National Basketball Association

DeAndre Liggins Is The Point Guard Insurance The Cleveland Cavaliers Need

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Mar 5, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) and Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

DeAndre Liggins signed a two-year deal with the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers and if he makes it through training camp, the Cavaliers may have their backup point guard.

DeAndre Liggins is a late-bloomer that may finally have found a team to stick with. With the Cleveland Cavaliers in need of a point guard, Liggins’ abilities to see the court and make the accurate pass give him the opportunity to be Kyrie Irving‘s backup.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired a couple of nice pieces in forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. and point guard Kay Felder. However, with the departure of backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova and the questionable return of point guard Mo Williams, the Cavaliers may only have one point guard on the roster that played for the team last year.

As a player that’s unable to consistently penetrate into the lane and is only average as a ball-handler and facilitator, Iman Shumpert isn’t a feasible option to be the backup point guard. The Cleveland Cavaliers only alternatives are to play Jordan McRae at point guard and throw Felder into the fire. Neither will deliver. McRae isn’t a facilitator and Felder has to earn his role as an undersized rookie playing for a Finals contender.

The team recently signed former Brooklyn Nets point guard Markel Brown to a training camp deal. However, the Cavaliers had the solved their issues at the point guard position already, with the signing of guard DeAndre Liggins.

The Point Guard Depth

Kyrie Irving

Irving is the superstar point guard who will score plenty of points this season while starting alongside LeBron James and Kevin Love. Though he’s not a special player defensively, he’s trying to maximize his potential as an all-around point guard. He’s still a shoot-first player though.

Jordan McRae

McRae is being given a shot to play backup point guard. Nonetheless, he’s is a natural shooting guard. While being versatile enough to play every position on the perimeter but with his tunnel vision is best suited on the wing rather than being the lead guard.

Mo Williams

Williams is a veteran point guard who can still get buckets and rack up assists easily. With Williams, there really are only two problems: he’s lost a step and he knows it. Williams isn’t expected to return this season as he mulls retirement.

Kay Felder

Felder is an insanely talented, but undersized point guard. Point guards like Nate Robinson, Isaiah Thomas and Jameer Nelson are similar to Felder offensively and physically. Nonetheless, the potential for opponents to take advantage of the rookie’s defense make it hard for the team to give him a regular role.

Iman Shumpert

Shumpert has experience playing point guard in his NBA career, but lacks the ball-handling ability to gain consistent separation from his defender and penetrate into the lane to create for others. Shumpert’s athleticism will allow him to cover nearly any point guard.

Markel Brown

Brown isn’t a traditional point guard and plays that position in the NBA because he’s undersized for the shooting guard position. The athletic guard isn’t a true, pass-first point guard, but is capable of being the team’s primary facilitator.

DeAndre Liggins

Liggins is a versatile player on the perimeter who is capable of being the primary facilitator. A natural at point guard, Liggins has the ball-handling, court awareness, instinctual passing to be Irving’s backup. He’d be the best defender of the group as well.

The Pros Of Liggins As Backup

Liggins, who turned 28 in March, played against Derrick Rose in high school, and against Eric Bledsoe and John Wall in practice at the University of Kentucky. This is to say, the first benefit of having the athletic Liggins as the backup point guard is that he, unlike any other guard on the roster besides Shumpert, has the ability to stick with the quick and athletic point guards that dominate the league today.

Irving, while improving as a defender, doesn’t have the athletic profile to prevent him from getting consistently blown by a player like Russell Westbrook, Liggins does. In addition, with his 6-foot-6 height and 7-foot wingspan, Liggins has extensive versatility when he switches. Irving (6-foot-3), Williams (6-foot-1) and Felder (5-foot-9) can’t say the same.

Secondly, Liggins is a better facilitator than even Irving. Showing an instinctive use of speed, Liggins pushes the pace in order to work a teammate open. Liggins is an impressive manipulator of the defense and has no issue whipping passes around the court to the open man.

Showing a high level of awareness, Liggins seemingly racks up assists with ease as he knows exactly when and where his teammates are and are going, as well as how the defense will react in these situations. Liggins’ timing and touch allow him to make pinpoint passes that the Cleveland Cavaliers have only seen LeBron James make for the team.

Liggins has developed a consistent three-point shot. From straightaway, Liggins is prone to pulling up off-the-dribble. From anywhere else around the arc, Liggins will typically catch-and-shoot. Liggins would need to be ready to receive these types of passes from James who usually sets his point guards up as catch-and-shoot players.

The Cons Of Liggins As Backup

Liggins isn’t going to be an explosive scorer and as the backup to an oft-injured elite scorer this is important to note.

As a starter, Liggins’ combined points and assists may allow him to be responsible for a substantial amount of the team’s total points. However, Liggins’ points won’t be poured in on defenders in a variety of ways as he constantly beats his defenders one-on-one with a smooth jump shot, acrobatics and finesse around the rim, and elite handle of the ball.

To this point, having Liggins come off the bench with Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, Dunleavy Jr., and Channing Frye leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers with five players who get the majority of their points from catch-and-shoot opportunities. There needs to be a versatile scorer in the rotation outside of the Big Three, Liggins isn’t the answer.

The last potential negative of Liggins being the team’s backup point guard is the potential impact it could have on Felder. Felder is a highly talented player but will need consistent in-game reps to get fully acclimated to league play and minimize the potential for his height to be taken advantage of.

The Proposed Depth Chart

Point Guard

Starter: Kyrie Irving
Backup: DeAndre Liggins
Third String: Kay Felder

Shooting Guard

Starter: J.R. Smith
Backup: Iman Shumpert
Third String: James Jones

Small Forward

Starter: LeBron James
Backup: Jordan McRae
Third String: Richard Jefferson

Power Forward

Starter: Kevin Love
Backup: Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Third String: Chris Andersen

Center

Starter: Tristan Thompson
Backup: Channing Frye
Third String: Eric Moreland

With this depth chart the Cleveland Cavaliers are able to have a facilitator on the bench as well as an elite scorer. This depth chart assumes Smith will re-sign and Williams will retire. With Felder as the third-string point guard it’s natural to assume he won’t receive much playing time. However, as Felder develops in Canton (with the Cavs Developmental-League affiliate) he will have the opportunity to come back and earn minutes at point guard because of Liggins’ ability to fit anywhere on the perimeter.

Jun 10, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) dribbles the ball in front of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the fourth quarter in game four of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Finishing The Case

As the Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to replace Dellavedova and provide Irving with a backup, the team has plenty of in-house options. While the team has had in-house discussions about moving McRae to point guard and Williams’ possible retirement, they may be overlooking Liggins as the most capable facilitator on the roster.

For a team that struggled to create offense through assists at times, and especially when Irving and LeBron James was off the court, Liggins is a player the Cavs can rely on as a solution to the problem.