Last season the Cleveland Cavaliers ranked fifth in defense, seventh in defensive rating. They were in the top-3 most of the year before falling off during their injury-riddled finish to the season. With Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the frontcourt for years to come, the Cavs should feel pretty good about their defense moving forward.
The bigger question will be how to maximize the offensive potential of this team. A year ago they ranked just 25th in points scored and 20th in offensive rating. After Ricky Rubio went down everything about the offense revolved around Darius Garland, with no reliable secondary creator left standing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers expect their offense to take a step forward in 2022-23. Here are three lineups they can try to juice their offense next year.
This season, at least, that problem has been addressed. Caris LeVert is healthy and will have had an entire offseason with the team after arriving at last year’s trade deadline and immediately struggling with injuries. More impactfully, All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell arrived to start at the 2 and immediately begin breaking defenses as Garland’s co-creator.
How does the coaching staff put these pieces together to maximize the offensive without giving up too much of their defensive identity? There will be a variety of balanced lineups to try, but let’s identify three lineups the Cavs should use to specifically juice their offense for the upcoming 2022-23 NBA season.