Cavs starting lineup, rotation while Jarrett Allen is out

Cavs starting lineup options while Jarrett Allen is out

No. 2: Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley

The second variation on a starting lineup would be to slide Evan Mobley to the 5 and Lauri Markkanen to the 4. Long-term that’s probably the most deadly place to put Mobley if he can hold up weighing as much as a damp piece of paper. As for Markkanen, his lack of foot speed is less of an impediment at the 4, and his shooting is leveraged even more lethally to stretch defenses.

The team would lose some size, but they would gain it back by starting either Dean Wade or Lamar Stevens. Either would be a candidate here, but Wade’s well-balanced game and success with just about any teammate gives him the nod. He or Stevens would be the best choice to defend larger wings anyway, players such as DeMar DeRozan, Jimmy Butler and Pascal Siakam that the Cavs will face this month.

When Allen went down on Sunday, Bickerstaff elected to start the second half with a Mobley-at-5 combination, but instead put Cedi Osman into the starting lineup. This is a move he has gone to a handful of times this season, and Osman does bring shooting and some secondary ball-handling. Defensively he becomes a target, though, and if Bickerstaff goes this route the bet is he (barely) leans towards size and defense with Wade or Stevens ahead of Osman.