3 reasons Dean Wade should start at small forward for Cavs

3 reasons Dean Wade should start for Cavs: Shooting

The primary reason that the Cavs started Lauri Markkanen last season was that they needed to get shooting on the court if they were going to otherwise play two bigs in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Therefore they moved the reluctant-shooting Isaac Okoro to the 2 and started Lauri at the 3.

Last season Markkanen, known for being a stretch big, the Finnish Sharpshooter, the player started specifically because he could stretch the floor, shot only 35.8 percent from 3-point range. You may think that was simply a poor shooting season and that he will shoot better this year, and you are probably right, but for his career Markkanen is just a 36.4 percent shooter. That’s it.

Dean Wade is not a sniper, but he shot better than Markkanen last season (by a sliver at 35.9 percent) and for their careers (36.5 percent). Essentially they are the same level of shooter. Perhaps Markkanen has more gravity, but unless he puts together a scorching season soon teams will begin to treat him like the middling shooter he is.

The point is that Wade can approximate or even slightly beat Markkanen’s shooting, and brings a lot more in terms of defense. Starting Okoro or Lamar Stevens brings defense at the expense of shooting; starting Kevin Love or Lauri Markkanen brings shooting at the expense of defense. Starting Dean Wade brings both.

The Cavs are likely to start Markkanen, and that should be fine. He has a higher ceiling than Wade and provides some things that Wade doesn’t. Hopefully, however, the Cavs pay close attention to how effective Wade is and provide him opportunities to either start or close, because when he plays with the best players on this team, the Cavs soar.