Cavs Player Grades: Dean Wade provides steady play in 2021-22

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t have the close to the season they would’ve been hoping for, partially because of injuries, but it was a successful 2021-22 campaign for the Wine and Gold, all things considered.

The Cavaliers had 44 wins, a 22-win improvement from the season prior, and despite the team not making the postseason, there were noticeable strides taken from the group as a whole. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen had career seasons, and both represented the Cavaliers with Team LeBron in the Cleveland-centric All-Star festivities back in February.

As the season wore on, Lauri Markkanen did find his footing in three-big lineups prior to an ankle sprain before the All-Star break, and then in the closing stretch, he was a bright spot for the team. Some of that was due to Markkanen playing the 4, but next season, I’m optimistic Markkanen can have a better start, either way, based on encouraging stretches in his first year with the team.

In relation to other positives from the season overall, Kevin Love was terrific in a move to a bench supersub-type role, Cedi Osman had something of a bounce-back season when the opportunities were there and Lamar Stevens had his share of growth.

Another guy that helped the team, and I thought did a solid job for what was asked of him was Dean Wade, who this last go-round appeared more at the 3, where he had his share of starts for fill-in purposes, and did fairly well.

With that in mind, let’s examine how Wade graded out in 2021-22 for the Cavs.

First up, we’ll examine his work at the offensive end.