Cleveland Cavaliers forward Georges Niang revealed why he felt Cleveland’s roster was so unique in a Saturday media availability, Bally Sports Ohio sideline reporter Serena Winters wrote in a Saturday tweet.
“I think when you have a young group like this that works this hard and is this talented, it’s very rare, especially in professional sports,” Niang said, via a Saturday YouTube video from the Cavs. “Usually, you have guys that at this young age are talented but don’t really know how to be professionals. But here, you have so many guys that are so talented. I ask them their age and they’re like eight years younger than me…
“They have something special about them that isn’t just their natural ability, that extra drive to want to be better. They’re constantly in here, they have a routine, stuff that I didn’t learn until later in my career. That’s exciting for a guy like me, who really wants to win later in my career, to have young guys that are motivated out there to compete at the highest level every night.”
The Cavs earned the second-most votes on the NBA’s GM survey for the team with the most promising young core with 10%. They took spots over the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers. Cleveland took first place in the category with 41% of the total votes during the 2022 GM survey. The Cavs 2023-24 roster will feature a 23-year-old Darius Garland, a 22-year-old Evan Mobley and a 22-year-old Isaac Okoro.
Garland and Mobley took second and third place on Cleveland’s roster with 21.6 and 16.2 points per game during the 2022-23 regular season, respectively. The duo combined for 30 points in just over 39 minutes of play during the Cavs 108-105 preseason loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday. Okoro added three rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.