5 Reasons Why the Cavs Don’t Need Kyrie Irving to Average More Assists

Cavs fans and some writers have been clamoring lately for Kyrie Irving to become more of a “true” point guard and average more assists.

It’s fact that Irving does not average many assists compared to his counterparts around the league.

The 23-year-old is currently averaging 4.5 assists per game.

Other guards, like Russell Westbrook (10.4,) John Wall and Chris Paul (9.9 each,) and even Isaiah Thomas and Kyle Lowry (6.5 each) do a better job of getting their teammates involved and setting up the offense.

However, Kyrie’s lack of assists don’t necessarily spell doom for the Cavs. Here are five reasons why.

1. LeBron James

The first answer to any question of why the Cavs have a chance to win it all usually starts with “LeBron.”

But just in terms of assists, it explains why Irving has a much lower assist rate than some of the elite point guards in the league.

LeBron is averaging 6.5 assists per game, tied for ninth in the league. That’s just as many as Thomas and Lowry. So how many assists are there to go around?

Aside from the starting point guards for Toronto and Boston, no one else on their team is averaging close to that. It’s probable that any point guard’s assist totals would go down if they played alongside LeBron.

2. Delly

It might not be the narrative Cavs fans expected, but Matthew Dellavedova is averaging more assists per game than Kyrie.

In fact, Delly is averaging one-tenth of an assist more. Dellavedova averages 4.6. Irving averages 4.5.

But does this say more about Delly’s great season or Irving’s lack of production when it comes to passing?

Let’s remember Delly spent much of the first half of the season either starting or playing significant minutes compared to the role he has played when Kyrie has been healthy.

Delly ranks 27th in the league among point guards in assists per game. That’s coming off the bench.

Let’s give him some props.

And it’s not just the time that Kyrie was hurt, but even when Delly went back to the bench, he continued to dish it out like ice cream.

In November, he averaged 5.9 assists per game. In December, he averaged 4.5.

Irving’s first full month back was January and Dellavedova did not see much of a decline in assists. Delly averaged 4.1 in January.

February was a bit of a down month, as Delly averaged just 3.3 assists. But those numbers are back up midway through March, as the Australian is currently averaging 4.3 assists per game this month.

Irving has received a large amount of criticism after Wednesday night’s 99-98 win over the Mavericks, in which LeBron was given the night off to rest.

Irving took 28 shots and only contributed one assist.

Obviously that’s not ideal. But the important thing is Irving scored 33 points, leading the way to victory.

Although it wasn’t pretty, he made a big steal to save the game and knocked down clutch free throws as usual.

What is also of note from Wednesday is that Delly dished out seven assists off the bench. So sure, we can bash Irving for only having one assist, but Delly picked up the slack.

3. The Cavs Team As a Whole

The Cavs’ starting point guard might not be near the top of the league in assists, but as a team, Cleveland is averaging 22 assists per game, 14th in the league.

14th out of 30 isn’t ideal either, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. The consistency of LeBron and Delly combining for 11 assists per game, Irving adding to that to make it almost 16, and the rest of the key players like Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert chipping in, means that the Cavs don’t rely on one guy to get most of the assists.

The Thunder and Clippers might have that format, but this team is fairly balanced compared to them.

4. Who Was the “True” Point Guard with LeBron in Miami?

LeBron’s four years in Miami are remembered for the trio of King James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. Adding Ray Allen helped them win more, but for the most part it was those three.

Was Miami’s point guard lighting it up, averaging eight assists per game? No. If anything, it was one of the weaker links of the team.

Mario Chalmers was not a bad player, but he didn’t really “win” games for the Heat. He wasn’t a reason they lost either.

The point is that LeBron didn’t need a teammate to lead the league in assists to win two championships. Frankly, having LeBron as a teammate means it would be almost impossible to be near the top of the league in assists. It’s just the nature of playing on the same team as the King.

5. Kyrie Gets Buckets

After the Cavs’ win over Dallas, although it was ugly, my takeaway from the game was that Kyrie and Love did what they needed to do to win without LeBron.

If Irving takes 28 shots, scores 33 points, and the Cavs win, I have no problem with it. It isn’t a beautiful brand of basketball, but honestly it was refreshing just to see the Cavs could win with LeBron resting.

And what it showed is that Kyrie is capable of carrying a team to a gritty win if needed.

We can’t expect Irving to be something that he’s not. He never was a true point guard even before LeBron came. And King James knew this. LeBron is as knowledgeable about players’ skills and weaknesses around the league as anyone and did not see that as a reason to stay away.

Even when LeBron was in Miami, Irving did not dish out many assists in his first three seasons. Kyrie went from averaging 5.4 assists as a rookie to 5.9 in 2012-2013 and 6.1 in his third season.

Those are solid numbers, but not up there with elite passing point guards.

But look at the drop off when LeBron arrived in Cleveland. Irving went from 6.1 to 5.2 last season. Now he is at 4.5.

It’s the natural pattern of playing next to one of the best passing forwards in the history of basketball.

What’s important is that Kyrie continues to do what he’s good at; getting buckets.

It’s been somewhat of an up and down year for Irving. But Cavs fans can pretty much always count on him to drop 20. He has flaws. At least some of the “struggles” he has gone through have to be attributed to the injury and trying to get back into full swing mentally and physically.

Maybe there is some underlying tension. Maybe some of Irving’s weaknesses have been exposed. But would Cavs fans prefer Rajon Rondo dishing out 12 assists per game or Irving’s ability to score at will?

If assists were all that mattered, Ricky Rubio would be an All-Star. But if Kyrie continues to come up big in the fourth quarter, like he has all throughout his career, and continues to provide consistent offense, then I’ll take that over two extra assists and less scoring any day.