The Cleveland Cavaliers had an average preseason. They won two games and lost three, at times looking like a playoff team and at others like a cellar dweller. When you’re swapping players in and out of the lineup, including some players who won’t even make the team, that kind of result happens.
Some of that swapping allowed the Cavs to experiment with different lineup combinations. Some of those lineups worked, and others didn’t. What stood out most of all was that this year’s roster has a lot more versatility, leading to a unique variety of lineups that they can use this year.
The Cavs have a revamped roster with players bringing different skillsets. What unique lineup combinations should they try out this season?
Cleveland has established its starting lineup, with Evan Mobley joining the holdover group of Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro and Jarrett Allen. This year they have more options to mix-and-match with, including Ricky Rubio, Lauri Markkanen and a fully healthy Dylan Windler.
With the season kicking off this week, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has to decide on his rotation, including who he closes games with. Here are three lineups he should use this season, if not every game then regularly enough to see if they can be tentpole groupings for this team.
3 unique lineups that Cavs should use this season: The Triple Towers
Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
This is the most well-known lineup because of how ludicrous it appears at face value. Jarrett Allen is the starting center at 6’11”, and he would be the third-tallest player in this grouping. Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen play at the two forward positions, giving the team “three towers” to send out in one grouping.
Offensively this group works because of Markkanen’s ability to space the court; in truth it offers more spacing than Cleveland’s starting group. Darius Garland can run a pick-and-roll with any of these three bigs, but what makes the lineup truly special is when Mobley handles the ball and runs a pick-and-roll with either Allen or Markkanen.
On defense this group would potentially be vulnerable to fast lineups that knife around the slower-footed Markkanen trying to defend wings, but the mobility of Mobley and Allen on the back end helps to mitigate that. Add in the fact that the sheer amount of size on the court will clog up sight lines and passing lanes, and this group should be strong on both ends of the court. Cleveland tried this group out in the preseason, and they should go back to that well early once the games start to count.
3 unique lineups that Cavs should use this season: The Switch Blades
Ricky Rubio, Isaac Okoro, Lamar Stevens, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley
One of the downsides of the starting lineup is its lack of positional versatility. Darius Garland and Collin Sexton have to defend the opposing team’s backcourt between them, which means that Isaac Okoro’s size effectively locks him into defending 3s. Similarly, any sort of switching scheme is tossed out the window along those same lines.
What if the Cavs could put together a group that breaks free of that positional rigidity? That’s the idea of this group, which takes some of the team’s best defenders and specifically those who can be moved up and down the lineup to guard a variety of players.
It also means they could employ a switching scheme, as any of these players could survive on players of a variety of positions. Lamar Stevens can survive against opposing centers or stick with point guards. Evan Mobley can survive in space if switched onto a guard. Ricky Rubio is large enough to defend 2s or even 3s in a pinch.
Offensively this lineup would be starved for spacing, and it probably isn’t tenable along those lines. The lack of Jarrett Alen also means this probably isn’t the team’s best defensive group. Yet the ability to crossmatch and switch would mean this group could execute a specific scheme for a specific situation.
3 unique lineups that Cavs should use this season: Future Starters
Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Dylan Windler, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
This lineup is very similar to the starting lineup, with one obvious change: Dylan Windler is in at small forward over Isaac Okoro. This group would represent a future possible starting group, and one that would be an improvement over the current setup.
The problem with the current starting lineup is that Isaac Okoro can’t shoot. Jarrett Allen doesn’t shoot, and Evan Mobley needs development in that area, but those realities are easier to survive at the 4 and 5. In today’s NBA a player has to be uniquely talented to survive without any semblance of a 3-point shot.
Dylan Windler has been injured for most of his first two seasons in the league, but his skillset is theoretically a much better fit for this group. He has good size to rebound and survive defensively, and on offense he can handle, pass and shoot. He won’t be anywhere near the defender that Okoro is, but he has better size and a much better offensive impact.
From Dylan Windler to Lauri Markkanen, the Cavs’ bench has talented players they can mix in with the starters. That results in a variety of lineups that the team can try out to make unique impacts and help this team climb towards the playoffs.