Cavs’ consistency, chemistry will be tested when team returns to full health

How will the Cleveland Cavaliers look when fully healthy?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have finally caught their stride but when they return to full health, their strides they’ve made in recent weeks will be tested.

The Cavs are rolling now, going 6-0 after starting the season 5-7. Although, in that time, the Cavs’ were 4-0 against teams that are legitimate Eastern Conference Finals contenders, there were obvious issues with the team’s chemistry and execution on both ends of the floor.

On the defensive end, missed rotations and poor individual defense on the perimeter led to many open threes for other teams. On the offensive end, slow starts by the starting lineup were due in part to cold shooting from J.R. Smith and Jae Crowder. The other issues? Turnovers, a lack of ball and player movement and a lack of chemistry.

Now, more than a month after the NBA season tipped-off, the Cleveland Cavaliers are becoming familiar with each other on and off of the court. However, over the course of the Cavs’ recent winning streak, there have been three key pieces to their rotation that have been out multiple games due to injury: center Tristan Thompson, point guard Derrick Rose and guard Iman Shumpert.

Shumpert’s fit isn’t as much of a question because he was the starting point guard as the Cavs started their win streak. In addition, his offensive skillset has similarities to incumbent starting point guard Jose Calderon’s. Both are solid three-point threats who move the ball and push the pace when they can. Although they’re not aggressive scorers, they’re both threats to score the ball.

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Thompson’s fit is a big question because when he returns, the first question will be is if he should return to the starting lineup.

On the one hand, Kevin Love playing center provides James with the type of spacing he wouldn’t have if a player who needed to be around the rim to score, like Thompson, was starting. On the other hand, Thompson, though an undersized center himself, is more capable of banging down low with the centers in the league than Love. Love is prone to exhausting himself to the point of affecting his offensive game when dealing with bigger, stronger and more athletic players than himself.

Thompson’s defensive versatility, rim-protection, screen-setting, hustle and infectious energy will be useful though, whether he’s starting or not.

Rose’s fit, particularly in the second unit, is interesting. Imagining a Rose – Shumpert – (Dwyane) Wade – (Kyle) Korver – (Tristan) Thompson is probably where Rose would be at his best, given his slashing ability and what’s been – so far – a tendency to get tunnel vision on drives mixed with an inability to consistently his shots from his “sweet spots” or behind the arc.

Playing beside Wade puts him as the secondary ball-handler and Thompson is a player whose screens would be useful to Rose on the drive. Shumpert and Korver provide three-point shooting and floor spacing that will help him attack the rim. Defensively, Rose will be surrounded by heady defenders who, save for Shumpert, don’t show any tendencies to be overaggressive. As a result, they won’t be too prone to getting beat off-the-dribble.

If Rose can be consistent as a slasher and from the midrange while making plays for others in the pick-and-roll or in drive-and-kick situations, he’ll be a solid fit.

Jeff Green, Jae Crowder and Thompson will likely play a similar amount of minutes, given how they fit in the Cavs’ scheme as power forwards and in the case of Green and Thompson, centers.

In any case, the 5-foot-9 offensive dynamo Isaiah Thomas is the elephant in the room. When he returns, it will be LeBron James who has to adjust, although that won’t be too much of a problem. James’ scoring will more than likely decrease as Thomas, who averaged 28.9 points per game last season, becomes second in the team’s pecking order. Luckily for the Cavs, not only is James one of the most unselfish superstars in any sport, he’s been missing a player with Thomas’ scoring mentality and ability since Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers return to full health, there’s a chance that there chemistry will be challenged, and thus, their play will suffer. However, so long as head coach Tyronn Lue finds out the best lineups for his team to play, the Cavs will be in the long run.

For a team playing the long game, with one eye always trained on June, that’s really what matters.

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