Examining Dean Wade’s recent play for Cavs prior to absence vs. Clips

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have a season to write home about as a team in 2020-21, but one of the positives to come from that campaign was Dean Wade receiving his share of opportunities. Injuries to Kevin Love earlier on and then Larry Nance Jr. did lead to more consistent minutes for Wade then, for context.

Wade, who was originally an undrafted signing that was a two-way player for Cleveland as a rookie in 2019-20, did benefit from his share of play last season, though, and looks to be a capable rotational player from here.

In his second season, and first one being a regular rotational contributor with the Cavaliers, he did a nice job typically defensively on-ball, and on the season, had 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per outing. On the year, he ended up starting 19 of his 63 appearances.

Throughout this season, Wade has had some ups and downs offensively, and with him having been undrafted previously, one has to expect that to some degree. But he’s still pretty regularly been involved for Cleveland in stretches in games, and while it is going to be partially because of injury in those instances, Wade still has had 28 starts this season, as compared to 23 appearances as a bench contributor.

What’s been different this year for him, though, is Wade has often filled in at the 3, as he’s been a fill-in starter for Lauri Markkanen, who has also shifted to playing that role a bunch offensively, and we’ve seen Wade do so the past two games. That’s been with Markkanen dealing with ankle soreness, and of course, he missed an 11-game stretch leading into the All-Star break due to an ankle sprain.

Now, Wade was out in Cleveland’s win over the shorthanded LA Clippers on Monday night because of knee soreness of his own, and I’m not glossing over that. But provided Wade can get treatment and rest, I don’t necessarily think that’ll be too much of a concern.

Anyway, with Wade having more playing time since dating to before the All-Star break, even, prior to Monday’s absence, it’s sensible to take a closer look at his play. So let’s get to that, then.

What have we been seeing from Wade in his recent play for the Cavs?

Prior to Monday, Wade been playing 19.0 minutes per outing in his last nine appearances, right about his season average, where he had 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest in that span. He connected on 31.6 percent from three-point range in that stretch, which wasn’t great.

That being said, in Wade’s minutes, he’s not going to be a key focal point offensively, such as say, the likes of Kevin Love or Evan Mobley, by comparison. Wade does not have the shooting reputation of Love or Markkanen, either, at this point.

However, on the other end, Wade has typically done a solid job defensively. And with the Cavaliers’ injuries lately, Wade has helped Cleveland, and though there’s going to be hiccups, realistically involving fouls on slashers, he’s one of Cleveland’s more capable defenders of bigger wings and 4s.

There were instances with fouling issues for him against DeMar DeRozan in Cleveland’s L to the Chicago Bulls, and it was a mixed bag defensively against Jimmy Butler in a loss to the Miami Heat, and for whatever reason, Wade’s foul trouble limited his impact versus the Toronto Raptors. In that win, he had five fouls in 17 minutes, which was clearly abnormal.

Even still, Wade has done still a nice job defensively, has helped deter drivers, and is usually in the right spots as a rotator for Cleveland, which shouldn’t be discounted, particularly of the scope of his role.

I’m not going to suggest the team has been playing really well defensively, as that’s not been the case since even prior to the All-Star break, but Wade having the lowest defensive rating among regular rotation guys is meaningful.

And at least in March, his plus-minus of 4.2 in those five games has been notable, as has his net rating of plus-12.0, a team lead among realistically qualified contributors. Furthermore, Wade was second in net rating among regular rotational contributors in February.

Granted, again, regarding offense, Wade is not a player that’s going to create much of his own offense, as evidenced by his scoring splits, and I couldn’t blame the Cavaliers for eventually going with Caris LeVert starting more for offense, as he gets back into the fold. Even if not, LeVert will be a crucial offensive piece from here, provided he stays healthy, with his driving abilities.

But taking everything into account, Wade is still a capable catch-and-shoot guy (35.9 percent from three on the season), a very good finisher off cuts, and he’s going to make the right pass to keep the ball moving, and is one of Cleveland’s better defenders.

So, taking that into account, for a prior two-way player, that is more naturally a 4, I honestly think Wade was still playing pretty well within the team scope, even with not being nearly that of Markkanen or Love as shooters/spacers, or feasibly Cedi Osman on offense.

Hopefully this knee soreness is not too much of a lingering ailment for Wade, whose presence does strengthen the rotation, especially with Cleveland’s recent woes on defense and with Allen out.