3 disastrous mistakes Cavaliers must avoid making this summer

The Cavaliers must avoid the temptation to trade Jarrett Allen

The allure of small-ball basketball is strong. In the modern NBA, the pace and spacing of offenses puts a lot of stress on big men to defend in space, to corral the pick-and-roll, to defend the paint, and occasionally to close out hard to the corner after doing all of that. Placing a lineup on the floor that is smaller and more nimble is absolutely the right call in some circumstances.

The problem is that it is not always the right call. Trading Jarrett Allen for a wing might be the right value and team-building play; it’s not a given, though, and it certainly doesn’t make sense to trade Allen for a collection of mediocre players just because they play different positions.

The name of the game for NBA defenses in the playoffs is not playing small, just like it’s not playing “big”. Rather, the key is having versatility. A defense needs to have different looks and different schemes to throw at an opponent. Swapping Allen for a wing just trades one problem for another.

The Golden State Warriors revolutionized the league with their “Death Lineup” but that didn’t mean they didn’t rely on Andrew Bogut to win that first title. The past two years they wouldn’t have survived without Kevon Looney and his rebounding.

The Cavaliers need wings, yes, but that’s so that they have alternate looks to throw at teams when they go small, not to play small all of the time. The pairing of Allen and Evan Mobley is special defensively, the Cavs need to hold onto that. Perhaps trading Allen is the right move down the line, but panic-trading him now for a mediocre return just to get “smaller” is absolutely a mistake.