Dean Wade has to start for Cavs after Donovan Mitchell trade

Wade must start for Cavs after Mitchell trade: His strengths

Dean Wade is not a star, and he never will be. He lacks on-ball creation, he is not a talented ball-handler, and he is not much of a playmaker. Putting the ball in his hands for anything more than a catch-and-shoot or finishing situation doesn’t make sense for a team trying to win NBA games.

Yet what Wade does excel at is being a low-usage, off-ball role player. He is a willing shooter, putting up 5.7 3-point attempts per 36 minutes over his three-year career with the Cavs. He isn’t a sniper, hitting 36.5 percent of those, but that’s around league average and better than either Isaac Okoro or Caris LeVert have shot.

Wade’s other major contribution is as a defender. At 6’9″ he has much more size than the 6’5″ Okoro, making him much more capable of checking larger wings and forwards. He also helps the Cavs when they deploy their 3-2 zone look, as he has much more size to play down low alongside Jarrett Allen and allowing Evan Mobley to roam at the top. The defensive trio of Allen, Mobley and Wade would be able to execute a lot of switching and overall provide something of a wall that opponents would have trouble scaling.

The final major point in Wade’s favor is that lineups where he plays with the team’s other stars are wildly successful. The group with Wade, Okoro, Allen, Mobley and Darius Garland had a +19.3 net rating in 218 competitive minutes per Cleaning the Glass. That was by far the best mark of any lineup that saw at least 100 minutes. He fits seamlessly with this team’s best players, a fact that will only be more evident now that Donovan Mitchell is on the team.