Cavs: Expect Jarrett Allen-Andre Drummond stretches with Larry Nance Jr. banged up

The Cleveland Cavaliers simply cannot catch a break when it comes to injuries. Cleveland does have Darius Garland and Collin Sexton both back, albeit Garland has been eased back in more in the past few games coming off a right shoulder sprain, but it’s a plus they’re both back.

The same goes for Dylan Windler, who returned on Friday in a win over the Brooklyn Nets after being out since Cleveland’s first game this season after fracturing his left hand then. He was reportedly recovered for that Wednesday game versus Brooklyn, but had to be sidelined due to Cleveland previously waiving Yogi Ferrell, who was before signed via the NBA’s hardship exception.

That said, the Cavs have been without Kevin Love, because of a right calf strain, in which he reaggravated in Cleveland’s game on Dec. 27 versus the Philadelphia 76ers. He could seemingly be back within the next week, though.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, Larry Nance Jr., who has been starting at the 4 with Love sidelined, sprained his right wrist in Cleveland’s blowout loss at the Boston Celtics on Sunday. He missed the second leg of the Cavs’ most recent back-to-back on Monday versus the Los Angeles Lakers, a close L, as a result of that, and we’ll have to see as far as the potential timetable for him.

As a result of Nance being sidelined, the Cavs didn’t ended up starting Jarrett Allen at the 4, with Andre Drummond at the 5, but I’d think those two will get their share of burn together in coming games. Well, I’d expect us to see more of that with Nance banged up, even when he is ultimately back, for a bit.

We’ll likely see considerable stretches with that Cavs’ Allen-Drummond frontcourt pairing with Nance banged up.

The Cavs at their injury peak, realistically, featured stretches with Drummond and JaVale McGee both on the floor, so when considering that from Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, with Cleveland lacking natural 4’s at the moment, I’d expect to see Allen-Drummond stretches.

We’d seen that some to this point before Nance injured his wrist, albeit with Nance banged up, even when he is back, of which we’ll have to see about, I’d foresee it. That’s with Love still sidelined, really.

Cleveland has played Dean Wade some rotational minutes to this point, but Allen and Drummond are clearly Cleveland’s two best bigs available now, with Love out still, so I’d expect Bickerstaff to feature them both this week, perhaps.

Now as a quick side note, though, in regards to McGee/Drummond, and even Love somewhat, the Nets, per a report from Sam Amico of OutKick and Forty Eight Minutes, are expected to “make a run” at McGee.

McGee is set to make a team-friendly $4.2 million this season, and with Brooklyn, in particular, recently having been granted a $5.7 million disabled player exception, and having two open roster spots, that could be a logical destination for McGee. That’s more so regarding Cleveland’s surplus of 5’s at this juncture.

Jason Dumas of KRON4 News also reported that the Cavs and Nets were in active discussions involving McGee as of Monday, and that the Nets have involving Kevin Love; Dumas noted that the Cavs were looking to “flip a number of their bigs for draft capital.” He reported how both Drummond and Love could be moved from there.

Now, in regards to Love, though, Brian Lewis of the New York Post noted how the Nets actually dealing for Love is unlikely, and at least this season, to me, for them, seems that way. Lewis touched on Dumas’ report, albeit noted how it’s again, a different story when it comes to Love.

"“But the league personnel whom The Post spoke with found that a much less likely move, considering he’s mediocre defensively and making $91.5 million combined over this season and the next two.McGee, on the other hand, is more of a fit.”"

In Drummond’s case, too, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer recently reported that the Nets’ hope is that the Cavs will eventually buy out Drummond, albeit that’s not likely so long as Cleveland is still in postseason contention.

To me, also factoring in Nance being banged up, and with how Love would really aid Cleveland’s floor spacing and defensive rebounding efforts when he’s back, I’m with Lewis here. And while I’d expect Drummond to be dealt by the March 25 trade deadline, I’d think the Cavs could still keep Drummond around for a good bit yet.

Bringing it back to Nance for a second here, he’s played so well as the interim starting 4, and has had 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per outing. Plus, Nance has led the league in steals so far, and he’s currently been hitting a career-best 42.1 percent from three-point range on a career-high 3.6 triple attempts per outing.

In short, the Cavs obviously missed him on Monday, and though, per a Cavs team status update, he’ll be re-evaluated daily, he’s clearly not going to be 100 percent, even if he is able to go on Wednesday versus the Detroit Pistons, for instance. We’ll again have to see what a potential timetable is for him if he is to miss more games, though.

To reiterate, however, in the time being with Nance banged up, and I could even see some with Love back in the fold, look for Bickerstaff/the Cavs to play Allen-Drummond at the 4/5 for considerable stretches in games to make a difference in paint defense.

The same goes for offensive rebounding opportunities, and for Cleveland to try to be very disruptive defensively; Drummond, to go with his 18.7 points and league-leading 14.6 boards per outing, has also had 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per outing. And Allen, meanwhile, has had 12.3 points per outing in his three games with Cleveland to this point, to go with 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per contest.

I’d look for those two to get their share of touches inside, with Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman/Taurean Prince, and Dylan Windler/Damyean Dotson to collectively get perimeter looks to go down.

We’ll have to see what Bickerstaff ends up doing, and perhaps Wade gets his share of minutes, anyhow, but let’s hope Nance recovers soon enough.