Cavs’ Larry Drew doesn’t seem worried about potential bigs’ rotation

The Cleveland Cavaliers will have five bigs that could warrant significant playing time fairly soon, but head coach Larry Drew does not seem worried about that.

Tristan Thompson will reportedly be out again tonight (because of left foot soreness, per a Cleveland Cavaliers’ team announcement) against the New York Knicks, and according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, there’s “still no official timetable for Thompson.”

Thompson, again, per Fedor, wants to “be smart” in dealing with his soreness this go-round, and not rush it, as Thompson believes he “came back too soon the first time.”

Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew (per Fedor) also mentioned that when Thompson goes through a full contact practice and does not say there are ‘setbacks’ afterward, then Thompson would “deemed ready to play.”

Drew would also note (per Fedor), however, that Thompson after those full contact practices has been a “tad sore,” leading the team to believe he’s not ready, and that instead, Drew emphasized that in regards to Thompson’s injury, the team’s “going to allow it to take its course and not going to rush it.”

When Thompson is back in the rotation for the Cleveland Cavaliers, that will mean five bigs could play considerable minutes the last portion of the season.

Kevin Love, as our own Josh Friedman detailed recently, will obviously warrant big minutes the rest of the way (Fedor said between 25 and 30 is his updated minutes restriction).

Larry Nance Jr. and Marquese Chriss, who reportedly have a developing relationship that is paying dividends for Cleveland (as our own Robbie DiPaola highlighted), are playing well, and Drew seems to like playing both considerably, given their athletic presence at both ends.

Both Nance and Chriss are showing the ability to hit perimeter shots as well lately, which is not something Thompson has in his repertoire.

Last but not least, Fedor acknowledged how with Thompson missing time, the last 17 games in fact, that Ante Zizic, in particular, has benefited greatly.

"“Zizic has logged at least 20 minutes in 14 of the last 17 games. In February, he is averaging 8.5 points on 56 percent shooting to go with 6.4 rebounds in 22.9 minutes. On some nights, he’s even been in Cleveland’s closing group.”"

Love is going to play over half of the game the rest of the way, if he’s healthy.

More from King James Gospel

• 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
• The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
• 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
• 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
• This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead

Plus, those three other bigs mentioned all have been doing pretty well lately, and bring more of a varying offensive skill set to the table than Thompson (who is a tremendous screener both on and off the ball, though).

Granted, Thompson has averaged 11.5 points, and career-highs with 11.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game this year. When he’s been active, “TT” has probably been the most consistent player on the Cleveland Cavaliers this season.

Taking the potential dilemma of a five-big rotation into account, though, Drew does not seem too worried, because being a healthier team is a good thing to him.

Here’s what he had to say in terms of that scenario, per Fedor.

"“I will just have to figure that part out once we do get everybody back and all of our bigs back,” Drew said. “I know I’ve been asked a number of times about Big Z and where does he fit into that rotation if I get Tristan back. I have Larry and Marquese coming off the bench. It’s a nice problem to have. I haven’t had it all year. Going into the remaining 20 or 21 games we have, we will look at what matchups make sense and some guys may just play certain games.”"

Drew sticking to this year’s Cavaliers’ matchup game-to-game script with his bigs seems to again be sensible with his potential scenario.

When the opportunity does present itself for Drew, though, against slower-paced teams that feature two-big lineups considerably, I’d like to see him play Zizic for Thompson more. Zizic has flashed a ton of offensive potential this year, and TT’s foot potentially having yet another setback in the last part of a tough season would be awful.

In addition, sticking to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ player developmental approach, playing Thompson a ton over Zizic, Nance and/or Chriss wouldn’t be really wise when Cleveland shouldn’t be too focused on winning the rest of 2018-19.