How does Shawn Marion fit with the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Newly signed Cleveland Cavaliers forward Shawn Marion is no longer the player he once was.
From ages 22 to 30 “The Matrix” never averaged less than 35 minutes per game with any team he played for and crossed the 40 mark on three occasions. During that time he put up 18.3 points per game with 48/34/82 shooting splits along with 10.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.3 blocks. Marion was capable of playing small forward and power forward, giving him extra value. He was also an excellent defensive player and in ways not measured by compiling rebounds, steals and blocks.
Since he went to the Mavericks to start to 2009-2010 season his numbers have dropped across the board: 30 MPG, 11.6 points, 49/30/77, seven rebounds, 1.8 assists, one steal and .6 blocks. In addition some of his team based stats over the past four seasons haven’t been stellar either.
2013-2014: The Mavs were 7.8 points better per 100 possessions with Marion off the floor.
2012-2013: The Mavs were 5.5 points better per 100 possessions with Marion off the floor.
2011-2012: The Mavs were 6.6 points better per 100 possessions with Marion off the floor.
2010-2011: The Mavs were 8.8 points better per 100 possessions with Marion off the floor.
This is where context is important. The Mavericks were not a team built around Marion, they were constructed around Dirk Nowitzki and Marion was a complimentary player. When Marion played with Nowitzki, Dallas was improved to essentially even during all of the seasons except 2012-2013.
2013-2014: When Marion played with Dirk the Mavs were a +2.1 net rating (.9 lower than team net rating for season).
2012-2013: When Marion played with Dirk the Mavs were a -7.2 net rating (6.8 lower than team net rating for season).
2011-2012: When Marion played with Dirk the Mavs were a +3.7 net rating (2.4 higher than team net rating for season).
2010-2011: When Marion played with Dirk the Mavs were a +8.8 net rating (3.5 higher than team net rating for season).
When it comes to the Cavaliers these are the situations I worry about most. With LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and in the near future Kevin Love — Marion will be able to continue in the role he is most comfortable in — playing off other high volume players. Nowitzki was the only elite individual in this area on the Mavs, while the Cavs have at minimum two, high likelihood of three, and potentially a fourth depending on the development of Waiters. Whenever Dirk didn’t play for Dallas the team fell apart (outside of 12-13), this wasn’t a Marion related issue. The Cavaliers can stem this with their multiple offensive talents.
Working under the premise James and Love’s unselfishness rubs off on their teammates Marion’s ability to cut and play off others will be extremely useful. On the other end of the court he might not be the same defensive player he once was, but with how good the Cavaliers offense should be that’s not needed. If he can do a reasonably decent job defending difficult match-ups and let James conserve his energy for the offensive end that’s an important factor.
Even with Marion in place Cleveland still has more to add to be able to compete with the best teams in the West — a rim protector being of the highest importance. Anderson Varejao is still a solid player when he stays on the court, the problem is that rarely happens. Varejao’s 69 games last season was the most he’s played since 2009-2010. His rim protection also wasn’t stellar last year allowing opponents to shoot 54.2% at the rim in their attempts. The Cavs other big, Tristan Thompson, struggled in this area too giving up scorching 59.1% on shots attempted at the rim.
The Cavaliers had more important and bigger needs than Marion. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a useful player in their rotation next season as Cleveland competes for the top seed in the Eastern Conference and begins its path to championship contention.