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Crafting the perfect Cavs rotation for the 2022-23 season

By Josh Cornelissen

Cleveland Cavaliers bigs Lauri Markkanen (left), Dean Wade (center) and Kevin Love celebrate in-game. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers bigs Lauri Markkanen (left), Dean Wade (center) and Kevin Love celebrate in-game. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

Crafting the perfect Cavs rotation for the 2022-23 season: Starters

Darius Garland – 34 minutes

Isaac Okoro – 20 minutes

Dean Wade – 26 minutes

Evan Mobley – 34 minutes

Jarrett Allen – 32 minutes

Darius Garland will ramp up towards 40 minutes in the playoffs, as he is the centerpiece of what this team is doing on offense. In the regular season that should be closer to 32-34 minutes, and when Ricky Rubio returns perhaps it will reside around that 32 number. For now, he will average 34, tied for the team lead.

Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen will man the middle once again, forming one of the most formidable defensive combinations in the league. At points the Cavs might bring Robin Lopez off the bench, but for now Mobley will slide over as the de facto center when Allen is off the court; do the math, and that means 18 minutes together to start and close both halves.

Finally, the more controversial selections. Eventually, the starting 2-guard spot should be earmarked for Ochai Agbaji, and the options here are both varied and difficult to fit. Caris LeVert will likely start for this team, but with Sexton out of the rotation his shot-creation is needed on bench units when Garland sits, and his defensive and shooting issues are such that the Cavs shouldn’t hand him enough minutes to both start and run the second unit.

Dean Wade is an excellent two-way fit with the starters, and this particular five-man lineup has a +22.4 net rating last season, best of any five-man lineup that played at least 50 minutes together. In fact, it ranked sixth in the entire NBA among all lineups that saw at least 100 minutes. He’s the glue guy that brings this all together.