevens to keep him in town for a little bit longer. The Cavs agreed to a multi-year deal with Stevens on Wednesday. It is a non-guaranteed deal for three years with a team option for a fourth according to reports.

Lamar Stevens has appeared in 37 games for the Cavs this season. Stevens is averaging 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game off the bench. Cleveland is in the business of identifying young players to keep on the roster and Stevens looks like he could be a contributor off the bench.