3 Cavaliers players Bickerstaff has to give more playing time
Cavaliers who deserve more playing time No. 3: Dean Wade
Now we come to the final selection, the player on this roster who most demands more playing time. Dean Wade is the 3-and-D forward who fits in nearly every lineup and makes them better, and yet he can’t seem to find consistent playing time in J.B. Bickerstaff’s rotation.
Wade is ostensibly the reason that Kevin Love is now in a Miami Heat uniform, because Bickerstaff had decided that Wade was a better fit as the team’s backup big. That was the correct call! But inexplicably, Bickerstaff has yanked his minutes all over the place, with Wade playing just eight minutes against the Atlanta Hawks but 25 minutes against the Toronto Raptors.
Last season the Cavs thrived with three big defenders on the court, but with Lauri Markkanen in Utah they haven’t gone back to that look very often. Wade doesn’t have Markkanen’s height, but his strength and size allow the Cavs to replicate that look defensively with Wade at the 3. He then can slide down to the 4 when one of Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen is on the bench.
Dean Wade is a good defender, able to stay in front of wings and excelling against combo forwards (of which the East has many). He is shooting 38 percent from deep, one of the best marks on the team. He fits in nearly any lineup and takes nothing off of the table.
When you look at the top two-man pairings (per NBA.com) on the Cavaliers this season (minimum 100 minutes) something stands out: five of the top six include Dean Wade! That includes the pairing of Wade and Allen (+12.4 in 215 minutes) and with Mobley (+11.5 in 421 minutes). Top 3-man lineups? Wade is in 5 of the top 7. And the starting lineup with Dean Wade at the 3? It has somehow played just 19 minutes, but it has a +22.3 net rating. Why in the world is that lineup not earning more minutes??
Next. NBA Power Rankings: Post All-Star Break Edition. dark
Lowering the minutes for the starters and sharing them to a few role players is the right move, and both Danny Green and Isaac Okoro deserve a little more playing time. Dean Wade, however, deserves to be getting the fifth-most minutes of anyone on this roster, as when he is on the court this team soars. To deny him a prominent role in the rotation is to hamstring this team.