Who should the Cleveland Cavaliers start in their backcourt after announcing Kevin Love’s move to center? Dwyane Wade or J.R. Smith.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have certainly made their frontcourt unit known, with Jae Crowder being inserted at the power forward spot while Kevin Love slides to center and LeBron James remains in his usual slot at small forward. Dwyane Wade has been the Cleveland Cavaliers backup point guard in practice and played the same role during Monday’s Wine and Gold scrimmage. He excels as a facilitator, using his IQ and the threat of his scoring ability to set up teammates. However, should he start at shooting guard instead of J.R. Smith?
The assumption is that rather than Wade starting, as it was rumored he would, he could come off the bench. However, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue hasn’t made his plans for Wade (and thus his starting backcourt), known yet.
Per Marla Ridenour of the Beacon Journal:
"While Wade talked as if that decision was nearly certain, Lue said, “Not yet. Not yet,” adding that he has a plan but is not ready to reveal it."
Wade’s talent, production, experience and synergy with James (his teammates for four years with the Miami Heat (2010-2014)), give him a fair case for starting.
Starting Wade, at either guard position, isn’t the best fit for the Cavs though.
As a point guard, Derrick Rose’s speed and inclination to attack the rim are more fitting for the Cavs starting unit, considering that Lue still wants the team to play fast. Wade is methodical and though he’ll attack the rim, he’s going to pick and choose his spots. That’s not to say Rose’s shot selection isn’t calculated, just that Rose plays more aggressively on offense. That’s evident in the difference between the amount of times they drove to the rim last year, as Rose had 10.0 drives per game and Wade had 6.2 drives per game.
Must Read: Derrick Rose transformed his body in the offseason
Rose is also a great facilitator as well, something that Lue and his teammates have pointed out. He’ll consistently make quick, decisive passes within the flow of the offense and won’t get into one-on-one battles with opposing players like his predecessor was prone to do. Rose averaged 4.4 assists per game last year while Wade averaged 3.8 assists per game. Rose’s career-high per game average for assists (7.9) is also higher than Wade’s (7.5). That’s not a knock on Wade, just an appraisal of Rose’s understanding of the game and both his ability and willingness to pass the ball.
Rose is the superior defender at the point guard position as well. He’s quicker and consistently assertive, always keeping his hands up and trying to stay in the ball-handlers space. Wade’s energy on defense fluctuates throughout the course of a game. In multiple play categories, perhaps the ones most important to the point guard position, Rose graded out as the better defender last year; in isolation (Rose- 59th percentile, Wade – 44th percentile) and guarding the pick-and-roll ball-handler (Rose – 71st percentile, Wade- 49th percentile).
At shooting guard, Wade would start in the backcourt beside Rose (who Lue stated was the starter on Media Day).
2017-2018 player preview: Derrick Rose
Offensively, with both players having career three-point averages below thirty percent, the spacing would become an issue but so would the volume of three-point shots being taken. Last season, Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith shot a combined 12.7 three-point attempts per game, making 4.8 three-point attempts per game combined. Last season, Rose and Wade shot a combined 3.3 three-point attempts per game, making 1.0 three-pointer per game combined. Even if they were to both drift to the corners, were they both shot above forty-five percent last season, their percentages from the corner are both less than thirty-three percent.
They couldn’t be trusted to make threes and they wouldn’t take threes. That’s a serious issue on a team where their best player may have shot 36.3 percent from three-point range last season but has a career three-point percentage of 34.2 percent. From the corners, James also has a career three-point percentage less than thirty-three percent (31.4).
Crowder, who will start at power forward, has a career three-point percentage of 34.6 percent although he shot a career-high 39.8 percent from three-point range last season (his first shooting above 34.0 percent). Crowder has made 40.6 percent of his corner threes in his career. Yet, there’s still the issue of opposing teams playing off of three of their perimeter players and packing the paint.
With Smith in the starting lineup in place of Wade, the Cavs have a three-point threat who has made 37.4 percent of his threes in his career and 37.0 percent of his threes in the postseason. Smith has made 40.2 percent on corner threes and 48.1 percent on corner threes in the postseason. Last season, Smith made 35.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes in the regular season (in a down year) and 56.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes in the postseason. He’s in the 86th percentile as a spot-up shooter. That’s a far cry from the spacing that Wade would offer in the backcourt. Spacing that the Cavs need in order to open up the floor for James.
2017-2018 player preview: J.R. Smith
To that point, Smith is one of James’ favorite targets. Last season, Smith received more passes from James for three-point attempts (2.9) than he received from any other player. James only passed the ball to Irving, Kevin Love and Channing Frye for three-point attempts more than Smith. In the playoffs, while still receiving more passes for three-point attempts from James than any of his teammates, James passed him the ball for three-point attempts more than anybody outside of Irving and Love.
That chemistry is also seen in the way Smith has evolved as a facilitator within the Cavs offense, seeming comfortable and confident with the ball in his hands – and often making great decisions or flashy passes.
On the other end, Smith has the defensive tenacity and athleticism that Wade lacks at this stage of his career. As a result, Smith also grades out better as an isolation defender (50th percentile) and guarding the spot-up shooters (Wade – 23rd percentile, Smith – 40th percentile) that are prominent at the shooting guard position. Smith isn’t great at guarding pick-and-rolls, seeming to get tunnel vision when focused on the ball-handler. However, he’s still able to cover for Rose in ways that Wade can’t because of his athleticism.
For right now, backup point guard is a role he and his teammates seem to like for him.
Per Joe Vardon of cleveland.com:
"“I like it. It allows me to be a playmaker, which I love when you have guys like Kyle Korver out there, Channing Frye, sometimes J.R. Whatever lineups coach puts out there, it gives me an opportunity to have the ball in my hand, make plays and obviously score the basketball. There’s so much talent on this team, I’m trying to get used to all the weapons that we have. But I like it. I like the changeup. I think the second unit is going to have to be very good for this team to be as successful as it wants to be.”"
When Thomas returns, it’s likely that Wade will return to the shooting guard position as Rose becomes the backup point guard. However, for now, Wade should be the playmaker that commandeers both the second unit and the team when James needs to rest.
Related Story: Who should start in Cavs frontcourt?
*Unless otherwise referenced, all stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com