Cleveland Cavaliers: Dean Wade should mesh well with new additions

I understand that I’m probably higher on Dean Wade than most Cleveland Cavaliers fans, and that’s fine. Last season, Wade didn’t blow down any doors in having 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in rotational minutes, and I get that.

He was a pleasant surprise though, and knocked in 36.6 percent of his 3.4 three-point attempts per game, and the catch-and-shoot confidence appeared to grow as his season progressed. Now, injuries to the likes of Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. did play into more opportunities for Wade, and I’m aware of that.

But whether or not Love is possibly bought out before or during next season, of which there’s been rumors about for some time, he will reportedly likely have a reduced role. That’s clear as day at this juncture.

With Nance, conversely, while he could very well stick around, and when healthy, contributes in a number of ways, there are always injury concerns with him too, and Nance could seemingly be a player that could be traded before next season.

That’s with Cavaliers potential free agency wing targets signing elsewhere by the bushel in the past few days as well, although Nance is a crucial player for Cleveland, and he can play some at the 3 with Love/Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen at the 5. So perhaps he could still be a rotational fixture with the club and they hold on to him; the off-floor impact from him is far-reaching also, and I don’t gloss over that, either.

But all things considered, with the floor spacing Wade provides, and with him being a pick-and-pop threat that held his own defensively off the bench last year, I do think he should stick around (regarding his non-guaranteed deal) and have a role. He’s likely not an every game-type player, however, he still should get some PT in there with his shooting/cutting abilities.

And something that comes to mind relating to that is how Wade could fit in well with the likes of Ricky Rubio and Evan Mobley for spurts/stretches.

Wade should mesh well with the Cavs’ new additions in Rubio and Mobley.

In minutes off the bench feasibly, Wade could fit well with Mobley in spurts, as Mobley is a player that I’d imagine Cleveland could run some offense through with his playmaking abilities on-ball and out of the mid-post.

I would think that with Wade at the 4 with him, in bench minutes, where Mobley could very well get his share as a reserve 5, that having a catch-and-shoot threat big like Wade could be a quality target for skip feeds. Wade playing off that could open interior looks himself with Mobley having the timing to hit those, too.

In addition, with Mobley as a grab-and-go player, even for a 7-footer, following defensive rebounds, with how Wade is a highly capable shooter as a trailer in transition, that could be an intriguing wrinkle for spurts to get quality looks before defenses are set.

Shifting gears, in regards to the Rubio element with Wade, I could foresee that being a good pick-and-pop/pick-and-roll duo for the Cavs in spurts.

With Rubio’s passing vision and his pick-and-roll abilities, while the minutes-share is not certain for Wade next season, I would think that he’d have a great chemistry with Rubio, particularly with how Wade can really shoot it from deep.

Rubio, who has had 7.1 assists per outing in the last three seasons with the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves, always does a nice job with stretch bigs. And though I’m not discounting Darius Garland’s passing, Rubio I could foresee meshing especially well with a catch-and-shoot big like Wade, or Kevin Love.

That’s with Rubio being a heady veteran and just knowing how to manipulate weak side defenders better to hit catch-and-shoots a bit better at this point, even with him being a bench piece at this point in Cleveland’s situation. Through 10 seasons, he’s had 9.1 assists per-36 minutes to just 3.1 turnovers.

Moreover, with the passing abilities of both Rubio and Mobley and with Wade being a quality off-ball rotational contributor, I could see those three being a meaningful trio that might be an underrated set of players that could mesh really well for Cleveland. That’s in bench spurts, realistically.

But as we noted, with the injury concerns with Love/Nance, and Nance feasibly a candidate to be traded before the season or during it, Wade could again have some more expanded minutes. He could appear some at the 3, once again, with Allen in the fold at the 5, too.