This season, there were a number of guys who stepped up for the Cleveland Cavaliers, which helped the team make noticeable strides in the right direction.
Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen made All-Star leaps, and that was front and center, along with Evan Mobley’s play. Kevin Love also had a very successful season in a shift to a bench supersub-type role, as he finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
I also thought there were encouraging signs from Lauri Markkanen, even in a move to a de facto 3 role, and next season, I believe he could hit the ground running after being more acclimated this next go-round.
I don’t gloss over the contributions of guys such as Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade, either, though, and both have panned out to be legit rotational options often for the Cavaliers. For both guys, that’s no small thing, as both were initially undrafted, two-way players that were eventually inked to several years deals, albeit ones that have been/are non-guaranteed in those respective seasons.
Stevens is a player that has shown defensive versatility, and this season, he had a number of nice games offensively, and I believe could be headed for a strong start to next season. That’s if the opportunities come for him.
Wade is another player that could be in contention for minutes with Stevens, but I do think both could receive some decent minutes, anyway, and in Wade’s case, his continued defensive growth plays into that.
Wade’s case for minutes is evident, as he has proven to be multi-positional on defense, and has shown viability throughout games with varying players.
Wade is not a player that’s going to be a common jersey you see at Cavs games, nor is he going to be lighting up traditional box scores regularly. In 2021-22, Wade had 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per outing, in what was in 51 appearances.
But his defense is his calling card.
Wade is one of the Cavs’ best defenders
Wade is one of the Cavaliers’ most impactful defenders, and while it wasn’t nearly as detrimental as Jarrett Allen’s absence (fractured finger) for much of the closing part of the season, Wade’s partial meniscus tear didn’t help defensively, either. He was a player whose minutes were inconsistent, admittedly, but Wade missing Cleveland’s last 15 games and both play-in games was not something I glossed over, for that end, especially.
Fortunately, Wade is fine it seems, and per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com in early May, Wade had since returned to on-court activities. Next season and over the course of the offseason, I would think Wade is back to full strength, based on Fedor’s report.
With that in mind, as we hinted at, despite Wade not being a household name, he is a quality defender for the Cavaliers, and he’s a player that did, by and large, a nice job in primary coverage of opposing 3s and 4s.
This now-past season, his second realistically in the Cavaliers rotation, Wade generally did pretty well when he was in defensively, a considerable chunk of the time on the perimeter, even. And he did get some work against opposing go-to scoring 2s here and there.
The majority of Wade’s minutes were at the 3 this last go-round, and he filled in in his share of starts, which were 28 in 2021-22 of his 51 appearances. As we noted, his ability to usually hold his own on-ball defensively and be in the right spots as a rotator made a difference.
It was notable that per Cleaning The Glass’ metrics, Cavaliers opponents had 5.5 less points per 100 possessions when Wade was on the floor, which placed in the 89th percentile. Now, him for stretches in lineups with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen didn’t hurt, but that stat was impressive to me. The same was how when Wade was on the floor this season, Cavaliers opponents’ offensive rebounding percentage decreased by 3.8, which placed in the 93rd percentile, again per Cleaning The Glass.
Point being, Wade is a more than capable defender, more often than not, and at least for stretches in relief of Lauri Markkanen, or for spurts for Evan Mobley, I do believe he’s viable. He was fine as a starter at times this season, too, and his 6-foot-9 size fits well.
So how about the other end?
What about the offensive end?
I do acknowledge that Wade isn’t nearly the shooting threat of Markkanen, but Wade did hit 35.9 percent from three in his third season, and 36.6 percent the year prior.
As a catch-and-shoot guy, he’s solid, and while I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s much of a shot creation presence on-ball, he can knock in pull-ups after hard closeouts, drive occasionally, and he’s great as a finisher on cuts and in transition. That sort of thing is part of why Wade can help the team in a number of different lineup groupings, and one shouldn’t discount his feel within the team dynamic on the floor.
So, to me, Wade’s case for rotational minutes next season and/or perhaps onward as a defender, and meaningful off-ball presence is a solid one.
There’s others involved too, though, such as potentially Cleveland’s likely late-lottery pick that could feasibly be a wing, Lamar Stevens and Cedi Osman. I do think Wade could be fine with Stevens/Osman for some stretches, still, and he should receive some PT with Stevens.
The 25-year-old Wade, who will be in his age-26 season next, before that injury this season was continuing to provide quality play, regardless, and he could very well receive his share of meaningful opportunities in 2022-23. That’s set to be his fourth season with Cleveland.
His deal for next season is non-guaranteed, again, and he has a club option for then, which I’d assume should get picked up.