Cleveland Cavaliers: Power ranking the roster so far this season

#6 – Larry Nance Jr.

Larry Nance Jr. is perhaps the Cavaliers’ most versatile player. He is also crucial coming off the Cavaliers’ bench as they are very thin in the frontcourt.

Nance has done a lot of good things this season for Cleveland. His versatility is key. He can essentially defend 3-through-5 on the floor and that is very important in switchability on the defensive end. Individually, he has been splendid on defense and holds a very solid defensive rating of 104.

He has also improved his outside shot even more from last season’s jump which allows him to share the floor with Thompson more. He is shooting 34.5% from three on the season on 2.6 attempts per night.

While Nance has yet to start a game for the Cavaliers, he is averaging 24.3 minutes per night, 9.5 points, and 7 rebounds.

#5 – Jordan Clarkson

Jordan Clarkson is one of the top bench scorers in the entire NBA at 14.7 points per night. However, he can jump up the Cavaliers’ power rankings if he starts being a little more efficient. Currently, he is only shooting 41.2% from the floor on 11.9 shots per game which is good for the fourth-most attempts on the team.

As hot as Clarkson can get, a lot of the times when he’s on the floor, the ball can stick a little which really bogs down the Cavalier offense. Coach John Beilein should preach ball-movement a little more when Clarkson is on the floor.

His importance to the team is clear though. The Cavs don’t have any other pure scorers coming off the bench and it would be hard to replace his 14.7 points per night.

#4 – Cedi Osman

The Cavaliers front office hasn’t seen the jump they had hoped this season from Cedi Osman. Despite that, they still rewarded him with a four-year, $31 million contract extension, which could be looked at as a steal down the road.

The jump he made from his first to the second year was excellent, even though a lot of it could have been due to the fact that he played a lot more minutes. He just hasn’t built off of his solid second-year campaign and the only reason he is above Clarkson and Nance in the power rankings is due to the fact that the Cavaliers are so thin at small forward.

Osman’s numbers are down across the board. For the season he is only averaging 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He is shooting a very solid 39.6% from three. Is defensive rating has improved, however, from 118 last season, down to 110 this season.