Cavs weather injuries heading into April

Jeff Schudel looks at how the Cavaliers are starting to get the team back together after injuries to starters J.R. Smith and Kevin Love. Plus, how former QB Scott Mitchell relates to the Browns.

J.R. Smith missed 36 games recovering from a fractured thumb and the surgery that followed.

Kevin Love missed 13 games recovering from knee surgery — nine of them with Smith out of the Cavaliers’ lineup.

The worst — for now anyway — is behind the Cavaliers, yet through it all, they managed to stay ahead of every other team in the NBA East. They were 45-22 heading into their game with the Clippers in Los Angeles on March 18. While some outside the Cavs organization panicked, Coach Tyronn Lue never did.

“The guys have been stepping up,” Lue said when announcing Love would play against the Jazz on March 16. “LeBron (James) and Kyrie (Irving) have been playing at a high level. Richard Jefferson has been playing great. Kyle Korver was playing great before he went out.”

Jefferson replaced Love in the starting lineup. Korver, recovering from a sore left foot, did not replace Smith as a starter, but his contribution off the bench made it easier to absorb losing Smith. Korver has missed five straight games with a sore left foot.

Irving left in the fourth quarter against the Jazz with tightness in his knee, but Lue was hopeful Irving could play against the Clippers.

Guard Iman Shumpert is “day to day” with a sprained shoulder. Smith’s timely return minimizes Shumpert’s injury.

“We did it as a team, as a unit,” Lue said. “We held the fort. Our guys are slowly starting to come back. Now we have to hit the floor running. We know we’re ready for that. I’m excited. To still be No. 1 in the East after going through all the injuries, we’re in good shape.”

The Cavaliers have to be the favorites to win the Eastern Conference championship for a third straight year — not coincidentally, the third straight year James has been back. They might not breeze through the first two rounds as easily as last year when they swept the Pistons and Hawks before outlasting the Raptors in six games. But no team in the East should be able to beat the Cavs four times as long as James stays healthy.

• Two weeks ago, I predicted signing Andrew Bogut would prove to be the most significant move the Cavaliers made in 2017. He made his Cavaliers debut the next night and broke his leg 58 seconds into his debut with the Cavs.

Now Larry Sanders has a chance to fill the defensive role Bogut would have played. Sanders has not played in two years. He walked away from the NBA because he had personal issues to deal with. Sanders is starting his comeback by playing with the Canton Charge in the D-League.

Cavaliers general manager David Griffin is taking a chance. After giving Sanders a tryout and talking to him in depth, Griffin is convinced Sanders, now 28, will not be overwhelmed.

Other playoff contenders could use a shot blocker in the paint. The Cavaliers were the only team willing to take a risk.

“Nobody else has our particular situation,” Griffin said. “Nobody has our locker room. Nobody has the leadership that we have. We obviously have an alpha both in Ty Lue and Bron. Kyrie is growing as a leader. We’ve got a group that’s excited about the ability to add particularly what could possibly be the right piece.

“There’s obviously the potential that this doesn’t work, and that it takes much longer. And that’s OK. Our group’s OK with that because they know this doesn’t complete us. This just gives us a chance to do something that’s unique. I think they all embraced it quite a bit. That’s why we did it. If you had a setup like we have, you’d bring him in. If you’re a younger team trying to find your way, you couldn’t do it. So I think this just set up well for everybody.”

Griffin is hopeful Sanders can be a fixture with the Cavs beyond this season.

I have been consistent in saying the Browns should not overpay the Patriots in a trade for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The Patriots say they won’t trade him, but I’ll believe that when the trading deadline passes and he is still a Patriot.

Garoppolo played well in two starts last September. He was hurt in his second start.

Fans old enough to remember Browns 1.0 might recall Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino tearing his Achilles tendon late in the first half in a game against the Browns in 1993. Scott Mitchell replaced him and after throwing an interception, threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter to lead the Dolphins to a 24-14 victory.

Mitchell was 3-4 in 1993, but that one game against the Browns helped him get a three-year, $11 million contract with the Lions in 1994. That was a huge deal 23 years ago.

Mitchell wasn’t a bust, but coaches figured him out. He was 4-5 in 1994, 10-6 the next year and then 4-10 in 1996.

Coaches have six quarters of NFL game tape on Garoppolo. He could turn into a mortal very quickly when coaches dissect his brief starting career.

• The Browns have no plans to make Brock Osweiler their starting quarterback, but they should be in no hurry to cut him, either — not when NFL teams can take 90 players to training camp.

Osweiler was a secondround draft pick by the Broncos in 2012. He was 5-2 as a starter with Denver in 2015 and 8-6 with Houston last year. He has 13 more NFL victories than Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan, the Browns’ two other quarterbacks, combined.

If for no other reason, the Browns should hang on to Osweiler because his trade value will go up as other quarterbacks suffer injuries.

The second-round draft pick acquired along with Osweiler and a sixthround pick for a fourthround choice was the main attraction for the Browns, but because they are already on the hook for Osweiler’s $16 million salary in 2017, they might as well see what he can do in a minicamp.

Who knows? Maybe Browns coach Hue Jackson can save Osweiler’s career and turn the trade into grand theft larceny.

Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald.com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider