Getty Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland
The Cleveland Cavaliers started their 2019 NBA Summer League play, but did so without rookie guard Darius Garland. The former Vanderbilt University guard suffered a torn meniscus during his lone collegiate season, and his status for the preseason tournament was up in the air prior to the action getting underway.
But as The Athletic’s Joe Vardon previously reported, Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman said Garland is unlikely to take part in summer league this year. Although it’s disappointing for the fans who’ll be in attendance in Las Vegas, it doesn’t appear as though the injury is going to be anything that will hold him out for the start of the 2019-20 regular season.
As Chris Manning of SB Nation’s Fear The Sword reported in late-June, Garland’s high school coach stated that the guard is “100 percent” but the plan is to avoid rushing him back into action. While it would obviously be good to see Garland play in summer league, there’s no reason to put him back on the floor before the upcoming season.
With that said, we’re going to take a look at the Cavaliers roster and starting lineup for summer league play, as there are quite a few other names worth watching.
Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League Roster & Starting Lineup
*Notates expected starter with rosters courtesy of ESPN.
- *Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, guard
- *Marques Bolden, center
- *Naz Mitrou-Long, guard
- *Dean Wade, forward
- *Dylan Windler, forward
- Jaron Blossomgame, forward
- Phil Booth, guard
- Sandy Cohen III, guard
- Darius Garland, guard (not expected to play)
- Jalen Hudson, forward
- Anthony Lawrence II, forward
- Malik Newman, guard
- Dylan Osetkowski, center
- Kevin Porter Jr., forward
- JaCorey Williams, forward
- Yovel Zoosman, guard
While the starting lineup listed above is from the summer league opener, many coaches opt to rotate their starters in order to get a good look at each player.
The Cavaliers fell in their opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves 85-75 but received solid production from a few noteworthy players. One name that stood out was 2019 NBA Draft pick and former Belmont standout Dylan Winder, who scored 15 points on 6-13 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists.
Naz Mitrou-Long also had a strong showing by scoring 14 points with six rebounds and six assists in a well-rounded stat line. Both Windler and Mitrou-Long played well but struggled to get their shot to fall from beyond the arc, combining to go 2-10 from 3-point range in the loss.
Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League Schedule
*Schedule courtesy of NBA.com.
- Friday, July 5 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves at 5:00 p.m. ET
- Sunday, July 7: vs. Chicago Bulls at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Monday, July 8: vs. Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Wednesday, July 10: vs. New Orleans Pelicans at 7:30 p.m. ET
When the opening round of the summer league wraps up, teams will then continue playing in a single-elimination tournament. This begins on Friday, July 12, with games held each day until the championship on Monday, July 15.
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