The Cleveland Cavaliers have a problem when it comes to their “bigs”. With so many different styles on their roster, it makes it really tricky to determine who should be getting minutes.
Of course, that isn’t too much of an issue right now. Tristan Thompson won’t be back for at least another 2-4 weeks and Kevin Love isn’t expected back until 2019 as well. But when those two come back, it’s imperative that the Cavaliers have their rotations set already.
So with Thompson and Love out, who are the options that could possibly fill the frontcourt and earn some significant time alongside one of those two?
Right now, Cleveland features Larry Nance Jr., Ante Zizic, and Channing Frye. Don’t forget that recently-acquired John Henson will join the fray too, but we’ll hold off on him until he actually makes his Wine and Gold debut.
Out of the three healthy players, Nance Jr. is the guy that the organization has shown support to in terms of stability with his future and playing time on the court. He was extended over the summer and gets way more minutes than Zizic and Frye, whose combined minutes per game still is 7.3 less than Nance Jr.’s.
It’s not a shocker as to why the Cavaliers want him in their long-term plans though.
Nance Jr. is a gifted talent who has incredible athleticism. His shot has been coming around after spending some time with Kyle Korver before he departed from Cleveland and his passing has been an underrated trait this season. Nance Jr. is posting 8.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest in 28 games this year, eight of those starts.
When Love went down, Nance Jr. was the top choice of the three names mentioned before to fill some of his minutes. There have certainly been some clunkers here and there, but since he’s been out there with the starters his game has improved immensely. It’s easy to see him earning over twenty minutes nightly even once both Thompson and Love are back.
Zizic is an interesting nut to crack. It appears as if all the talent is there but the opportunities are few and far between. After being selected 23rd overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, the European center has mostly collected dust on the bench during his tenure with the Cavs so far. For someone Cleveland made sure to acquire in the Kyrie Irving trade, it sure seems like they have no plans of developing him.
“Big Z”, as the team likes to call him, does have a ton of potential though. When I spoke with AmicoHoops.net’s Sam Amico following the Irving deal two summers ago, he said that the excitement level for Zizic was the highest amongst the young prospects on the team.
“Everybody I’ve talked to is more excited for him than (Cedi) Osman,” Amico said on the situation before last season.
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“He’s a big guy who can put the ball on the floor. I’ve had people compare him to kinda a more agile, mobile Marc Gasol. A lot of people think he’s the best-kept secret coming into the league.”
If the similarities to Gasol are true, why haven’t the Cavaliers at least entertained the thought of helping him grow this season? Out of all the years to do it, this would be the right time.
Alas, Sunday’s game against Philadelphia was the 21-year old’s first start of the 2018-19 campaign.
When it comes to the veteran Frye, it’s not necessary that he gets minutes on a consistent basis. Frye signed with Cleveland over the summer in a return that was more out of respect and admiration for what he’s done for the organization than a move made for depth. But he’s still getting play, something that will probably change once the injuries heal up on this roster.
Frye’s started three games out of eleven games he’s appeared in, however. That’s a little confusing to understand when there are two younger, promising guys at his position.
Advantages in man-to-man matchups are cool to have, for sure. But the Cavaliers really shouldn’t worry about that when they’re not securing a lot of victories regardless. Hopefully, the team can realize that and distribute the minutes a little better going forward between the three guys.
It was said at the beginning of this article that we wouldn’t discuss John Henson too much because he has yet to even play for this Cavs team, giving us no idea what his role will be. But he’s 28-years old and will be coming off of wrist surgery. One has to wonder if he’s even being included in the long-term picture for the Wine and Gold.
Three bigs are hurt, three are being shuffled like a deck of cards. The Cleveland Cavaliers have a “big” problem and isn’t going away anytime soon.