One Cavalier to watch: J.J. Hickson

While the Cavaliers were losing to the Boston Celtics, J.J. Hickson spent a lot of time watching. Hickson played just shy of 21 minutes a game during last regular season, but that dropped to 7.2 minutes per game in the playoffs. Plenty of people wanted to know why.

Byron Scott is not going to make that mistake.

The new Cavaliers coach wants a team that runs and he sees Hickson as a guy built for that style, as he told the Sporting News.

“I am excited about what J.J. is going to do this year,” Scott told Sporting News. “He has had a great summer, he is in great shape and I think he is playing with a lot of confidence. We are going to be a running team, we are going to get up and down, and that’s where J.J. can excel.”

Hickson does excel in transition -- he shot 80.9 percent in transition last season, as opposed to 55.1 percent overall (according to Synergy Sports). Hickson had a crushing 1.47 points per shot attempt in transition. He scores well moving off cuts and is decent as the big man setting the high pick (an area he can improve), but out in the open court Hickson was a beast.

Bright spots are going to be few and far between for the Cavaliers this season. Hickson might be the brightest.