Answering Your Cavs Questions: Oct. 31, 2023

Welcome to Cavs Questions! In this daily mailbag, Spencer Davies will respond to fans’ curiosities surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the duration of the 2023-24 season. In order to submit yours, simply send your questions on X to @SpinDavies or via email at spindavies22@gmail.com.

On Halloween night, the Cavs will welcome in the New York Knicks for the front half of a back-to-back set vs. the New York Knicks. With revenge on their minds, but a thinned-out roster, we'll see how it turns out.

Let's get to your questions!

How can DG play opening night and magically be hit with an injury bug? And how long till he’s back? - @AdamBeau22

How serious are Jarrett Allen and [Darius] Garland's injuries? - @Gui16Fauth

Good to hear from you, Adam! Both of these questions are connected, so I’ll address them together. The Cavs are being decimated by the injury bug six games into the regular season. Nearly half of their team is dealing with some sort of setback. It’s truly astonishing.

Darius Garland appeared just fine physically in the opener against the Brooklyn Nets, and he produced well for Cleveland in the victory. But J.B. Bickerstaff and the Cavs coaches noticed something was off during the game. Though he could accelerate and get to his top speed, Garland was grimacing when he changed directions and slowed down his pace. Because he is so herky-jerky with his play-style, the Cavs want to make sure that Garland is not going to reaggravate the left hamstring strain and make matters worse than they already are.

Jarrett Allen appears as if he’s close to a return. He’s been ramping up his conditioning and has constantly been doing pregame workouts and post-practice drills with Cavs coaches. It’ll be relatively standard to reincorporate him into things once he’s healthy.

The problem of getting both Allen and Garland back up to speed has been lack of practice time with the NBA scheduling three games in four nights from the jump. By Wednesday, they’ll have had two back-to-backs as well. Practice plays a pivotal role in allowing hurt players to recondition and restrengthen. It’s more about that than the seriousness of the setbacks themselves, in my opinion.

J.B. needs to lengthen his rotation to 11 like he lied and said. Tristan [Thompson] should be getting rotation minutes and [Sam] Merrill. We need points and aggression. It seems like there are no easy shots. Clean that up please. We have an incredibly talented team. - @markkli64963735

So I hear you on that, but it’s hard for Bickerstaff to go that deep in his rotation with the amount of injuries plaguing the team. In addition to Garland and Allen, the Cavs don’t have Ty Jerome, their backup point guard. Ricky Rubio is still away from the team dealing with personal matters. Even Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert aren’t 100 percent, and the calendar is just now flipping to November. You’ll get your wish with Tristan Thompson and Sam Merrill getting on the floor just by default. Two-way contract rookies Emoni Bates and Craig Porter Jr. will likely see another chunk of floor time as well.

A lot of the offensive load right now will fall on the shoulders of Evan Mobley and Max Strus, who showed an incredible two-man game on Saturday night against Indiana. It’d be ideal if Mitchell and LeVert could both go too. Honestly, the team just needs to get freaking healthy — and yes, it’s probably frustrating for fans to be having this conversation this early in the season.

Are the Cavs gonna rest players so they're ready for the upcoming In-Season Tournament? - @WesOnDeck1

While they’re certainly going to do their damndest to win the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, I do not see the Cavs making strategic choices around who they play based on that. They’re going to make decisions around the big picture of the team so it’s at its strongest when the stakes are the highest. These current injuries are legitimate, and Bickerstaff and Co. do not want to play the nagging seesaw game between guys playing and being on the injury report.