Cleveland Cavaliers: Breaking down the new pick-and-roll

Pick-and-roll personnel is essential to having consistent offensive production, and the Cleveland Cavaliers could have endless possibilities in that set.

With Kyrie Irving no longer on the roster, I would expect LeBron James to handle the ball in most pick-and-rolls, at least until Isaiah Thomas is back healthy. That’s a good start to initiating the new-looked offense, playing with the best passer in basketball generally helps a supporting cast over time. Having James leading the pick-and-roll could free up unlimited opportunities for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Both Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love are quality screeners for James, and both have their strengths after James gets his switch. Thompson is not the threat Love is in the pick-and-pop game, but he does roll hard to the paint, putting pressure on opposing interior defenses.

As a result of that tenacity, TT placed in the 79th percentile as the roll man last season, per Synergy. Love did not have the same success in that realm, but I expect him to improve with more opportunities this season. In addition, Love’s vision and passing acumen could cause confusion for opponents in settled situations.

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The James-Love pick-and-roll is just the tip of the iceberg for the Cavs, however. Derrick Rose is a viable penetrator (with a screener or without) with his explosiveness, and when Thomas gets back, he’s one of the most efficient PnR ball-handlers in the league.

With those two players doing their part in breaking down the opposition with drives and pull-ups, the kick out passes to Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver and Channing Frye will be wide-open. Let’s not dismiss these three shooters as pick-and-pop roll men, either though.

Another wrinkle in Cleveland’s arsenal could be Dwyane Wade, who just got his contract bought out, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Woj then reported that the Cavs were the “frontrunners” for getting the veteran combo guard, and that would pay huge dividends over the course of the season. Veteran Richard Jefferson could be the odd man out if Cleveland acquires Wade, per cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon.

Wade has always been a gifted scorer and would be another secondary playmaker, and he could lessen the burden on LeBron as a result. Particularly on this deep of a Cavs team, Wade will not have a big load, and he’ll be much healthier because of that in the postseason.

He’ll be more efficient with James, Love, and company as his teammates, too. Both Wade and Rose’s assist percentages could go up considerably playing with one of the best three-point shooting rosters in the NBA.

The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls were both near the bottom of the league in three-point field goal statistics, whereas Cleveland was near the top. With the Cavs possibly having four well above average pick-and-roll distributors, they could actually be better in both pick-and-roll and isolation next season than with Irving.

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That could benefit the role players more than it did in previous years, and give the Cavs more offensive options moving forward. Cleveland would then be healthier in a long postseason run, whereas they ran out of gas in the Finals last season, and their defense suffered.