One of the better role players for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season has been Dean Wade, who has been a developmental success for the Wine and Gold.
Wade’s not going to be a player that is going to be one of the stars, if you will, for the Cavaliers game-to-game, such as the likes of Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell. Having said that, Wade’s defensive prowess has made a difference for Cleveland this year when he’s been in there for stretches of contests, and his catch-and-shoot play has popped thus far in this being his fourth season.
On the year, Wade has had 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per outing, in what’s amounted to 17 appearances. He’s connected on 41.1 percent of his three-point attempts, too, on what’s been 3.3 per game.
Wade is a player that’s consistently been in the right spots on both ends of the floor, whether he’s been playing for stretches at the 3 or 4, and with how he can mesh with a variety of teammates, it’s aided Cleveland’s flow on offense. With his feel on offense and defense, multi-positional abilities and transition skill set, Wade has been able to regularly impact games.
Unfortunately, though, after he missed six games because of knee soreness up until a few games ago, Wade suffered a shoulder injury after only 10 minutes of his own gametime in Cleveland’s win over the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Wade had reportedly been dealing with shoulder pain for ‘quite some time,”’ per J.B. Bickerstaff and on Sunday, the Cavs announced that Wade is expected to be out for three-to-four weeks with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder, formally. That was via Spencer Davies of BasketballNews.com.
#Cavs say Dean Wade will be out about 3-4 weeks with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. pic.twitter.com/Zztt1jV6Ya
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) December 4, 2022
With Wade sidelined, a couple of Cavs players, to me, could be more relied upon more, for different reasons.
We’ll touch on three of those Cavs players that’ll need to step up more sans Wade here.
The first is the likes of Lamar Stevens.
No. 1: Lamar Stevens
Stevens is a player that has recently been back for the Cavaliers after missing four games because of a non-COVID-related illness, but he’s been back the last two contests.
Prior to that absence, Stevens was moved into a starting 3 role, and while we’ll have to see if he can remain in that role for a longer period, it was nice to see him back in the rotation.
Stevens was not involved to that point much in games, and after signs of growth last season, and with him being a capable forward defender, that seemed odd.
Stevens has offensive limitations, and he doesn’t have the perimeter catch-and-shoot skill set, when it comes to volume, of Wade, but he has shown some growth. And Stevens, similarly to Wade, is a polished finisher at the rim, and Stevens can make some plays in early offense and has shown the propensity to hit short pull-ups to attack closeouts.
In Stevens’ last eight appearances, he’s had 9.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per outing, and while the volume has been low at 2.0 attempts, he has connected on 43.8 percent of his three-point attempts in that span. Objectively, he’ll need to show he can aid Cleveland’s offensive flow.
As we alluded to, Stevens is a player that has also shown he can give Cleveland a lift on the defensive end, with positional versatility, and his sturdy frame, improved screen navigation and rebounding positioning can help.
With Wade out, he should regularly draw crucial defensive wing assignments, as he’s been doing in legit stretches even with Wade on the floor with him of late, too.
No. 2: Kevin Love
Secondly, there’s Kevin Love. Love has a differing role than Wade defensively of course, and offensively, Cleveland will play through him at times, conversely from Wade.
Now like Stevens, Love made his return recently as well, as he missed Cleveland’s prior six games before their win against the Magic on Friday because of a hairline fracture in his thumb. So, there probably will be some rust from him for a bit in some games to come here, but so far, he’s been effective in how he’s been utilized.
In the past two games, Love had 11 points, 11 rebounds and three assists versus Orlando and while he struggled at New York, going two-of-seven from three and three-of-nine overall with four turnovers, he should be able to get it going again.
As he gets himself back into rhythm, fans should expect the Cavaliers to get Love his share of perimeter shooting looks from ball-swings, pick-and-pops, some transition trailing shots and off screens. And while Love isn’t the player of Wade on defense, clearly, he’s made some impactful plays as a rotator, will always be a boost for man and ball movement, and be a big help on the defensive glass. He had seven boards against the Knicks.
So factoring in the forward rotation in this sense regarding Wade being sidelined, it was meaningful to highlight Love here for the weeks/month ahead.
No. 3: Cedi Osman
Thirdly, Cedi Osman fits into the mold of other Cavs that the team needs to step up with Wade on the shelf.
Fans know the deal with Osman. He’s a player that can go off for the Wine and Gold when he’s on, but he’s been off for his share of stretches of games over the years as well. On the season, he’s done decently, with 9.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game, although his three-point hit rate has dipped to 34.7 percent.
But when the opportunities have been there for him in ample minutes, Osman can provide energy and he has delivered on a number of occasions this year already for the Cavaliers. In his last seven games, he hasn’t been able to knock down his looks nearly how he is capable, of which played out earlier on. In that span, he’s gone only 23.5 percent from three, and his splits overall have dipped to 7.7 points per outing then.
That said, Osman has found ways to give the Cavs a lift in other ways as a cutter, defensive rebounder, and transition player, an area where he’s continually aided the team as a run-out target. And without Wade’s transition play, that’s an area where Osman can help to some degree in stretches of games, and similarly to Wade, Osman has proven that he can be a capable connecting passer in set offense.
Anyways, while the Cavs will need to get Jarrett Allen back from a back injury, the team will have to find ways to replace Wade’s presence somewhat by committee in coming weeks.
Perhaps the Cavaliers look to sign two-way forward Mamadi Diakite to a standard deal eventually as well, or potentially looks elsewhere by signing the recently-waived Matt Ryan, for example, to help give the team more wing/forward depth.