Cavs: Do they have a better starting lineup than the Pistons?

Better starting lineup: Cavs or Pistons? – Advantages for Detroit

The Cavs are very limited in how they can mix and match the players in their starting lineup, and the movement is always away from the center of their lineup – that is, their 4 (Evan Mobley) could move to the 5, and their 2 (Collin Sexton) to the 1, but no one is moving to the 3, for example.

For Detroit it is another story. Jerami Grant can play small-ball 5 or slide up and defend small forwards. Cade Cunningham can be a big point guard or a small-ball point forward. Saddiq Bey could easily play minutes at the 3. Isaiah Stewart could play some or all of his minutes at the 4 next to Kelly Olynyk or another center. Head coach Dwane Casey has plenty of options if he needs to make a replacement due to injury, while J.B. Bickerstaff does not.

The Cavs also don’t have a star player like Cade Cunningham. That isn’t meant to take anything away from Evan Mobley, who looks like a truly special talent as a big with perimeter skills, or Collin Sexton and his prolific scoring ability. Yet the combination of Cunningham’s star upside, positional value and modern NBA skillset set him a tier above the rest.

Detroit is also a slight winner in the shooting department. The Cavs will play two really good 3-point shooters, 2 very shaky 3-point shooters, and a center who never launches from deep. The Pistons have two very good shooters of their own in Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey, and two shaky 3-point shooters (albeit with a little more upside) in Jerami Grant and Killian Hayes. The swing factor is Isaiah Stewart, who hit 33.3 percent of his 63 3-pointers a season ago.