3 dominant lineups the Cavs have to use next season

3 dominant lineups the Cavs have to use next season: Best starting group

Lineup: Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

The Cavs’ starting lineup to start the season famously had Lauri Markkanen starting at the 3, and Collin Sexton at the 2. When Sexton went down with his meniscus injury, Isaac Okoro was tapped as the replacement for much of the season. For a brief stretch, however, Markkanen was also out of the lineup and it resulted in this starting group, with Dean Wade starting at the 3.

Wade doesn’t have the star pedigree or the financial investment, but he is the perfect role player, a guy who is fine with other bench lineups but thrives alongside stars. That proved to be the case during this stretch as a starter too, as this lineup blitzed opponents to the tune of 22.4 points per 100 possessions, fourth-best on the entire team.

The beauty of this lineup is its balance, holding opponents down defensively but with enough offensive verve to keep things rolling. Darius Garland is the only defensive weak link in the lineup, with the other four players all at least above average. Very few teams would be able to take advantage of this group, and the paint would be entirely walled off to anyone.

This lineup lacks secondary shot creation, so it puts a lot of a burden on Garland; if Mobley takes another step forward and improves in that area, suddenly this group becomes even more deadly. It didn’t really show up, but this group with Okoro swapped for Ochai Agbaji could be the team’s best potential starting group by the end of the year, even if Agbaji and Wade don’t get the starting nod.