In this episode of The Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland about the team's surprising success early in the 2022‑23 season. Garland explains that the Cavs have exceeded preseason win projections (27 expected, 33 already earned) thanks to a combination of strong coaching, a defensive mindset, and the addition of rookie 7‑footer Evan Mobley and veteran Jarrett Allen. Both big men have reshaped the Cavs' defense—protecting the paint, switching across positions, and providing rim protection—while also creating high‑low offensive opportunities through passing and lob plays. The conversation highlights the synergy between Mobley and Allen, the role of coach J.B. Bickerstaff in fostering toughness, and the impact of recent roster addition Caris LeVert. Garland asserts the team’s ceiling is high, dismissing critics who claim the young squad will falter in the playoffs, and speculates that the Cavs' success could influence NBA trends, potentially prompting a return to traditional big‑man lineups. Throughout, both participants convey confidence, enthusiasm, and a belief that the Cavs are among the league’s elite.
Chapters
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. Beginning of this year, obviously Cavs have struggled since LeBron left. There's no surprise there. And we come into this season and the casinos have you guys projected to win 27 games. Now you've already won 33, and we probably still got about 30 games left in the season or somewhere around there. And you've already won 33. What do you think has allowed you guys to be as good as y'all have been and so much better than what people expected? And, and second part of this question, did y'all as an organization, as a group, expect to be this good or did y'all kind of surprise yourselves as well?
I think coming to training camp, well, I had a feeling coming to training camp that we were gonna be really good. Just adding Evan, another 7-footer, adding Laurie, another 7-footer that could stretch the floor. And then just seeing what we were doing in training camp. I mean, I really liked our team coming in. And I mean, Coach Bickerstaff, JB, he just has everybody locked in right now. Defensive-wise, I mean, that's our whole thing, defense. So when we getting stops and just locked in on taking that one-on-one challenge, I mean, I think we're really tough to beat. So just having that mindset of just helping the next person, And then just having that one-on-one mentality, like you at the park in the old days and it's a one-on-one battle that you gotta go against. Like, I think that we really up there and we, I know we surprised a lot of people and I think we one of the best teams in the league, bro, to be honest with you. For real.
I love, I absolutely love the confidence. And you spoke about Evan Mobley and, you know, him coming in. And I think he's had an amazing rookie season. To be honest with you, I watch college basketball and I kind of keep up with the draft and this guy's projected here. And I try to watch all of these guys coming into the league. Number one, just because I love basketball. Number two, you better know who's coming in behind you and who's coming at your neck and who's coming for your spot.
Right.
Like you just gotta understand that in being in this league. And if you don't, Before you know it, somebody be taking your spot and you ain't even see them coming. But in watching last season, I was a big Evan Mobley fan coming out. And the reason I was such a big Evan Mobley fan is because you'd see at times when he'd get the ball, how skilled he was and how much he can do, but didn't always get the ball. And yet no matter what, his impact would still be all over the game. I was watching one game last year and a guy caught the ball in the corner. Draymond Green. Wide open. And Evan was standing underneath the basket, like all the way underneath the basket. By the— the guy caught the ball and he's a shooter. So, you know, a shooter catch a corner 3, he lock and loaded. It's going up. No thought, no delay. Like it's going up. And the guy caught the ball and he went to locked it in and went to shoot. And Mobley blocked the shot. And he was standing under the rim when the guy caught the ball. And I couldn't believe it. And I called our, one of our guys from our front office. I said, Evan Mobley, is incredible. I personally think he's gonna be the best player in this draft. And so, you know, he's having a great year and saying all that, he's having an incredible year. What impact do you think he's had on y'all team on both ends of the floor?
Yeah, Evan is very impactful. To be honest with you, we changed our whole defense around him and Jared. Just them two just protecting the paint. And then when Jared goes to block shots, Evan's right there. It's just two 7-footers just sitting right there. So I mean, even if Evan's not having a good game offensively, he's gonna change the whole dynamic on the defensive end. He can switch 1 through 5, move his feet, contest a lot of jump shots from guards. He likes to be physical in the post. He likes to bang in the post offensively as well. So I mean, just his impact and his presence just makes everything totally different on both sides of the floor, to be honest with you, bro.
And a lot of you, speaking of Jared Allen, a lot of people thought that he should have been an All-Star right alongside you, which I agree with the year that he's having, with the year that y'all are having. Y'all are a game and a half outta first place in the East. How y'all didn't get two All-Stars? Quite frankly, I think it's a reputation thing because no one expected y'all to be one and a half games outta the East this close to the All-Star break. First place in the East, this close to the All-Star break. So I think it's a reputation thing more so than his production. But I agree with a lot of people, I thought he should have been an All-Star. But you know, Mobley, Jared Allen, those are two traditional big men. How has that worked to y'all benefit? Because you go two traditional big men nowadays and most teams get ran out the gym.
Yeah.
Yeah. Y'all are having this season. What has allowed y'all to have this type of season with playing two traditional big men as opposed to how the game is played by most teams today?
They like playing with each other. Like, I mean, they both run the floor. I mean, they just work really well with each other. A lot of teams are starting to like front the post a lot more, so. Evan is a really good passer, which is really crazy at 7 foot. So like Evan, he'd get it high-low action, get in the mid-range area and just throw the lob up to JA and then like it's an easy 2 points. And it's the same way with Jared and Evan. Just Jared come to the high post and Evan just get an easy dunk. So it's just like them just working with each other, like having fun with it. Like they just play with the game a lot.
Yeah.
—like a lot of ball screen action with me. And now it's like a lot of 4-5 ball screen action. When Evan has the ball in his hand, he comes off, he got the mid-range shot, or he just throw the lob to Jay. So it's just them having that good connection, and it's growing every day. Like, you can see it in practice, you see it in games. So— and they just have fun with each other, bro. It's— I mean, it's really unique to see, like you said, just two traditional bigs. But I mean, it's working hand in hand right now.
No doubt. You know, the funny thing about this league is a very copycat league. And a part of the reason the true traditional big man has gone away is because we started winning championships and then everyone just copies that. And so it'll be interesting to see as you guys continue to progress and as you guys continue to grow based on the success that y'all have, if y'all have a ton of success, if y'all are possibly are able to win a championship one day. It'll be interesting to see if everyone will see that lineup and start to move back towards the two traditional big men. Because the NBA goes in waves. Like I said, it's copycat. It goes in waves. Someone has success with this and everyone think they need to move towards that. So I'm interested to see how that plays out over these next couple years. But, and speaking of the next couple years, as I said earlier, you guys are a game and a half out of first place. What do you think the ceiling is for this team?
Sky's the limit. We're super young, really talented. You just added my man, Caris LeVert, a nice 2-guard that can really score the ball. And I mean, another thing, we play defense. Like, we like to play defense. Absolutely. I mean, when we just gritty and playing with that toughness, I mean, we can go all the way in my opinion.
And a lot of people think, a lot of people say, I've read some of the things people say, they're like, "Oh, well, you know, they're having a good regular season, but they won't be able to compete in the playoffs because they're so young." What do you have to say to that?
I heard this for my last 3 years. We're young, we're young. I'm tired of hearing that excuse. I'm tired of hearing people just saying that we're too young. I mean, we play together. We play basketball together as a team. And I think that's gonna take us further than a lot of people expect us to go. 'Cause we play together, we play on both ends of the floor, and we play hard. Like, it's not a lot of teams that's just gonna outcompete us. And that's what we go by as well. JB always on us about toughness and outworking our opponents. So when we outworking people, playing with that toughness, playing with that grit, we really hard to beat.
