Cleveland Cavaliers: Three lineups for Larry Drew to try out

Some of both worlds

Harrison-Nwaba-Hood-Smith-Ante Zizic

The Cleveland Cavaliers should see if they can have some lineups that involve a really good defensive backcourt tandem. A Harrison-Nwaba could provide that with their length and strength on the perimeter. As has been previously mentioned, Harrison gets to the free throw line often, and Nwaba does as well. He’s averaging more free throw attempts (1.7) than field goal attempts (1.6) in his 8.1 minutes per game, showing how relentless he is in attacking the rim.

With Harrison, Nwaba and Hood on the floor, Cleveland would be able to implement their “grab-and-go” style to the T, and this group could get a considerable number of layups and free throws from their attacking approach. Hood and Smith could provide enough spacing in the halfcourt after drive-and-kicks from Harrison, and Ante Zizic would be able to be featured often as a roller.

Despite not getting a ton of minutes (just 6.8 per game in 41 career appearances), Zizic has a career 69.3 percent field goal rate, and his PER is 23.9, per Basketball Reference. In his last game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he had another efficient outing, as was demonstrated by Cavs.com’s Joe Gabriele.

The Cavs would not be switching 1-5 with this lineup with Zizic dropping in pick-and-roll, but they could work around that by using the length on the perimeter to stunt out on ball-handlers and recover on the weak side. If the communication is there, they could manage just fine.

We’ll see if Drew utilizes these in the next few games with the injury bug hitting the Cleveland Cavaliers early on in the year.