Cleveland Cavaliers: Power Ranking the roster for post-All-Star break

#14-11

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had 14 players active for post-All-Star break (not 15, which is the NBA maximum), and with that being the case, with the last spot for the closing stretch of the season, in comes Deng Adel.

It’s not Adel’s fault, really, as he’s been one of the Cavaliers’ two-way players since coming to Cleveland, thus not allowing him to have many minutes or game appearances, anyhow.

During the 2018-19 season, he was active in 19 games, playing an average of 10.2 minutes in those; per 36 minutes, Adel posted 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks, per Basketball Reference.

If he continues to develop and get stronger with the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Canton Charge, he can maybe some warrant some more minutes next season if he comes back again via two-way deal.

Deng’s three-point percentage in the G League last year (32.3 percent) suggests he needs to keep working on that perimeter J to warrant meaningful minutes next season with the Cavs or other NBA squads.

He is just 22 and could provide some spot value as a primary defender against primary bench ball-handlers on the perimeter due to decent instincts and good athleticism, though.

Marquese Chriss has had his moments since coming over near the 2019 NBA trade deadline in a reported three-team trade with former fellow Houston Rockets’ teammate Brandon Knight.

Those moments have been very good in spurts, with a February game against the Brooklyn Nets first coming to mind, in which Chriss had 23 points on nine-of-16 shooting (per ESPN) and had a poster dunk over a big-time shot blocker in Jarrett Allen.

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Nonetheless, Chriss has had many more head-scratching moments and unfortunately looks lost on the defensive end on a regular basis.

Now that’s not all his fault, because the Cavaliers’ defense has been a historic disaster all year long, anyway (as we’ve said time and time again), and Chriss posting 10.4 rebounds per 36 minutes while with Cleveland (per Basketball Reference) is at least a positive sign.

The big fella has a ton of athleticism, but too often he looks confused, and although he is a really good lob-catching threat, his timing needs to get better as a roller, and he doesn’t make great decisions with the ball in his hands.

In 27 games with Cleveland, Chriss averaged 5.7 points on just 43.5% effective field goal shooting, to go with 4.2 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.

Considering he’s now soon an unrestricted free agent going into the 2019-20 season (per Spotrac), I don’t see him showing enough to be on the Cleveland Cavaliers again in the near future, with Larry Nance Jr., Ante Zizic and potentially Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson (not even including a possible 2019 NBA Draft pick big) in the big mix.

Since coming to Cleveland after essentially starring in a remake of Plains, Trains, and Automobiles near the trade deadline, Nik Stauskas has shown he can be a reliable perimeter shooter coming off pindowns and flare screens, which has been the case on and off during his career to this point; in 24 games with the Cavs, he shot 42.9% from three-point range on 2.6 attempts per game, per Basketball Reference.

He’s also timed cuts well in the halfcourt, which has resulted in Stauskas getting some easy layups here and there as a counter to his shooting off screens and spot-ups.

His off-ball defense was pretty good, too, as he was usually in the right help and/or weak side positions, but he doesn’t have much defensive versatility on the ball and can get exposed when defending pick-and-roll primary ball-handlers.

Stauskas has not shown much as a ball-handler or passer, either, and I wouldn’t expect Cleveland to be willing to bring him back on the roster. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent (per Spotrac) and I’m not sure where he’ll end up for the 2019-20 season.

Channing Frye did not play much throughout the season all together due to the Cavs wanting to develop their younger bigs; post-All-Star break, he was active in only seven games (per NBA.com), and was appearing when games were at their garbage time stages.

The 35-year-old has been rock solid when he’s been on the floor this season offensively, though, and he showed he was capable of playing earlier in the year even in meaningful minutes because of his ability to shoot from the perimeter via spot-ups and pick-and-pop scenarios.

Post-All-Star break, he shot 42.1% from three (and 40.5% on the season), en route to averaging 4.6 points in 9.5 minutes per game.

When given opportunities to play, though, he provided consistency as a shooter, and always helped open up the lane for fellow bench players on the Cavaliers.

As a side note, him thanking Cleveland and the organization before his last NBA game on Tuesday was pretty cool, too (per the Cleveland Cavaliers).

He seems to have been an incredible teammate and just all-around amazing guy; Cleveland will really, really miss him and we wish him the best of luck with whatever comes next.